My Brother, Kaden
by Jacob Thomsen
Happy New Year! We are all incredibly blessed to see another year, and to be able to see the hope and opportunity it can bring. As we enter the month of January, there is a day in particular that stands out to me. That day is January 22nd, North Dakota’s first Right-To-Life Day. It was an honor last session to testify in favor of creating this day of observance and then to finally see it come to fruition this month!
This day is incredibly important to the values we hold so dearly in our hearts. It further solidifies that North Dakota is a pro-life state and that we respect and cherish the gift that God has given us in lives filled with opportunity.
As I think about the upcoming Right-To-Life Day, there is surely a somber note to remember as well. I think about all the lives that have been lost to abortion and I think about all the babies who are like my younger brother, Kaden, who has Down Syndrome.
For many families across the world who opt to do genetic testing for their pregnancy, there is a chance that they find out that their child has a disability. For the families that do find out that their baby has a disability, oftentimes a doctor will recommend abortion and list the reasons why that child will not live a fulfilling life and will suffer the whole time they are living. When parents are presented with this information, they are faced with a difficult decision.
Kaden’s diagnosis was a surprise. He was born and my parents were told that their baby had Down Syndrome. That brings on a whirlwind of questions and emotions from people saying that he may not walk or talk, he may not be able to dress himself, and many more negative effects of the disability.
My parents would not let Kaden be who those people said he would be. They decided to give him the opportunity to write his own story, and he truly has. Kaden has been adored by his peers all through his schooling. He walks (runs), talks (doesn’t stop), dresses himself, and so much more. He can ride a bike, he won Homecoming King, he graduated High School, and he is a Special Olympics State Champion in Powerlifting.
Kaden is truly a gift from God. He has taught us so many things that we never would have had the opportunity to experience without him. He has taught us patience, grace, unadulterated joy, and love. The greatest lesson he’s taught us is unconditional love. He is someone who truly cares about everyone. He gives the best hugs, and is a real treasure to our family.
Kaden lives a fulfilling life. He is not a mistake. He is right where he is supposed to be, all because he was given the opportunity to live. We are all incredibly proud of him for how far he has come in life and are excited to see where he goes.
Everyone has a right to live. I will be celebrating that right on January 22nd, and I will think about Kaden. I will be thinking about how beautiful and precious life is, and that it is not an inconvenience.
Our interview with Senator Diane Larson
NDFA has been very busy and we wanted to show you just one of the things that we have been working on. We are very excited to present to you our very first legislator interview! Our hope is to do one of these interviews every few weeks, so that you get a deeper understanding of the legislators representing you.
Some time ago, we chose to visit with Senator Diane Larson from District 30 for our first interview. She is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we know you’ll love learning more about who she is, why she got into politics, her perspective on our state legislature, and much more.
Check out the interview here. We hope you enjoy it.
For unto us a Child is born!
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.”
Isaiah 9:6-7
While this season is filled with gift-giving and receiving, the reason we celebrate is the incredible gift that was given to us that night long ago in Bethlehem. The world was given a King, who would not only rule forever, but would save us from our sins. He saved us and gave us eternal life in Him, and Him alone – something we could never achieve ourselves. That is the greatest gift of all! May you have a blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year.
In Christ,
the staff of NDFA and their families
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!