A Man’s Take on NFP
I was fortunate enough to have come to appreciate fertility awareness morally before our first NFP class. I had witnessed and experienced the fallout of lots of sin before that day and my heart was convinced while my mind was open to learning. By the end of my first class, I was ready to tell the world about the amazing, complex, and delicate system that brought new humans into the world while still being more adaptive and reliable than any of the software projects that I saw at work. I can’t count the blessings that have flowed from that first class. I know some of my male students feel the same way.
Paying Attention
Guys who are gung-ho from the start are wonderful and are a blessing to teach because I have so much fun with kindred spirits. However, my current favorite student is the reluctant but secretly attentive man. Teaching virtually, I’ve been able to reach hundreds of couples in the last few years. So often I have a very attentive woman who is picking up the material well. Then, she hits something she has trouble with. The guy, who was distant, maybe even staring at his phone, speaks up and gives the answer.
He’s clearly grasped what has been taught. This is usually either identifying peak day or calculating the start of phase 3. I am overjoyed to know that learning has been happening, especially where I thought a lack of attention ruled. Sadly, I so rarely get to find out how things go after the wedding. In this instance, I take comfort that the couple has learned something and invested in their relationship. Clearly, the man knows how to step in and help.
Understanding Achieved
It is always hard to read small facial expressions on-line but I’ve been blessed to see men come completely around to the NFP life over the course of the 3 classes. Their faces beam brightly enough that it translates over the Google Meet connection. These men have clearly been moved by what they have learned about women and the tools they have gained to better understand the woman they love most. Men often rise to the courtship challenge of remembering their ladylove’s favorite food, movie, song, or gift. Our class gives them a chance to learn more about their beloved ; perhaps even to help her understand herself!
History bears out the same pattern as men are called to grow into their manhood under the banner of honor, justice, liberty and other noble concepts. Whenever these concepts are lived out, they are shown as beautiful women reflecting how men are drawn to them, as us men are so often drawn by our eyes to the attractive and good. Although our eyes so often lead men away from God in this fallen world, CCL’s classes are one place where our vision is led back to the good, true, and beautiful.
Written by Jim Volpe. Jim lives in eastern PA with his wife Jen and their five children. Jim and Jen have been a CCL Teaching Couple for 18 years and Jim is a FSI coach. When not teaching NFP, Jim enjoys board games, video games, splitting wood, and software engineering. Jim is also a CCL board member. This column was first seen in Family Foundations magazine.