Tag Archives: NFP

A little education is a dangerous thing….

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I know it’s not for everyone (though it really IS)……however, knowledge is power, peeps!!  For us, NFP frees me up from remembering to take a pill, get a shot or have something foreign in my body.  NFP is openly communicating with my hubby and growing in faith whether we decide to abstain from (SUPER challenging, BTW…and in my opinion, probably one of the main reasons people don’t want to practice NFP) or embrace the marital bed.  There is ALWAYS the possibility of a new life, plain and simple.  The fact is, life is FULL of unknowns, unplanned-fors and surprises.  Life is fluid.  Always changing.  Never the same.  The more we try to control it, the more restless we become in this futile act of “control”.  Life IS.  The better we become at “rolling with it”, the easier it becomes with ALL unknowns, unplanned-fors and surprises.  For us, that is the bedrock of our faith, trusting that GOD has plans for us that we may not understand now (or ever), but His plans are ALWAYS far better than we could imagine and NFP fits right in that belief.  

NFP.  Natural Family Planning.  For some, these words strike fear deep in the hearts, for others its a lifestyle.  That lifestyle can be one deeply entrenched in faith and trusting in God’s plan for family size and being open to the children He provides us with (complete with sleep deprivation, dirty diapers, tantrums and potty training…..as well as that sweet baby smell, soft coos, chubby cheeks, and reliving life through all the “firsts”) OR perhaps it’s a lifestyle of eco-consciousness and organic living.  Whatever the reasons, it’s worth learning about if you are stuck in the mentality of the “rhythm method” or would rather just trust in this amazing body we have and learn to understand it in regards to our health and reproductivity.  One of the places you can learn more about “NFP” is on the long-awaited site, iusenfp, there is a wealth of information about the various methods of NFP, HOW to implement NFP as well as a blog (of course!) and a “real life” section on folks like you and me and how NFP works in their life and in their marriages.  There’s even a great article by Simcha Fisher–in her usual sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek manner on NFP and marriage. (**all cute little buttons are from their site)

 

There’s also 1Flesh.org a site filled with (more) blogging, stories and conversational topics anti-pill, pro-life, etc, etc, etc.  Geared toward a younger generation but a truly In-Your-Face, Let’s-Dialogue on the benefits of an NFP lifestyle.  It’s all kinds of confrontational….in a good and positive way.

There’s the Faith and Family website, where not only are there a myriad of articles each day on, yes, faith and family, as well as each day a forum geared toward a specific topic and today is….NFP.  And trust me, the questions are raw, honest and eye-opening.  You can learn a lot.  I sure do!!

And Catholicmom.com for a variety of topics and columns filled with testimonials, advice and information on NFP, in addition to news, homeschooling, prayers, crafts, parenting and faith topics galore!

These are but just a few areas to look around, feel free to leave your own link in the comment section if you’d like to share.

Blessings!

 

When do YOU have time to blog???

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Be not of those who think perfection consists in undertaking many things, but of those who place it in doing well what little they do.  For it is much better to do little and to do it well, than to undertake much and do it ill.”  St. Francis de Sales

My  blog posts are becoming fewer and further between.  WTH?  When do you people have time to write?  Do you pound it all out at one sitting or draft and edit and edit?  I’m a sit down, get it done, publish kind of girl.  I like to wrap it up.  No loose ends.

My writing time is in the morning and since I started morning boot camp last week that killed 3 days during the week of “writing” time.  We also implemented a new scheduling system at work that has opened up a whole box of cluster for our company as there are MANY people trying to learn (all at different paces) AND utilize the system all at the same time.  We’re waiting to see if a head will roll (or two), but in the meantime our company has offered OVERTIME (unheard.  of.) to get the backlog of scheduling caught up.  Yours truly is all kinds of up on that train.  We have back-to-school in 4 weeks (already?!?!?) and the OT will definitely ease the burden of supplies and new shoes, shorts, shirts, etc., which means even less time for blogging!!!  I guess until the blogging pays for itself that’s the way it will be and since I’m not really in it to market anything, nor really found (or am looking for) a niche to fill, I don’t foresee that any time soon!  So, in the meantime, (or at least the next 3 weeks I have boot camp in the mornings) my blogging will be sporadic.  Unless you all give me some good ideas.

This weekend when I wasn’t blogging I was here:

Walking with one of my oldest and dearest friends for ONE WHOLE HOUR on the beach early Saturday morning! Great sweaty girl time!

Then, later in the day when I wasn’t blogging we were here:

Ending the day with friends on the beach

So, really.  How and when DO you blog?  Does the beach (or other fun) get in your way?  I really want to know….

By the way, it is Natural Family Planning Awareness week.  For those of you thinking it’s the ol’ Rhythm method here are a few sites to check out and learn a little somethin’ somethin’ about your body (or your wife’s), save a little dough and avoid added carcinogens in your body (because don’t we get enough from everything else we face on a daily basis?).  So, I may (or may not) have a few re-blogs here this week on interesting NFP stuff.  Excited, aren’t ya?  😉

iusenfp.com

1Flesh.org

NFP is hard

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**warning:  if you don’t want to hear about NFP (Natural Family Planning), you might just want to skip down to everyone else….

We’ve been doing this a long time.  (With an unscheduled break in between) It’s still hard.  If you aren’t aware of what NFP is, I’ll give you a super quick version or you can head over HERE to get the full version.  Essentially, it is tracking your body’s natural temperature cycles in addition to your body’s mucous (EWWW, wish there was another word, sorry) pattern to determine the most fertile time of the month to either a) become pregnant or b) avoid a pregnancy.  Generally done with God’s will in mind and being open to life.  Although, you don’t have to be Catholic  to use it.

Now, an egg’s lifespan is a mere 24 hours (at best), but sperm can last several (up to 4!!!) days in the fallopian tubes on their journey to conquer the egg.  Therefore, if you are avoiding a pregnancy and you are using NFP there can be a substantial abstinence period depending on the regularity of your cycle.  Substantial people.  Anywhere from a week to 14 days or more.  Like I said, it depends on your regularity.

For the most part, people who use NFP are OPEN TO LIFE.  They believe God has a plan, that His plan doesn’t always gel with what we believe the plan to be, and His plan is ALWAYS better….even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time.  He can use ANYthing for good.  So “open to life” means, if a pregnancy happens, they are OK with it.  Sometimes it is meant to be.  Just ask the people who contracepted and still conceived.  If God wills it….it’s going to be.  Believe it.

The difficult part of NFP is in the abstinence (obviously).  That part is also the most fruit-bearing.  This is the period to communicate and find other ways to be close, to enjoy each other’s company without it being all about sex.  Sometimes for women it’s easier….though usually around ovulation women are more amorous.  So you have to find a way around not getting all worked up and other ways of being distracted.  That.  Is.  Challenging.  Mainly because it’s a two-way street and if you both aren’t on that same path and wavelength there is a LOT of potential for strife.  Simcha Fisher wrote a great piece about that in the National Catholic Register. 

The other difficult part about NFP is that not a lot of people practice it.  Even in the Catholic church.  Sometimes those that do, don’t talk about it.  So how in the world do you help each other?  Encourage each other?  Commiserate with each other?  It’s tricky.  We are called to encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  This is where friends come in very handy!!  We have a large Catholic community, but honestly, I can only say I know for SURE 2 that practice NFP…although I suspect a few others.  The subject just does NOT come up.

The great part about NFP is that:  a) After the abstinence period…..GAME ON!  Well worth the wait. and long-term, b) couple who practice NFP in their marriage have EXTREMELY low divorce rates.  Other pluses to abstinence:

  • mastering the art of self-control, which really just spills over to EVERY aspect of life…finances, physical well-being, prayer.  Simply because in this life, although we’ve grown quite accustomed to instant gratification, not everything is to be obtained.  RIGHT.  NOW.
  • Improving communication.  It’s a good way to pass the time….
  • Picking up hobbies.  The kids won’t always be home and when that empty nest comes, there should be some things you enjoy doing together.  Aside from bedroom “stuff”.
And these “pluses” will spill over to our children as we lead by example.  It’s a difficult example to lead, don’t get me wrong!!  However, once practiced and then “second-nature” it will be a fruit well worth the wait.  As for us…..we’re in the practicing stage.  So pray for us!!!  We’ll be honing those skills, too!

 

Head on out and see what all the other May bloggers are up to!

Laura

Lynnell

Apurva 

MB

Brite  

Amanda 

Lea