Being a Mom Is Greater Than Being the White House Press Secretary

Good morning!

Yesterday, the most visible spokeswoman in American government stood at the most prominent podium in political communication—and walked away from it to be home with a 2-year-old and a newborn.

[BRIEF]

• Karoline Leavitt, 28, announced that she will leave her White House press secretary post at the end of this month.
• Her reason: Since returning to work after her daughter’s birth, she said, she cannot give the role all it demands and “be the best mom my two young children deserve.”

Good for her. Leavitt is not retreating from importance; she is advancing toward it. The nursery is not a lesser arena than the press room—it is greater.

For several generations, we have been progressively trained to think otherwise. A century ago, only about 1 married woman in 10 worked outside the home; today, it is nearly 3 in 4. Statistics on working mothers didn’t even exist before 1948.

• As women migrated from being full-time mothers to being laborers, their children were left to themselves, and we were told this was progress.

Not only do children miss out—so do moms. Despite nonstop messages in media and entertainment to the contrary, Gallup polls find that majorities of employed mothers would rather be home with their children. Pew Research found that 74 percent of Americans say the movement of women into the workforce has made raising children harder; 60 percent say children are better off when a parent stays home to focus on them.

• The natural inclination Leavitt followed is nearly universal—but largely suppressed by economic pressure and a society that treats homemaking as wasted talent.

Bringing up a child is not something you manage on the margins of a career. It demands your whole heart. A mother at home is doing the most consequential work there is: forming responsible human beings.

One of the greatest minds to comprehensively study the political philosophy, commerce, public spirit and patriotism of America and Americans wrote about 1,000 pages in two volumes on the subject. His name was Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America (1840). You might find something he wrote surprising, but people like Karoline Leavitt might not.

As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow, that, although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is in some respects one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked, now that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply, to the superiority of their women.

Don’t underestimate the importance of mothers to the national security and success of the United States of America.

This is the pattern God built into the family. He instructs the older women to teach the younger “to love their children” and to be “keepers at home” (Titus 2:4-5).

• The collapse of that calling is why God prophesied of a work in our day that would “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:5-6).

To understand why the family stands at the heart of God’s purpose and what its restoration means for you, read The Missing Dimension in Sex.

The New Race for the Top of the World

A 35,000-ton container ship will depart China’s Ningbo Port tomorrow, bound for Britain on a route that redraws the global shipping map. Instead of heading south and transiting the Suez Canal, it will sail north, across the top of Russia and through the Arctic Circle.

For centuries, the Arctic was largely insulated from the geopolitical rivalries that have shaped other parts of the world. But as the ice retreats and technology advances, the region is becoming increasingly accessible—and increasingly contested.

• The Arctic Ocean is a growing strategic priority for the eight nations that border it: Canada, Denmark (through Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
• China’s territory stops some 900 miles short of the Arctic Circle, but it calls itself a “near-Arctic state” with claims and interests in the region.

In fact, no nation has pursued dominance in the Arctic more aggressively than China, along with Russia.

Navigating together: The vessel leaving China tomorrow must navigate between Arctic ice floes, but Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers will accompany it for this purpose, smashing the track back open if waters begin to freeze.

• The ship is expected to arrive at Felixstowe, Britain, in three weeks.
• That is roughly 15 days faster than the usual route through the Suez Canal.
• If shipping companies can begin using this route routinely, they will save enormous sums in operating costs and complete more shipments with the same amount of resources.
• Due to recent Middle Eastern turmoil, most container lines have avoided the Suez to take an even longer route around southern Africa. This adds up to 15 days to the voyage, making an Arctic alternative roughly 30 days more efficient.

The trip itself is not unprecedented—it repeats a test run made last year. What is new with tomorrow’s voyage is that it aims to officially launch the first scheduled container service through the Northeast Passage, a major global shipping shortcut between Asia and Europe.

Untapped potential: Besides the immense value of a quicker shipping route, the Arctic is home to an abundance of natural resources.

• According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the region holds an estimated 90 billion barrels of undeveloped oil, 30 percent of the world’s untapped conventional natural gas, and vast caches of minerals.

Russia and, particularly, China, whose vast economy demands ever more resources, are eager to secure access to these sea routes and to this wealth.

Prophetic perspective: Biblical prophecy warns of an immense Asian alliance, led by Russia and China, that will soon partner with European nations and dominate the global trade at the direct and severe expense of the United States. Learn more in “China Plans a ‘Polar Silk Road.’”