Our CANFP Family

As we begin a new year, we join with you, our CANFP family of supporters, and reflect on the year gone by, as we plan for the coming year.

We pause to celebrate the many blessings of this past year. We thank in particular Dr. Michel Accad, for his three year term of service on the CANFP Board, and though other responsibilities prevent him from renewing for another term, we are most grateful for his pledge of continued support and participation. We thank the two new board members, Gary Schuberg and Mario Rizzo, who have provided valuable leadership this past year, and of course the rest of our faithful Board Members—my heroes, Dr. Keenan, Fr. Berg, and Archbishop Cordileone—who work so diligently to serve our members and ensure CANFP is fulfilling its mission to share the good news of NFP. We express a very special thank you to our members, donors, and supporters acknowledged on pages eight and nine of this CANFPNEWS, who make all that we do possible, and the members featured in articles throughout this first edition of 2017.
We also share together in the struggle of disappointments we have faced, and grieve with those among us who have experienced losses in our families this past year, especially the loss of an NFP pioneer, a man who is such a big part of the history of NFP in California, founding member of the CANFP Advisory Board, and my dear…dear friend, Dr. Howard Herning. Watch over us Dr. Herning!   

We, CANFP, are an association of people, who share a common interest in promoting NFP, as we know it is a great blessing for couples and families, and we know so many have never heard of it, or understand it. And so we work together to share this good news of NFP throughout California… and beyond.

In working together, we become more. We become a family of sorts ourselves, sharing in this mission that seems so foreign to our culture. We meet at CANFP conferences, we read about each others activities in the CANFPNEWS, we see each others stories at www.canfp.org, we get updates on efforts around the state on the CANFP Facebook page, we run into each other at the CANFP exhibit at events in our area—-or, perhaps we never meet, and yet through our shared commitment, we share a common bond. We share the frustration of encountering healthcare providers whose only solution to everything from acne to fertility is “the pill”; we feel the pain and confusion in the Ask the Expert questions posted at www.canfp.org; we experience the disappointment of witnessing friends and family subjecting themselves to the intrusion of drugs and devices into their intimate relationships, unconvinced or unaware there is another way; we are distressed as those we care about struggle with infertility, knowing that modern NFP and restorative reproductive therapies are rarely offered to them. We are frustrated there are not enough NFP services to serve every community, and by the lack of education that healthcare providers receive about natural methods of fertility management during their training, and the infrequency with which we hear an enlightened explanation of these issues, in our churches, doctors offices, schools, and among our peers.

And so, yes, CANFP is about promoting Natural Family Planning, but as we embark on this 24th year of doing that together, we have become kind of like family ourselves (after all, “Family” is our middle name).

So as we reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of 2016, and embrace with eagerness what the new year brings, we give thanks for all of YOU, our CANFP family. We thank you for walking this path with us, and for sharing in this journey. We face with courage, confidence, and joy, both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Together. Like the family we are.