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Saint Paul
Friday, March 29, 2024

Why sit and wait when you can educate?

By Annmarie Kirsch for The Catholic Spirit

At doctor’s office, local woman sees opportunity to introduce Natural Family Planning

“Oh my goodness. I have been praying that if the sterilization I have scheduled for Monday morning is contrary to God’s will, He would put a block in my path.”

“I am your block. Sterilization is not in God’s plan for anyone. He has a much better plan for you and your marriage. It’s called natural family planning.”

“Let me get your number and call you back. I have five minutes before my doctor’s office closes to cancel the tubal ligation surgery scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday.”

This telephone conversation took place a month or two after the young woman on the phone and I met, seemingly randomly, in the waiting room of our doctor’s office. We were the only two patients in the large room. This enabled the conversation that followed.

I was there for a glucose tolerance test in my third pregnancy. The pretty, strawberry-blonde was there for a Depo-Provera shot [contraceptive injection], because she thought she would go crazy if she were to conceive another child. She was the mother of three “very high energy” young boys who kept her constantly on her toes.

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“Are you happy with this contraceptive?” I asked.

“No, it has side effects I do not like, but all the others I have tried have also had side effects,” she replied.

Since either of us could be called in to the doctor at any moment, we exchanged numbers before losing our chance. Immediately after doing so, she was called away.

We each went on with our busy lives as young mothers and forgot about the notes in our respective purses for a month or two. Then one day, the Holy Spirit prompted me to call the number, and I obeyed. We talked on the phone and met as couples on Sunday afternoon. They had never once been told by a doctor about the abortifacient nature of some of these contraceptives, and resolved to sign up for NFP classes. They were not Catholics, but Christians seeking truth. The young woman shared that she needed to hear about NFP from someone who was “in the trenches” with her, not an eloquent preacher.

Jesus established his Church. His Holy Spirit is still leading her into all truth. Life in Christ is an adventure when we become God’s hands as servants in his vineyard. He needs all of us to evangelize in the ways he has planned.

Kirsch, a community volunteer, and her husband, Andrew, have five children and are parishioners at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

 


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