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NFP is billed as a magical system that helps unite a couple and foster deep communication, even during times of abstinence. The Couple to Couple League International’s website is full of words like “liberating”, “selfless”, “empowering”, “teamwork”, and “enriching”. Our peppy instructors seemed so in love, so confident, and so in sync with each other. NFP was clearly my ticket to marital bliss. So why then, is practicing NFP actually so miserable? The frustration, arguments, frigidity, distrust, and temptation of using NFP is by no means the rare exception. This is not what we were promised! But nevertheless, we continue using NFP, cuz it beats the alternatives, right? And when people complain, sometimes they are met with a sympathetic, “yeah, I know it sucks, don’t it?” but more often they are met with, “Offer it up.” Both accurate responses, I think. But neither one is particularly helpful. It’s time to stop sugarcoating NFP. We need to start being honest about what it act...

The question we had struggled with for years was,“How could we remain faithful to Church teaching when Natural Family Planning did not seem to work for us?” Intuitively, I already knew a call to trust in God could not just be an intellectual assent but included  entrusting my fertility to God . Catholic teaching stated couples should space their children with abstinence but we slowly discovered I was one of those rare people who could conceive long before ovulation and we were pro-life, abortion was not an option. My doctor, after considering another unplanned pregnancy told us “Ah, I remember reading about a woman in New Zealand two years ago who conceived five days before ovulation.” I raised my hand and chirped, “Well, you can add me to that list!”  continue

This month's Natural Family Planning poster couple (so-to-speak) are Ben & Tina Butera from Bloomingdale, Illinois. They've used NFP for all of their 14-year marriage, and they have three children -- Antonio, age 12, Francesca, age 10, and Marianna, age 7. Although their main reason for using NFP is "doing what God wants," Tina and Ben also received an immense medical benefit when NFP helped them recognize warning signs early in Tina's last pregnancy, leading them to take steps to avoid possible miscarriage. To learn more about Ben and his faith, you can visit his Faith & Reason blog called   Two Catholic Men & a Blog . 1. Why do you use NFP? Aside from the obvious of wanting to live as God wants, we’ve always been uncomfortable with hypocrisy with ourselves or in others. We’re either in or out when doing something important, hot or cold. We live by either all Church teaching or none, and NFP certainly offers better family planning than no ...

Last year's guest post for NFP Awareness Week by James of  RealCatholicLoveandSex.com  continues to be  one of the most popular posts on the blog . This year, we'll give you a roundup of the best NFP Awareness Week posts from all over the web, including James', of course. Thanks to readers Tara, Scott, Ellen, Susan, Cat, and Mary Lou for their suggestions. If you know of other great posts that should be added to the list, please share the link in the comments! 1.  What is Natural Family Planning , by James of RealCatholicLoveandSex. James emphasizes that Natural Family Planning is actually a misnomer. Charting the signs of a woman's fertility is more of an education in her own body. We endanger our own happiness by making idols of our plans, as many couples learn when they use artificial birth control to prevent pregnancy for many years only to face infertility problems when they finally "plan" to conceive. 2.  The WINNER'S Guide to NFP , by Simc...

As part of NFP Awareness Week, I'm featuring some posts on NFP.  So far there's been the  Best of the Best: NFP  (a great resource list, seriously - pin it!) and  NFP for the Win  (five reasons to use NFP, religious reasons aside). Today, I'm featuring some lovely ladies from the blogging world. They'll be sharing their experience with NFP, what they love about it, what they don't love so much and how it's affected their lives and relationships. Read the rest here .

This post continues our celebration of NFP Awareness week, if you haven’t checked out Monday’s post:  Best of the Best of NFP  then you definitely should. I’ve even added a couple more resources that have just been posted in the last couple days cause there are just so many good ones! A lot of what you’re reading this week is based from a Catholic viewpoint and while that’s part of the reason I certainly practice, it’s not the only one. NFP isn’t just for the Catholic woman or couple and the reasons to use it instead of artificial methods of contraception are abundant. So I’ve put together a top five reasons why NFP wins. Read the reasons here .

In celebration of NFP Awareness month, I've put together a best of the best of NFP, including books, apps, websites and blog posts. Read the NFP Best of the Best here .

It's been another crazy week. Preparing for an NFP talk scheduled for next week, really praying it will go well and asking all my peeps to please pray for Ben and I, as well please pray for our audience, that they will be open and willing to receive our the message. As always I will be keeping the Holy Spirit close to me as I prepare to talk and then of course throughout the talk. Honestly, the message of pro life, anti-contraception, pro-NFP, is never easy to deliver. to read more click here  http://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.ca

I  am so very excited to share this post with you. As far as I'm concerned we need to hear more from our husbands who are also part of the NFP journey. Tom writes a beautifully written piece on his and his wife's journey with NFP and I am proud to have it be part of the NFP collection. Thank you so much Tom for allowing me to have your post on my blog. I am truly grateful. Please check out Tom's blog  http://www.prodigal-dumb-ox.blogspot.ca/  where he writes more about his return to God through the Catholic Church, you're going to love it! Writing History Before it Happens: Pope Paul VI, me, my wife and our journey toward NFP  By Tom at  http://www.prodigal-dumb-ox.blogspot.ca/ Recently I was considering what my primary responsibility to my wife is as her husband. Is it helping out with the dishes? Folding the laundry? Taking out the trash? The nearest thing I could come up with is that, although all of those things are helpful and contribute to running ...

So excited to announce my second guest post by Colleen Martin. Colleen runs a busy life as a working mother of 5 with a 6th on the way who also finds time in her busy life to keep up a fantastic blog. I especially love  her blog "Martin Family Moments" because Colleen and I have a lot in common. I appreciate her love for the Catholic Faith, her love for exercise and her witty opinion on everything and anything in life. Please take a minute to check out her blog  www.martinfamilymoments.blogspot.ca  . Thank you so much Colleen for being my cyber guest and sharing your honest experience with NFP. I am truly grateful. Our Journey with NFP                                                         by Colleen Martin  http://www.martinfamilymoments.blogspot.ca I encourage all of you to open your minds to Natural Family Planning....