New Tricks
Our instructor with a giant flip chart. A mercury thermometer. Paper charts, easily misplaced around the house. These are my early memories of practicing NFP. The digital thermometer? Revolutionary! Eventually, NFP became so routine that we would just track my biomarkers in a little notebook. Then came the PeakDay app. Mind blown! Who knew tracking my fertility could be so fun?! While the basics of NFP haven’t changed in the 23 years (gasp!) we’ve been using it, the way we use the method continues to improve and evolve. Despite the adage, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Continuing Education
I’m so grateful to be part of the “inner circle” at our CCL ministry. I am lucky to be one of the first to know when an update or new program is launched. Unfortunately, these new tips and tricks aren’t picked up as quickly as we’d like by the Dioceses, parishes, and couples. So many of the Dioceses and parishes we talk to are struggling financially. They see the need. They just don’t have the financial resources to invest in new programs for their engaged couples, or critical continuing education for their staff and volunteers. It’s often easier and more affordable to just keep doing what’s always been done.
So, we’ve been brainstorming! How can we best support these ministries? We realized you’re the hero of this story. You have stepped up this year and given even more than last year. Through your generosity, we’ve been able to sustain the introductory price of Natural Plan for parishes. Now we can offer the Ministry Education continuing education program to ministry leaders for free! Because of you, we can work directly with parishes and Dioceses. We can make sure they have the most accurate and engaging way to talk about NFP. They’ve got access to those new tricks!
Effective Sharing
In just a few months, hundreds of couples have already discovered Natural Plan and that’s just the beginning. The Ministry Education option is ideal for bringing key leaders and volunteers up to date on the latest about NFP. This can be a sensitive topic so it’s critical that we get it right when we have the chance to share this beautiful teaching with others. With only about 3% of Catholics using NFP, we must be able to effectively share the important why (both physically and spiritually) of this teaching. The Ministry Education program is a great way to get everyone on the same page. It will upgrade those tools in the toolbox to share what it really means to live the NFP lifestyle.
We know you’re all in; that’s why you’re here. I’m preaching to the choir. But we can’t rest here. There are more old dogs that need to learn new tricks. More new dogs need to learn new tricks. There will always be the need to keep sharing the message of NFP. When we continue to work together in this ministry, those thousands of women and couples turn into thousands of families that will, ideally, live out those teachings and values – creating even more ripples in the movement. Your support is growing the grassroots community from intro to full class to new instructors.
Thank you so much for all that you’ve given. We’re honored that you continually choose CCL for your charitable support, which allows us to offer programs like Natural Plan and Ministry Education. Let’s keep it going!
Originally published in Family Foundations magazine, a publication sent to patrons of Couple to Couple League.