What keeps us going?
At several conferences during October, people approached us with surprise that we are no longer with CCL but have started NFP International. Then they would ask about the differences between the two organizations. Some may have wondered, and some of you may wonder, why we didn’t just quit after our separation in 2003 from the Couple to Couple League, an organization we founded in 1971. Wasn’t it time to relax? After all, we had spent 32 years promoting eco-breastfeeding as a form of natural family planning, the covenant theology of sexuality (a busy man’s theology of the body), and a sympto-thermal method which taught all the fertility signs and different rules for different situations. We could have quit, but then we realized that CCL was changing or dropping what we brought to the League. Even CCL called their changes an “extreme makeover.” Because of this, we felt called to start NFP International to keep alive what we had started.
One of the things that keeps us going is positive feedback. In this blog, we share some of the feedback that encourages us to continue. We have offered free NFP instruction via our online manual and will continue to do so. What gives us happiness is that the free online manual and other offerings at the website are being helpful to others, as you will see from the quotes below.
“I just wanted to say thank you for keeping up the website and for writing the Art of NFP. I got the book through CCL’s home study course, 6 months or so before they switched to the new student guide. I’ve since purchased the student guide because I wanted to know what was in it. I’ve thought time and again how glad I was that I got the old book when I learned. I just feel like there is so much more information. And the emphasis on the moral aspects have been important to me as I have tried to expose many of my friends to NFP, many of whom already use artificial birth control. I’m really glad to have found this website. It’s a great reference and being able to download the guide and charts for free is a major plus for financially struggling newlyweds. You are reaching younger Catholics and providing us with the resources necessary to reach out to our friends.”
“I just wanted to write a quick note to say thank you for the website. It is very helpful for those of us who need a refresher course on NFP, and so easy to access and read. So thank you very much.”
“I am a Natural Family Planning Coordinator for our diocese. We have too few teachers and too few students. I have received inquiries about classes but the couples would often be too far from me or one of our other teachers. I find myself frequently referring couples to your website.”
“I will download the manual. Thank you very much for your help. God bless you too for having this site and promoting this beautiful alternative to other methods that are not healthy (for the spirit, body or mind).”
“I’m new at NFP. I didn’t practice ecological breastfeeding/NFP with my daughter and got pregnant with our son when our daughter was 6 months old. I’m still nursing my son who is 13 months old and JUST got my cycle back. I’ve been charting for a week now and I’m loving this. So many of my friends use medical ways to control their fertility. I feel it is so harmful to the body. I’m so thankful for groups like this and glad I googled NFP!”
Next week: Comments on ecological breastfeeding as a form of NFP. Kudos to Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle for her book The Domestic Church in which she relates how she spaced her babies through breastfeeding and writes that ecological breastfeeding is a form of natural family planning. In her book, she recommends Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood for the spiritual and physical aspects of breastfeeding.
Sheila Kippley
The Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding: The Frequency Factor, 2008
Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, 2008, classic edition
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood, 2005
www.nfpandmore.org