Teaching NFP, a Natural Fit
Kevin Walsh serves in the U.S. Marine Corps, so he and his homeschooling wife, Adrienne, are familiar with service. Although the military does not officially sanction his teaching NFP, Kevin and Adrienne have found being a teaching couple a natural fit for service within the Church. Through military stations from North Carolina to Europe, the couple has taught online NFP classes on and off for more than a decade and witnessed with their large family to their military neighbors.
Kevin and Adrienne have six kids. “Which isn’t an outlandish number,” says Adrienne, “but that’s typically what draws the attention from other mothers. Usually what is mentioned is they would have loved to have more.”
NFP Experience
As fifteen-year experienced teachers of NFP, they can dispel the myth that it is a complex science. “It’s not overly invasive, it’s your body, you go through these cycles, all you’re doing is recognizing and reading it,” says Adrienne. “It’s not as complicated as it may sound, and it’s customized to the woman.”
Perhaps what brings Adrienne the most joy about sharing NFP is helping others overcome misinformation. “Before you’re burdened with a thought of prolonged abstinence or whatever your mother told you, take a class,” she says. “I’ve had a few women be surprised. They are impressed this isn’t guesswork and leave our classes realizing this could work. And if they are on contraceptives and expressed a fear of coming off, after they’ve taken the classes, they realize they’re not as scared.”
Proposing the Gospel
For Kevin, beyong service, expressing faith is what is most gratifying about teaching. “You get a chance to talk about NFP, but it’s in the context of proposing the Gospel,” he says. “This is an opportunity for me to say, ‘You’ve heard a priest say it. I’m a regular Catholic, American guy, and I’m telling you I believe this, too.’”
Adrienne and Kevin’s testimony underscores NFP as a path of trust by which couples can experience God pouring out blessings on marriages. “Really, what God wants for you is joy,” says Kevin. “And marriage is one of the key vehicles for that. The more we let it degrade or try to fit it into a box of our own, the more we limit our ability to really experience the true beauty God wants to show us.” Speaking about growing the trend of NFP further, he adds, “This isn’t a bunch of do’s and don’ts. It’s unlocking this extra level of beauty God wants to share. The more we emphasize that, the more we call the culture back to true love.”
You can learn NFP online or in person. Visit www.LearnNFP.org to find a class for you!