Expanding the Family
The above photo is the one going on our “friends and family” Christmas card this year. It is similar in many respects to the Christmas photos we’ve sent in the past, but with one notable exception. Our family has grown. Our son recently married a wonderful Christian young lady, and so we have one more Jorritsma in the picture (we already apologized to her about the last name). But what happens when a family grows?
The first change created by an expanding family is how it operates. Take for example our Christmas photo. Getting the family Christmas photo is never on anyone’s list of favorite things in our household, but I have to admit that it is a bit humorous.
I’m usually voluntold to make this happen, which means I take it very seriously. It’s usually cold outside (yes, we wait too long), days are short so lighting is more difficult, and finding a new and unique setting each year is always a topic of long discussion. And that’s just the beginning. Nevertheless, I’m ready to tackle it, so look out Christmas cards!
Once we get to the chosen location, I scout for a perfect spot while everybody chats and goofs around (my words; they call it familial socializing). I eventually herd everyone back together and set up for the picture. Something inevitably disturbs the camera settings, I fiddle with them and discover whole new parts of the camera menu, call everybody back, and we finally take a picture. Then we take another, because somebody had their eyes closed. And another, because somebody wasn’t ready. A dozen pictures later, we have one usable photo, everybody has broken out laughing, and I’ve completely lost all control of the situation. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve successfully achieved many difficult things during my life, but the Christmas photo always brings me to my knees. While it’s not exactly a Charlie Chaplin movie or a clown car, there are some striking similarities.
What happens to this process when the family expands? The potential chaos expands too. Try to get a good Christmas picture of your family with little kids and you’ll know what I mean. Thankfully, adding a daughter-in-law did not appreciably increase our chaos. It meant coordinating one more person’s schedule, and we managed just fine.
However, this is just one side of the coin. When a family expands, the second change is that it also has a greater impact. For example, as our family has expanded, we now have an even larger network of friends and extended family than ever before. Expanding a family can both broaden and deepen its influence. We all influence each other to a greater degree, and hopefully for the good.
Why the talk about families expanding? Because our NDFA family has begun expanding. For many years, NDFA has consisted of me doing what I could to protect your values in the public policy world. However, this year we added Jacob Thomsen, who has been a great help, particularly with the wins we experienced this past legislative session. Over the summer we also added an intern, Rebekah Frolich, and we had additional requests about internship positions. We’ve also set up retainer contracts with key vendors, most recently with a young University of Jamestown graduate who is blessed with amazing creative design capabilities.
As with any other expanding family, we need to manage the possible resulting chaos. I’m not particularly worried about this, but it does require coordinating with employees and vendors who are working remotely (we have no fixed office space, in order to keep overhead down and ensure your donation dollars have the greatest possible impact).
The second change is the impact NDFA can have on the defense of your biblical values. We discovered that we were able to handle twice the number of bills this session with additional staff. We are also able to start our Church Ambassador program, connect with more legislators through our upcoming Legislative Academy, provide more education and advocacy, and cover more public policy subjects. In short, everything we do expands, and we can represent you and your values even more effectively.
NDFA is growing broader and deeper. This is great news, and I am particularly excited about what the future holds and how much more of our mission we can accomplish. But as wonderful as this greater impact is, it cannot occur without the necessary financial support. I’m not going to turn this email into a donation appeal, but please understand that NDFA cannot grow without your financial help.
NDFA will grow or shrink in direct proportion to our available resources. You will receive our end-of-year donation mailing soon. When you do, please prayerfully consider helping us continue to expand our NDFA family and all the great things that go with it. Unlike our annual Christmas photo, we promise to keep our eyes open and be ready when it matters most.
What's New On Our Resources Page
We wanted to send you a quick email to remind you about our Resources page! We have a large amount of important information on there, including:
Legislative scorecards from the past several sessions
Pro-life laws by state
Transgender resource guide for parents
How to get a sample election ballot
How to find your legislators
Calendar of key ND election dates
NDFA Media appearances and interviews
and much more
To check out our Resources page, you can visit our website at ndfamilyalliance.org and click on the Resources in the menu or click here for a direct link.
The Resources page is there to help you navigate and get information on public policy issues here in ND, so please let us know if there is ever anything else you think would be helpful to add to the page!
Announcing the 2024 ND Pro-Life Conference
Is the sanctity of life important to you and your family? Then we have just the event for you. Following NDFA’s incredibly successful 2022 ND Pro-Life conference, NDFA is excited to announce its 2024 ND Pro-Life Conference to be held on January 22, our state’s new official Right-To-Life Day!
Topics will cover everything from the current status of abortion across the nation and state, to the dramatic increase in chemical abortions, the situation with pro-life legal challenges in ND, and what you can do to stand for life in our state. The one-day conference will be held at the Heritage Center starting at 9 AM, and tickets are available on Eventbrite for $20 per person or by calling 701-355-6425 for group rates.
David Bereit, founder and former CEO of 40 Days for Life, will be our keynote speaker. Other speakers will include:
Jor-el Godsey, President of Heartbeat International
Drew Wrigley, North Dakota Attorney General
Jill Chandler, Executive Director of Relate Care Clinic
Personal testimony from a post-abortive mother
Join us on January 22 to gather, learn, and celebrate the sanctity of human life. You won’t want to miss the premier life conference planned for North Dakota in 2024!
A Tale of Two Suits
When is a suit not just a suit? The typical men’s clothing store would say that a suit is always more than the fabric, cut, style, etc. In other words, a suit makes a statement. However, I know more than a few men for whom a suit is just that – a suit – and maybe less, like a nuisance. What you see above is the fabric of a new suit I recently purchased, and I guarantee you, it’s way more than just an ordinary suit. It’s what I’ll be wearing to our son’s wedding.
As you might imagine, living in our household these days has been far more exciting and busier than usual. Our son Chris is getting married on November 25 – a little over two weeks away. He is marrying a wonderful Christian young lady named Rebekah, who has been brave enough to stay with her future in‑laws (us) for the past few months while starting her new job and planning the wedding. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know her better and she still intends to marry our son, so it seems we haven’t messed up anything too badly. During these months of wedding preparation, Ruth and I have tried to help a bit here and there, but we’ve also focused on our wedding attire. Apparently, jeans and a flannel shirt won’t cut it as father of the groom, or so I was told. Which brings me back to the suit.
When I went to purchase it, I knew it had to be in the black-charcoal-gray spectrum, given the wedding colors, but didn’t know much else. I also knew it couldn’t look like the groom’s suit, which will be in a darker charcoal shade. I had to match accessories, decide on a tie color and pattern, pocket square or no pocket square, etc. I think you get the picture. But that still doesn’t answer the question of why this particular suit?
The new suit checks all the boxes from a technical point of view, but it needs to say something. It needs to reflect me. Thus, while the pattern is a very sedate gray, it has a more complicated pattern when you get closer. The cut is for someone my size, so it’s not a slim fit or a heavily contoured cut. The pants are a traditional length and cut, and it has a small, dignified lapel pin. In short, it’s a suit for a 60-year-old father of the groom. (For all you guys who hate clothes shopping, thanks for hanging in there. It gets more interesting.)
Now let me take you back to 1984, long ago when my wife and I first met. For our first date, I took her to the symphony and afterward to one of the most elegant (and pricey) restaurants in the city. On a student income, it was the equivalent of mortgaging my home for that date. In retrospect, it was more than worth it, and she was thankfully swept off her feet. What did I wear? A suit, but a very different one than the wedding suit I just purchased.
The suit that night was a dark blue pinstripe; a very serious blue pinstripe. I matched it with a bright red tie and white shirt. I was a lot skinnier back then, so it was a slim fit and very stylish cut. To be blunt, it exuded power and intensity. And why shouldn’t it? I was all set to take on the world with what I had learned at college and my talents and abilities. I was impressive, and clearly the girl on my arm thought so. I later learned that my “impressiveness” had very little to do with her dating and marrying me, although she did admit to liking me in that suit.
A few days ago, it struck me how those two suits in some way represent the tremendous changes that have occurred over the decades. They represent the shift from a twenty-something arrogant kid, to a person who realizes he doesn’t know everything (which is proven almost daily). The suits denote a shift in thinking about what matters – from physical objects and status, to intangibles and actions based on deeply held beliefs. It means that I’ve learned to trust the Lord more over the past decades and that He’s led me to understand how important public policy is in protecting my faith in our current society. And yes, my new suit also mirrors the lines on my face and my gray beard, from years of work, parenting, and life’s ups and downs. Hopefully, there is some wisdom woven into that suit fabric as well.
On November 25, I won’t be the star of the show, and that is how it should be. I don’t have that blue pinstripe suit anymore, and even if I did, I certainly wouldn’t wear it to my son’s wedding. I don’t fit the blue suit anymore, in more ways than one. And that’s for the better. My son is starting his life with a gray suit, and that is a far wiser place to begin.
What Are You Thankful For?
by Jacob Thomsen
As we enter November, I like to think about things that I am grateful for. Thanksgiving, which is only a few weeks away, is not only a wonderful holiday, but a great reminder for us to stop and think about the things that we’ve been given.
Of course, everyone’s list differs in many ways, but there are many things that most people will have on their list in common. Many of us are thankful for our families, health, a place to live, etc. It’s incredibly important that we don’t take these things for granted.
There are plenty of personal things that we’re all thankful for as well, and I’d like to talk about some of the personal things that fall into this category.
First and foremost, I am thankful for God and the ways He changed me when I was saved. I was saved in 2020 (a story for another time) and there were a lot of things that changed within me in those moments. One of the biggest changes I noticed was a deeper appreciation for beauty. I started to notice the beauty in everyday moments that I hadn’t before. I noticed the beauty of the clouds in the sky, the leaves on the trees, the way the wind blew through the grass, and much more. It was as if the world changed around me. It was truly an amazing thing.
Another thing He did in me that I’m thankful for was to allow me to feel and experience deeper emotions. This may sound a bit weird, but God made me emotional. Before I knew Christ, I was hardened to my emotions and was striving for what some would stereotypically call manhood – not expressing emotions and trying to be “hard.” God softened my heart and now I cry more, laugh more, and feel things in a deeper way, and I’m incredibly thankful for it.
Something else I am thankful for is football. Now, this is not a superficial statement saying that I enjoy watching football. I played football for 14 years of my life and it taught me things I’m not sure I would have learned anywhere else. It taught me resilience. When I look in the face of adversity, I know that I can stand up to it with God’s help. It taught me that preparation is very important going into a battle. I’ve spent countless hours studying opponents and trying to understand what they would do to win a game. That has translated into this career quite well because I have learned that studying the opposition’s side of a bill is just as important as forming our own arguments.
Above all, football taught me hard work. Hard work leads to a reward in and of itself. We may not have won every game, but looking back on my football career, I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing I worked very hard towards a goal, and I had several people around me working toward that same goal. I played football for nearly two-thirds of my life up until this point. To many, it may just be a sport; to me, it has been a formative teacher that has guided me through life and taught me some incredibly important lessons. I am truly grateful that God gave me the ability and opportunity to play football.
The thing that I am most thankful for is God’s hand on my life. As I look back through the years, I can now see His guidance in getting me to where I am now. I came to Bismarck to go to school and (more importantly at the time) to play football. I would not be in the position I am today without those opportunities afforded to me through the grace of God. I’m thankful that before I knew Him, He had a plan for me.
There are so many more things to be thankful for. I’d encourage you to look at the things around you and the things you’ve been given. Remember that everything is a gift. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ll ask you, what are you thankful for?