marriage Archives | Fertility Awareness | NFP Training and Coaching

6 books to read before you get married

Congratulations! You’re engaged! Phew, do you have a lot of work ahead of you. It will be easy to get caught up in the details of the big day, so take it from someone who’s just a month away from her own wedding: make a point to slow down and put some preparation towards the…

Eight habits to strengthen every marriage

From the Family Foundations archives **** There’s a lot of confusion about what separates happy couples from unhappy couples. For instance, you might be surprised to know that happy couples argue about as often as unhappy couples and are about as good at solving problems! The real difference between marriage masters and marriage disasters is that happy…

The world of quieter conversions

St. Paul’s conversion, with all its drama and bright lights and the booming voice of God, reads like something out of a comic book. While such film-worthy revelations of God to his people are rare, quiet conversions and reversions are far more numerous than people may believe. In NFP circles in particular, we see that…

5 ways we’re getting more out of marriage prep

I’m currently four months deep in an 8-month engagement. As I write this, my fiancé is in a U-Haul moving across the country, where he’ll stay until I move and join him after the honeymoon. As we are back again in a long-distance relationship and because he is not Catholic, much of the planning and…

My vocation isn’t marriage

Marriage was never an option in my discernment. I could tell from my gifts, interests, strengths and weaknesses that my calling would be something particularly unconventional. Marriage? Dull. Kids? Adorable, but spiritual motherhood fosters a much bigger family and is far more frequently neglected. The second stop for my discernment train was clearly religious life.…

3 truly scary things about NFP

It’s that spooktacular time of year and scary things are in the air. There’s bats and pumpkins and costumes for the weak-hearted, but far more terrifying things for those foolish enough to risk it. Nothing is more sinister than the dark, demanding world of natural family planning. If you’re brave enough, read on to find…

Q&A with CCL’s financial advisor

Zachary C. Clark, CFP is the newest member of the Couple to Couple League’s Board of Directors and will act as Financial Advisor. As we chatted, it quickly became evident that he has a quick sense of humor and a big heart. Forest Hempen: Do you go by Zach or Zachary? Zachary Clark: I…

For richer or poorer

From the Family Foundations archives **** Thirty years ago it was all different. There was a ring, a white dress and an “I do.” There were chicken and mashed potatoes, an open dance floor and an overjoyed couple ready to start their lives together as husband and wife. Now, as 20- and 30-somethings prepare to say “I…

Transfigured

The world around us tells us in a million ways that we are nothing special. Most of all, it tells us that the gift of our sexuality is nothing special — in fact, it’s a big problem. We manipulate our hormones, poison ourselves, make war on healthy organs, or place physical barriers between us, trying…

How Humanae Vitae shaped our family

Humanae Vitae Giving Day 2018 * * * From the Family Foundations archives by Jack and Sonia Ferraro Like most engaged couples, we set goals for our life together. As we progressed toward our wedding date, we constructed an idea of what our life would be like in “The Five-Year Plan.” We…