Jean and Janelle, Manitoba

A few months before our wedding date, we took Serena’ s course on Natural Family Planning (or NFP for short).  Our wedding day was May 3rd, 2003; from that day on, we used NFP as a couple to both avoid and achieve pregnancies.  During the first two years of our marriage we avoided a pregnancy in order to allow Janelle the opportunity to complete her college degree.  Then, when the time came to expand our family, we used this same fertility knowledge to determine the best time to try to conceive.  Thanks to help from Serena’s method of NFP, we have four wonderful children,  Jérémie (eight years old),  Charité (six years old),  Thomas (five years old),  and our newest addition,  Sophia,  who will soon be turning one year old.

Our initial decision to use NFP was straight forward.  Both of us were versed in our church’s  teachings on love, family, and our sexual nature.  But prior to marriage, most of this information was theoretical.  In our years of marriage, we’ve experienced firsthand the beauty and the richness of these theoretical teachings in the practical application of NFP to our married life.  We’ve discovered that NFP is not just a technical reproductive planning tool; using NFP actually engenders a whole sexual “way of life” and presents a fresh perspective on human fertility.  As a couple, we stand in reverent awe of the powerful gift of fertility that has been granted to us.  This way of life has taught us to have deep respect for both the joy of our sexual relationship and the fertility of our bodies.

For couples who are not trying to conceive, using NFP requires a time of sexual abstinence every cycle.  At the beginning of our marriage, dealing with this was challenging, but we soon learned to use these times of abstinence to diversify our expressions of love and make them more creative.  For example, we make more time for walks and bike ridges together, as well as movie nights, game nights,  and quiet “talk-time”.   The sacrifices required in using NFP have increased our ability to be self-giving, loving, and caring people.  Our sacrifices end up being rewarded at the end of that time of abstinence,  when we get to experience a new “honeymoon” as we come together again in that sexual relationship.

The past few years have been an ongoing education for us, as we have delved deeper into theoretical and practical documents about marriage, family, love, and sex.  Also, we have become involved as volunteers with Serena.  Since 2009, we have been teaching Serena’s course on NFP every second month at Winnipeg’s Misericordia hospital.  We serve as members on Serena Manitoba’s board of directors, and we have had the privilege these past two four years of serving as the president couple for the national organization,  Serena Canada.   We hope to continue to be involved with this worthwhile effort for many years to come.