Ch-Ch-Changes

Our president, Dr. Keenan, wrote in the summer CANFP NEWS about CANFP being at the dawn of a new day. That was more prophetic than even she may have realized at the time!

Much change is underfoot at CANFP. I do not like change so much. I definitely do not like saying goodbye to long time board members, people I admire, and have come to call dear friends. I console myself with the knowledge that they will continue to be involved in CANFP, albeit in different ways.

I recently visited two of our founding Advisory Board members, Evelyn Eaton, and Dr. Howard Herning, and his wife Dorothy. It was fun to update them on the progress CANFP has made, celebrate with them the many recent successes, and reminisce about the good ol’ days. I left inspired, a thousand times grateful for the people NFP has brought into my life, and reminded that without change, I would not know these beloved friends and mentors!

It made me think as well about the changes people must make when they come to learn NFP. Sometimes people choose NFP because they are proactively seeking a better way, a change. They  may be seeking to improve their health, their marriage, or to start a family, and have the  foresight to see that NFP is the  path. Other times, they have no choice. They come to NFP as a last resort, because they had a blood clot from using the pill and are no longer a candidate for taking it, or because three attempts at IVF have failed and they have nothing else to try, or lose, or because their spouse insists on a method of family planning that is consistent with their beliefs re: the meaning of love and marriage.

I am really inspired by those who proactively come to NFP, seeking the good it promises. And I truly respect the spouses that care enough about their wife or husband to insist on using moral means to plan their families. But I have to tell you, as a person who is not naturally disposed to change, I especially admire the ones who come  reluctantly, to give this change a chance, or to honor the wishes of their beloved

I admire them because they must, on faith, accept these changes they have not sought out. Oh, and there will be changes.

I have spoken recently with many who claim they see little moral difference between contraception and NFP, since both are effective at avoiding pregnancy. But their effectiveness at avoiding pregnancy is the only trait contraception and NFP share. In every other way, they are fundamentally different, and NFP will require significant changes of those who come to use it. Embracing NFP requires letting go of some ideas that are very familiar to us—ideas often absorbed unknowingly from a culture saturated with a contraceptive mind set. We have to… change. So whether you are coming to NFP because you see the good it has to offer, or as a last resort, take the advice of someone allergic to change—-embrace the change. Take a leap of faith, and you will be abundantly blessed. Among the unanticipated blessings will be the wonderful people that will come into your life when you join the NFP community!

So bring it on. Hard as it is to let go of the familiar, with faith  I embrace the changes, more grateful than words can say for the opportunity to work side by side with such great people, and with confidence, excitedly anticipating the coming year.