My name is Jessica

I’m the former Family Planning Coordinator for the Catholic Diocese of Madison in Southwest Wisconsin. I started this blog in 2007 as an effort to infuse a fresh approach to promoting non-contraceptive family planning, and for an outlet for a flair that was sometimes a little too edgy for the office.  I currently reside in the Western US, but keep up this blog because NFP, fertility, femininity and sustainable family planning are a passion.

My work now

I moonlight as Mission Development Coordinator for the Edith Stein Foundation, a non-profit promoting the dignity of women by slaying the dragon of contraception. I volunteer from time to time speaking about NFP, Humanae Vitae & the Theology of the Body, and also do communications consulting for non-profits. I’m a grad student as well, working towards my MA in Marriage & Family Studies at Maryvale Institute, a humble but rockin’ distance school located at Bl. John Henry Newman’s first Catholic home.

I love Jesus and the Church, but I won’t force you to.

My faith is most important to me, what shed a light on my aching heart in my twenties, and what makes everyday an ordinary and beautiful adventure for me. The Church’s teaching on human dignity and human sexuality is central to the passion that vivifies my love of God, humanity, and the gift of sexuality. So a lot of what I post will relate to faith and family, but it won’t be the only angle I cover, and by no means do you need to be religious to join the community and conversation here.

This blog is about the beauty of Natural Family Planning (NFP) & a non-contraceptive approach to love & life.

I’ll touch on the snares of chemical contraceptives quite a bit (it’s not a well-covered issue, ladies & gents), but I also really want to lift up the beauty of fertility, children and family life.

This blog will also cover topics related to family planning–the good, the bad and the ugly.

It’s not all daisies out there, and the status quo for family planning and the contraceptive mentality need to challenged. Like Truman in The Truman Show (dramedy, 1998), we need to question and challenge the consructs around us. Society has come to accept contraceptive fallacies and family planning myths (such as overpopulation) since the sexual devolution of the 60′s and 70′s which needs to be addressed. Stagelights are falling, so many times we’ll talk about these on the blog.

The Hope

The hope is that both men and women will be challenged to re-think the way they plan (or don’t plan) a family. I hope people will embrace children as gifts, not burdens. I hope people will share their stories on how NFP has revitalized their life–mind, body and soul.

NFP is not the 8th Sacrament

Prompted by the sarcastic comment of someone who no doubt is more Catholic than the Pope, I wish to make clear that this blog is titled “Natural Family Planning” not because I believe NFP solves all ills and is the “8th Sacrament,” but because it is a tremendous blessing in the lives of those who choose to use it for various reasons (NOT as “Catholic Birth Control”), including for treating women’s wellness issues, treating infertility, achieving pregnancy and postponing  pregnancy for just, grave, and serious reasons.  I certainly advocate innovative promotion of NFP for the purpose of getting a foot in the door to a secular audience, and I am willing to dialogue with people about this issue, welcoming visitors of all sorts to my blog, but I never, NEVER will compromise the truth and fullness of the teaching of the Church.

Email NFPworks at jess[at]nfpblog[dot]com