It has been two years since our family moved to North Dakota. A lot has happened since then. I’m proud to say we fully embrace and love being North Dakotans!
Some of you have made comments over the past two years that may on the surface seem ordinary, but have meant a great deal to me. For example, the first time somebody said I was “a true NODAK”. Or the time I called a ministry partner and after I said only my name he stopped me and said, “You’re from Kansas Family Voice of North Dakota, aren’t you?”. Then there is the tendency of my wife and me to occasionally say “North Dakoota” in casual conversation (I’m not sure how to spell it, but you know what I mean). We still have some habits from other places we’ve lived, such as giving directions using I-94 exit numbers or complaining more than we should about our winters, but they are falling away little by little.
Out of nostalgia, I dug up my very first weekly email from 2016 and reread it. It was about unpacking boxes and how you appreciate the “small things in life” like chairs, when you move and have to sit on the floor to eat supper. However, there was one particular sentence that caught my attention. It said, “The ability to worship and express our constitutional right to vote our convictions is something most of us probably appreciate on election day, but the rest of the year it is likely ‘under the radar’”.
I did not know the circumstances we would be in as North Dakotans two years later with hugely important races hanging in the balance. Lord willing, all of us will vote our convictions on November 6, but let’s make sure we appreciate these foundational freedoms the rest of the year as well. We live in an amazing country, one to which our ancestors immigrated for a better life and often for religious freedom. Let’s never forget that fact, but remember that how we vote shapes those freedoms for the future.
Kansas Family Voice of North Dakota is continuing to call, canvass, endorse, and use social media to let you know what is at stake in the upcoming election and where candidates stand on the issues. This all takes resources over and above our normal operating costs, which is why we so appreciate your financial support of our election efforts. In addition, we are coming to the end of our organization’s fiscal year and want to “finish strong”, so your gift means that much more.
If you feel called to help us with our election activities, it’s easy. You can simply go our election donation page and donate, or if you prefer, give me a call at 701-355-6425 and we’ll figure out some other way to make it happen. We still have a dollar-for-dollar match available, so any election donation is doubled!
We are counting on you to help elect Godly men and women to key offices in Congress and here in North Dakota, and we know you will deliver on your solemn duty. Thank you for your devotion to family values and life at all stages. We are proud to represent and partner with you, my fellow North Dakotans!
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote…that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society, for which he is accountable to God and his country.
Sincerely,
Mark Jorritsma
President and Executive Director