Kayleigh McEnany: ‘My Parents Taught Me That Jesus Christ Is At The Center Of Your Life’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany recently reflected on motherhood and raising Christian children on a special episode of Fox Nation’s MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS OF THE BIBLE SPEAK.
McEnany’s mother joined her for the episode.
“From the moment of my first recollection, my parents taught me that Jesus Christ is at the center of your life,” McEnany shared. “I always knew that no matter what I was going through or struggling with, there was a Maker, a Person, a Creator Who had designed me for a purpose.”
McEnany’s mother, Leanne, said that faith was a “very big” part of her family’s life.
“I was given a very good foundation from my grandmother and grandfather and my mom and dad,” she continued. “My husband and I try to give that to our kids.”
Leanne also discussed how motherhood was “the most beautiful gift from God” that she ever received.
“I sat up late at night…when I was pregnant with (Kayleigh) and had ice-cream and had her room ready,” Leanne said. “I was just such a proud mom, and when she finally got here, it was beautiful. I knew that she was a gift sent from God.”
Now that McEnany is a mother herself, she had her own thoughts on the gifts that being a mom can bring.
“You start to feel your baby kick, and it’s just hard to believe that there is a child living within you that God has woven together, and that’s what the Bible tells us, that you’re knitted together in your mother’s womb,” she explained. “To feel her grow, to feel her kick and to finally see her for the first time, [she] was the most beautiful…girl I had ever seen in my life and… your heart kind of skips a beat.”
McEnany said that she and her husband are planning to raise their child with the same Christian background they were brought up with.
“My mom and dad were always clear I have a purpose,” she said. “I have a Maker. I have a Creator whose name is Jesus Christ. That meant going to youth group on Wednesdays, which I often did, and going to church on Sundays. Those moments were instrumental in my life.”
Movieguide® previously reported on McEnany’s faith:
Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House Press Secretary, recently sat down with Kirk Cameron and discussed how Christians could come together to share the truth of God’s word gently and with compassion.
In her book, “For Such a Time as This: My Faith Journey Through the White House and Beyond,” McEnany recalled how her time in the White House showed her the importance of standing for truth.
McEnany said that before her first day at the podium, her predecessor Sarah Huckabee Sanders encouraged her to pray and trust God.
“Sarah texted me a list of advice on the day of my first press briefing and the final piece of advice was to pray and to trust in God,” McEnany told Cameron on TAKEAWAYS. “She told me that she read her Jesus Calling before every press briefing. I carried on the tradition, I read my Jesus Calling, and on that day of my first press briefing, May 1, 2020, Sarah texted me.
“It basically said that God has designed this for a purpose, and you’re here for a reason and not to worry, but on the day of my first press briefing, I can tell you, Kirk, I worried quite a bit,” she added. “At 2 p.m I’m supposed to be at the podium but instead I was in my office crying and my assistant came to me, ‘You can’t be crying right now; you’ve got to be at the podium,’ and she put my parents on speaker phone and we prayed out loud together and then I went to the West Wing bathroom and got on my knees and prayed for confidence and courage.
“When I got to the podium I had total and complete serenity and it was not because of anything I had done. I felt total peace because it was Christ in me and Christ there beside me.”
