"A friend of mine asked me if I really want to be out traveling all over the 4th District when my kids are in school,” Stine is quoted as saying.  “Frankly, taking care of my kids, being a good wife and serving in the state Senate is a lot right now,” she said.

     As the sun gets warmer and the days get longer, it is common to find our kitchen counter playing host to one of those jars with the holes poked through the lid.  Inside, a twig and brown leaves sculpted neatly into a cocoon are the harbingers of a rite of passage.

     “Mom, he came out.  He’s climbing up the jar!” comes the excited voice of my ten-year-old.  “His wings are growing.  He’s huge!”

     Events like this one can’t be penciled in a date book or put on hold while we attend to pressing business.  Events like this happen only in the breathing spaces of life we call “being there.”

     Earlier this year State Rep. Katie Stine made a bold statement about the value of “being there.”   A darling of conservatives and pro-family advocates, she turned down the opportunity to challenge U. S. Rep. Ken Lucas for his House seat, saying that family concerns motivated her decision.

     “A friend of mine asked me if I really want to be out traveling all over the 4th District when my kids are in school,” Stine is quoted as saying.  “Frankly, taking care of my kids, being a good wife and serving in the state Senate is a lot right now,” she said.

     Kentucky Republican Party Vice Chairman Damon Thayer said he believed Stine offered the GOP one of its best hopes of overtaking Kentucky’s only U.S. House seat held by a Democrat.  “I think the two happiest people in the 4th District today are Katie’s husband, Fritz, and Ken Lucas,” Thayer said.

     In a culture that questions the relationship between family values and political savvy, it’s good to see an elected official who practices what she preaches.  It gives us confidence that she will continue to put those same values to work when she crafts legislation that affects our families.

     Any mom who’s ever gazed into one of those jars with the holes in the lid knows two things: first, good things come to those who wait, and second, children have the innate ability to sprout wings and fly away while we’re doing other “important” things.

     Way to go, Katie!

     Kentucky—and Washington—can wait.

Cyrstal Chapman is the Faith Community Liason for The Family Foundation of Kentucky, a nonprofit educational organization dealing with public policy issues affecting families.