The Lifecycle of One CCL Volunteer
Karen and I began teaching as volunteers for CCL in 1985; we did our first series with a nursing infant in our arms. She was conceived less than a year earlier between class 3 & 4 when as students we figured we had the ‘NFP for avoiding’ thing figured out and wanted to test ‘NFP for conceiving’ (it clearly worked!).
Early Days
In those early days the class was four sessions, we taught using a slide carousel and projector, we sold course kits directly to our students before class #1 started, and we carried a lending library and pamphlet rack with promotional materials. Communication was via snail mail and landline telephones only. As new volunteers we were spreading the good news of NFP to our peers, and it was exciting to walk with them as we moved forward in our lives.
Fast forward to 2008. As experienced teachers having taught once a month for all but the years we lived overseas, we had to re-train for the new curriculum, now in just 3 classes, using power point, and including videos of a priest and physician. Fortunately, the new class came with the move to national online course registration. So as teachers we no longer handled course kits and cash. Driving to class no longer felt like we were packing for a two-week trip! By now, we felt we were teaching NFP to our children’s generation. Our witness to NFP shifted slightly since we were the experienced veterans helping the rookies get off to a good start.
Volunteering Worth the Effort
These times were often challenging with a class coming up in the middle of some family crisis and we often found ourselves driving to class on those dark February evenings asking ourselves if teaching was worth it. It seemed every time we had that conversation on the way to class, a student couple came up to us after class and made a comment that reminded us the effort was more than worth it; we had the needed encouragement to keep teaching.
Our local group of CCL volunteers was also growing. When we started, our “chapter” was us and the Teaching Couple who taught us. Now it had grown to half a dozen teachers and volunteers, and we often found ourselves providing consultation to other teachers over tough problems. Today, our chapter “meetings” are far less about CCL business and much more about fellowship and mutual support.
The second decade of the new century brought more changes to CCL with the introduction of a charting app, live online classes and even a self-paced version to reach where no teachers existed. For us, with grown and nearly grown children, teaching was becoming more than just instructing on the mechanics of NFP observation and interpretation. The students we were interacting with were closer in age to our grandchildren, and our decades-long, thriving marriage seemed to be a role model of success and something many had not witnessed with their parents.
Receiving More Than We Have Given
Now in the third decade of the “new” century we find ourselves still teaching, though less frequently, and really enjoying the ease of live online classes. Online classes mean no driving to class, communication is electronic, and at break time we get to raid our own fridge! So why have we continued to teach for more than 36 years? It’s hard to pinpoint a reason, but I do believe as a couple we have received more benefit interacting with engaged and newly married couples than we have provided to them. I suspect teaching NFP has been a big reason our marriage is still fresh and strong after 40+ years. It’s clear too in those times when we wondered if we were doing any good, the Holy Spirit sent us a messenger reminding us to carry on.
We are very excited to announce that we have a new Teacher Training Session starting soon. We are open to receiving applications from students and promoters who are interested in teaching NFP to other couples. Also, we have a new opportunity for individuals to teach NFP as a paid FSI Instructor. Find out more at www.ccli.org/teach