CANFP: Personal ~ Committed ~ Connected ~ Caring

We believe in NFP and want to help bring the opportunity to others and help raise awareness of what NFP is and what it is not. We believe in and have experienced the benefits of NFP. It’s natural and does not harm the body; it raises awareness of and appreciation for the gift that life is; and it helps us focus on asking “What is God’s plan for our family?”. These elements spill over into other aspects of life as well.

So, why do we give to the California Association of Natural Family Planning (CANFP) in particular?

The following characteristics come to mind when we think about a response to that question:
Personal ~ Committed ~ Connected ~ Caring.
We feel a friendship, a kinship, with our CANFP practitioner.

We were first acquainted with CANFP and Sheila St. John when living in Monterey, California over ten years ago. We were seeking an NFP practitioner, and God placed Sheila in our lives. Sheila and CANFP were there for us from the beginning of our marriage, through the blessing of pregnancy, and during the pre-term loss of our precious baby boy, Thomas Gabriel. Sheila, using her CANFP network connections, linked us to medical professionals who worked with us to achieve pregnancy and to provide advice and options that were medically sound as well as in keeping with the Catholic Church’s doctrine. This support continued even after we moved to the East coast, and continued to consult with Sheila and CANFP. This journey continued as we came to the acceptance that our children would not spend time with us here on earth, and that we would have to wait to hold them and play with them in heaven.

CANFP is professional and personal. There is a personal relationship that is formed between the practitioner and the couple learning and practicing NFP. It is more than stamps and processes. We shared dreams for the future to include life’s ups and downs during our sessions with Sheila. We knew we could call her to help us find medical advice and provide us with support whenever and wherever we needed it.

The bottom line is that we donate to CANFP because it cared and cares about us; it supports our family with our journey through natural family planning.