Answering the Call

To me, being a Professional Member of CANFP means belonging to an elite group of people in California who are doing God’s work.

I am a Creighton Model FertilityCare Practitioner (FCP). Before becoming an FCP, I had a nearly 16year career in agricultural finance. I loved my career and serving my customers. I used to joke with my NaProTechnology doctors about becoming a teacher of the Creighton Model, but it always seemed like a pipe dream. It seemed impossible as I had a nice cushy career which I didn’t really want to leave. Little did we know that God had other plans! I now realize He was working towards this end for many years. He was molding and preparing me (and my husband) to answer a calling He had for me.

My husband and I suffered through six years of infertility before we were blessed with our own NaPro miracle: our son. We lost two babies before him, and another two after him. My son is autistic, and although he is high functioning, he required extensive therapy to get him to where he is today. My support and advocacy are essential, now and into the future. Because of my son’s needs it became very challenging for me to continue to work full-time.

In the Fall of 2017, I felt God’s hand at work in my life. Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt pulled to something, and yet it seemed impossible to accomplish? That is what beginning the process to become an FCP was like for me. While it seemed impossible, everything fell into place at just the right moment. Although I felt like I was in a hurdles race, and each hurdle felt like a mountain, God kept pulling me toward the finish line. And just when I thought the next hurdle was impossible, He’d make a way. I entered the internship, completed the course on schedule, and took my exam, passing it on my first attempt. I walked away from a career I loved to answer God’s call. In so doing, I found myself on a new and rewarding professional path, which allowed me to make my son my first priority because I am able to work my schedule around him.

In retrospect I realized that God had been working in our lives since my journey of infertility began, to bring me to this point. I can see now in so many little details of my life, that if the events had transpired differently I may not be where I am today. Many of those situations were hard to live through at the time, but I can see now that it was all part of His plan. God knew he wanted me to join the ranks of so many men and women before me who answered His call to spread the good news of Natural Family Planning. To teach NFP is to bring His light into the world, empowering women and couples with the knowledge of the gift that is their fertility. NFP is witnessing to the experience of fertility as a beauty and blessing, not a curse. As an NFP teacher, I am called to give hope to people who might have lost hope in their health or in their ability to become parents. And in some cases, teaching NFP involves evangelizing or ministering to others.

As a member of CANFP, I feel that I am a more finely tuned instrument of God’s love. CANFP keeps me informed and motivated on all things NFP. All who promote Natural Family Planning, myself included, are answering a call—a call to do God’s work.