ND Legislative Session: Lessons from a Hamster

We have just started the second half of the 2023 legislative session and we hope that this part of the session is as fantastic as the first two months have been. During the first half of session, we worked with the legislature to pass bills protecting parents’ rights, helping mothers and young children, preventing “gender wokeness” from spreading, preventing obscene materials in public libraries, and much more.

We testified on roughly 50 bills, and of those, 86% passed in their initial chamber. God is blessing our work in protecting and advancing your pro-life and pro-family values, and we couldn’t be happier. Thankfully, we’ve also had a few slower days during this crossover recess, so I’ve taken a little time to contemplate the significance of everything, and a mental picture came to mind.

Years ago, when I worked for World Vision, I was asked (more like voluntold) to lead an organization‑wide project to replace all the IT infrastructure. It was not an enviable task, but the person asking me was Rich Stearns, the CEO of World Vision. It’s kind of hard to say no to the CEO of a billion dollar organization when he personally asks you to help.

The project was brutal, to put it mildly, and stretched for the better part of a year. It included negotiating with the vendors, supervising a team of roughly 140 employees from all parts of the organization, and making the hard calls when needed. From an operational standpoint, it was both one of the most difficult things I’ve ever undertaken in my career and one where I grew an enormous amount.

So, what’s with the hamster? A month or so before the end of the project I was starting to feel pretty burned out and Rich could tell. A day after one of our meetings I found an envelope from him in my company mailbox. Inside was a picture he had ripped out of a magazine showing a hamster on a wheel with the words “Finish Strong” penned across the bottom. Ironically, it was precisely what I needed. We finished the project, it was an amazingly smooth go-live, and in the end it helped save lives around the world, which was really the whole point. I still contemplate that goofy picture of the hamster on the wheel sometimes when things are busy and I need that boost to the finish line.

NDFALA can feel a bit like the hamster on a wheel during a legislative session – running like crazy and trying to finish the session strong. However, here’s the difference between that picture 25 years ago and the work we’re doing right now. The hamster running on that wheel was engaged in a futile effort; the work we accomplish is far from that. It shapes our state for years to come and is the foundation upon which our children and grandchildren will grow. I guess the point is that it’s ok to feel like the hamster sometimes, but don’t ever be the hamster. 

Please continue to pray for us, respond to our Call-to-Action alerts, and if possible, support our legislative work financially. In addition, remember to pray for your legislators, House and Senate leadership, Governor Burgum, and others involved in the session. 

We all sometimes feel like we’re the hamster on that wheel, however, we should never be the hamster. There’s a lot riding on the next two months, and unlike our friend the hamster, it really does matter where we’re going and whether we finish strong.