Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

  My husband and I have been practicing NFP/cycle tracking/noncontraception within our marriage for over a year and a half now. It's crazy that we've been married for that long! Many of you know that I began tracking my cycle in high school, so it has been part of my life for the better half of a decade. It gives me a different perspective than many wives who only started because it was advertised as a pregnancy regulator, when in reality it is so much more.   In honor of NFP Awareness Week, I'm doing a piece with input from Jordan based on typical questions and ones that people have asked us. Side note: NFP, charting, and tracking are going to be used interchangeably in this article. A generalized definition is: documenting a woman's menstrual cycle using biological markers for the purpose of gynecological health, avoiding/achieving pregnancy, and contributing to the overall wellbeing of the woman and of a marriage by fostering an atmosphere of openness, communicat...

  That's what I always explain to people when discussing cycle charting. It's more than just trying to avoid or achieve a pregnancy. It's way more than that, and to sell it short is a disservice to women.   What is charting, exactly? Basically, it's a way of keeping track of your menstrual cycle by noticing the signs your body gives you throughout your cycle. It's quite amazing how God created our bodies to keep us in the know; if only we listened to it more. I think most women subconsciously notice changes that happen to their bodies as it moves through each month, but don't actually file it away to look back on. I mean, let's be real here, sex ed and the puberty talk in school never discussed that sort of thing. All we heard is "you're gonna bleed for a week straight" and "your body is going to be changing." Nobody talks about what happens after puberty is over, when these kids grow up. It's no wonder why so many people are co...