The Blessings of Teaching NFP
God never ceases to amaze me with the opportunities He gives me in my life. I never intended to become a Natural Family Planning teacher with CCL. Before we got married my husband and I took the CCL class in our area. Like many couples, we struggled to find a class we could both attend because of living long distance while engaged. With a science and math background respectively, charting signs and symptoms came very naturally to us.
Soon after our class we found ourselves being approached by the couples that taught us NFP. They asked us to consider becoming a teaching couple. We wanted to give back to the church and pre-marriage ministry really felt like a call for us. We joined the marriage prep team at our parish. Then we started training to be CCL teachers. Our training would end up taking almost two years because of what happened next.
Charting and Testing
I learned quickly the importance of charting well for our success with NFP. Like any data analysis in an experiment, the more detailed data you have the easier it is to analyze and draw conclusions. As we approached our first anniversary we had seen that my temperatures were very low (in the 96s). Also, my temperature shift was not sustained, resulting in a short luteal phase. We wanted to get these things checked out before I tried to get pregnant.
I took my charts to my NFP friendly PCP that I had been seeing for most of my life. She immediately wanted to check my thyroid levels. During a physical check of my thyroid I noticed her face change expressions and I knew that something was wrong. With subsequent testing, I was soon diagnosed with early stage thyroid cancer. I am forever thankful that charting symptoms led us to a very early diagnosis.
Achieving Pregnancy
When we were finally clear to start trying for a pregnancy, we were able to use our expertly honed charting habits to try to achieve pregnancy, which took nearly another year. During this time, we finished our CCL teacher training becoming even more passionate about the call to teach. We believe that it is very important for women to have this data about their bodies, not only for postponing and achieving pregnancy but also for general health and wellness.
Over the years, I have successfully used NFP without a thyroid to achieve four pregnancies and to naturally space our children. I have used Marilyn Shannon’s book, Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition, to learn about good nutrition and supplements to naturally balance my hormones and help me through all the transitions of having four children. Though I have never had a student with as serious a diagnosis as I have had, I have referred women to doctors who have been able to diagnose underlying infections, endometriosis, PCOS and more. Our body truly speaks a language to us as women through our cycles. There is a need, now more than ever, for women to understand, through cycle charting, how our body communicates with us.
Teaching
In our digital age it is even easier to step up and teach. We have four children ten and under and teaching and coaching live online has been super convenient for us. Our classes are set to start after bedtime once a month and log on to classes that are constantly at full capacity with couples from around the country. We didn’t intend to become Natural Family Planning teachers but we feel blessed to be able to answer this call to serve our church in a way that fits our current state in life.
I encourage you to consider if God is offering you the opportunity of spreading the good news of NFP to the Universal Church by becoming a Teaching Couple, coach or promoter.e are; we can celebrate where we want to be. God is doing big things in and through each one of us. We’re stepping out in faith, trusting that you’ll join us. The journey is a lot easier when we’re walking together.
— Written by Elizabeth Timpe, CCL Teaching Couple and FSI Fertility Coach. Head to Fertility Science Institute for a free 15 minute consultation from one of our Fertility Coaches.