Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

  I am still in shock that Jordan and I have been married for a year already. It feels like 3 months, if that. As cliche as it sounds, marriage is everything I had ever imagined and more. It helps that I have the most amazing husband and we have an awesome support system surrounding us. We've gone through a lot in the past 12 months, both good and bad. Whenever I sum up our experiences to people, I'm usually met with wide eyes and a "wow." Not every marriage has multiple moves, new jobs, a death of a friend, a fixer upper house project, a serious accident of a sibling, many new health diagnoses, and cross country trips (among lots of other things) within the first 365 days. It has been a whirlwind, for sure! As crazy as it has been, I wouldn't have it any other way. As I write this in bed next to my love, I feel compelled to share what wisdom we have gained from this past year. 1. Marriage is worth waiting for. Every single minute. This is in regards to both sex...

  NFP. Natural Family Planning. Mucus. Sympto Thermal. Creighton. Basal temp. Charting. Sex. Abstain. Babies. Lots of words get thrown around along with the topic of NFP, or Natural Family Planning. What is it, and why would it be important to Jordan and me when we aren't even married yet?   There are so many reasons that Jordan and I practice and believe in NFP. I could talk and talk about it, but I'll just touch on a few main reasons we do it. First, though, let me give a general overview of what NFP actually is because it is widely misunderstood.   Natural Family Planning is a method of guiding married couples' physical intimacy that focuses on the signs a woman's body gives throughout her cycle so that together they can choose to participate in the marital act during appropriate times for their intentions of having a child. It also is used to forge a stronger bond between the husband and wife by encouraging communication and other ways of intimacy (spiritual, em...

  Being engaged is one of the most amazing stages of life, but it's also one of the most exasperating! You've found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, and you love them with everything you are....well, almost. There's this little "issue" with practicing chastity. Couples who aren't married yet choose to not share their bodies.   This isn't restricted just to engaged couples, either! Jordan and I definitely felt the frustration during our dating period, as well. We have discerned that God wants us to marry each other, so we're moving toward the sacrament. Jordan and I are constantly learning new things about each other, which strengthens and deepens the love we share. The closer we get in a nonphysical way, the more our bodies want to catch up.   The human body is a complex network on multiple planes, and everything is connected. Our minds and souls are connected to our bodies, although the two former aspects of a person are co...