In the days leading up to the start of the 40 Days for Life campaign, I had an overwhelming to-do list.  I tried to prioritize the list, but I knew that I wouldn’t have enough time to accomplish all of the top priority tasks. 

At the same time, our family of 12 has been experiencing several different illnesses.  If I had known that we would have been sick at the start of 40 Days for Life, I probably would have tried to back out.  But we had gone too far to turn back.

During the last few days of preparation, I was often hurrying to get something done when our daughter Sarah, 4, would come wanting me to hold her.  Sarah is usually always happy, but now her sad eyes and her fever revealed how sick she was. 

“I’m too busy for this,” I thought at first.  But then I caught myself.  I realized that I wasn’t going to get everything done anyway, but my little girl needed me now.  So I took a deep breath and tried not to think about the things I needed to do.  The more this happened, the more I realized that Sarah wasn’t the only one who needed this.  I needed this too, because it gave me an opportunity to relax a little before the long battle ahead.

Having so many children is a blessing, but it is also difficult to find time for them when there are so many things to do.  I have often thought about how President Kennedy was said to have always had time for his children, as indicated by photographs of them playing under his desk in the Oval Office.  “If he had time for his children,” I remind myself, “I need to find time for mine too.”