Father, I would like your recommendation on what book/booklet to purchase for my 20-year-old daughter that discusses how Natural Family Planning works.
Thank you.
Cathy
Dear Cathy,
Hello. My name is Kristie Wellman, and I work at One More Soul, a non-profit organization fostering God's plan for chastity, love, marriage, and children. I'm 24 and the Youth and Family Outreach Coordinator here. Stella from the NFP Outreach forwarded your e-mail to us for our suggestions. Here are a few different suggestions:
1) For a simple overview of NFP -- but one that would basically teach your daughter the method, there is a small book called Love and Fertility that is on the Ovulation Method of NFP by Family of the Americas. It is short and to the point and easily understood.
2) For another book that would actually teach your daughter the method, there is The Billings Method. This is a much longer book. It also teaches the Ovulation Method using a different methodology. The book does go into more detail and explanation than Love and Fertility.
3) If you are more interested in something that discusses NFP but isn't a book actually teaching the method, there are several other options:
One More Soul's resource called "First Comes Love" is in newspaper format and full of testimonies, quotes, articles, and more on the Catholic Church's teaching on married sexuality -- the blessings of children, the harms of contraception, and how NFP can help marriages. It is very well put together and good for just picking up and reading bits and pieces at a time.
There is also a book called Life-Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn that is excellent. It discusses the Church's teaching on NFP and openness to life. I love it because it is engaging to read and has stories of real-life people who either have or have not lived out this teaching in their lives and what happened.
Finally, One More Soul has 2 CDs that come to my mind as relevant for what you are looking for. The first is "Contraception: Why Not?” by Dr. Janet Smith, which explains the advantages of NFP. The second is "It Brought Me Back to God," which is the testimony of a man who reluctantly agreed to switch from contraception to NFP in his marriage and had his life totally changed for the better in the process.
You can obtain all of these resources from our website (www.omsoul.com) and most of them from other places (Catholic bookstores, etc.) as well. I hope that this is helpful but not too much information! May God bless you and your daughter.
In Jesus, Kristie
Printed with permission from Natural Family Planning Outreach.
