Thrilling Commercial

I detest the insidiousness of television. I especially hate commercials which often ruin otherwise family-friendly programming. I am not at all fond of talking heads which are often, sadly empty. But I am willing to give the Today show a chance, since they will have Dawn Eden as a guest. I might even stay home from work and watch it.

Going Back to My Roots by Branching Out

Well, I believe it is official that the seven year itch has struck, fortunately in non-sinful ways. It is not a mid-life crisis, by definition, since my age still begins with the number two. Recently, I have been consuming personal finance books with rabid hunger and have only been able to divert myself by delving into the Outline of Sanity by the greatest author of all time. All of this culminates in the resumption of my entrepreneurial trajectory. I am a distributor of nutritional supplements for Reliv International. I plan to share my thoughts and journey on this blog, hoping that it helps someone else considering this life path.

For those astute people who question what this has to do with living a natural life, I plan to make my case through future posts but it can be summed up in a few sentences. A job, even one which pays a wage high enough to support a wife and kids, is unnatural when the employees feel like cogs in a machine. I consider home-based business to be closer to the way things should be. Especially since my grandfather and great-uncle were entrepreneurs, it is a chance to learn about my past by living like they did.

Beginning Again

My wife and I have completed the re-certification necessary to teach NFP according to the new program published by CCL. The process was mostly pain-free except for some technical errors in the new web-based training modules. The web-based training was of a similar quality to the web-based training which I received from my employer, better in some regards.

The culmination of this training was reading the new Student Guide which CCL published. There were a few typos, which irk a grammar nerd like me, but overall, I was very impressed with the guide. It covered the necessities and seemed to be a far better teaching tool than the old Art of Natural Family Planning (4th ed.). The Student Guide taught the basics in a simple, comprehensible manner and it did not suffer from the information overload of the Art. However, its strength was also its weakness. As a workbook, it will no doubt be a good teaching tool but students will be at a loss for more in depth information. CCL could easily remedy this situation by putting out a new comprehensive NFP guide, which I hope they do, after the rollout of the new materials is completed. Despite this weakness, I think CCL has done exactly what was necessary to re-vitalize its work.

We are in the midst of teaching our first classes in the new method. I will do a more thorough review of the overhaul and the course after we have taught it.

More Natural Living

Jen at Et-tu has a great post that actually uses the words natural life in the way which I think of them. She has added balance to her life by forgoing the pleasure of trying to accomplish everything and venting that it isn't accomplished at the end of the day. I have been following a similar vein in my own life, trying to stop all work at a reasonable hour so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour after a suitable amount of time for relaxation. It is my Lenten goal to add some more of this balance to my life. I am always glad for a fellow sojourner, even though this Lent seem determined to teach me humility through repeated failure.

May I learn the lesson that the Lord is teaching.

St. Frances (see above post), pray for us.

Beeping Doctor

So my eldest has been playing doctor recently, and I realized that things have changed since I played doctor with the good old Fisher Price doctor kit. When she takes my temperature, she beeps every few seconds until she is done. One of the side effects of co-sleeping and NFP, she hears a basal body thermometer beep every morning.

The End of Civilization

"British bureaucrat says all girls under the age of 20 are too young to breed. Denounced as misogynist."

I only made up the second part. Some people sure make it hard to respect your elders. I pray for the soul of every 12 year old girl in England.

Baby Boom

We have had two births amongst our friends in the last month so I just had to post a note of jubilation. You can check Ecclesia Domestica and Mommy Log for pictures of the adorable ones. May many more such cute blessings arrive into this world!

Kick Them Out

Useful co-sleeping tip #7: Don't be afraid to kick them out.

We have a toddler bed next to our bed (on my side) for our three year old to sleep in. Although she has spent all night in her own bed for about one and a half years, she has recently wanted more snuggle time in the early morning and has been asking to come into bed. I let her in as long as she promises to stay still. At the first motion that disturbs my return to sleep, I put her back in her bed. It has worked very well. She let me know recently that she crosses her legs to help her stay still. I can't imagine sleeping with my legs crossed but I'm thankful she has discovered her own way to obey.

Friendly Work

I always enjoyed visiting my friends when they were on the job. It was fun to know who was serving you food or cleaning your teeth. Now, I have moved to the digital age. Here is the enterprise of a recent acquaintance. Now I can have friends tell me how to eat better, too.

May He bless your work!

Any other entrepreneurs out there? I might be one soon, but mums the word so far.

New Research only 40 Years Old!

Via Roman Catholic By Choice, a Georgetown Doctor has just discovered CycleBeads, a form of the Rhythm Method that seems to have some modern popularity.

40 years from now...

"Georgetown Theologian discovers Rosary Beads."

Scooped my Wife

It's so rare that I get to observe new and cute behaviors from my girls, since I am stuck in the office eight hours a day. I heard this gem tonight and I wanted to report it before my wife did.

M.K.- "I need to get the lasagne down. Some people who have ladders can get it down 'cause it's highest."

Dad - "Where did you learn about lasagne?"

M.K.- "From the song we sing at Church."

Dad- "Could you sing the song for me?"

M.K.- "Lasagne in the highest, and peace to people on earth..."

Dad calls Pop and Mom-mom to relate the hilarity.

Antidote Anecdote

Sometimes problems come in twos, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you have these problems, like I do, you should ask your doctor for Clavidel*.

Daughter, age 3: "I should ask my doctor about Clavidel."

Father reaches through television and strangles pharmaceutical advertising executive.

*Pharmaceutical names have been changed to protect father's lack of memory.

Attacking Manhood Like a Gazelle

I am embarking on another two journeys to figure out what manhood is. The first is financial. After reading Rich Dad's Prophecy, I had the fire again to improve my financial situation. Our situation is not dire by any means. It is fabulous. This is probably the exact life I have dreamed of since I proposed to my lovely bride. Now I'm feeling the passion to improve. The Lord has blessed me with so much. I want to be an excellent steward of these gifts so that they may provide more for the Kingdom and for my family.
Stewardship seems like a key ingredient in my manhood recipe. Biblically, stewards and shepherds were always men and I resonate with the idea of watching over valuable property and protecting it. Both jobs seem to require intense focus. How else do you notice one sheep missing out of one hundred? How else do you invest money well to return a good profit for the Master? It seems that a few other dear friends have the same passion for stewardship so I have trustworthy people with whom to discuss these ideas. I've also finally found a financial advice "guru" (though I loathe that word) who is a Christian, who is not divorced, who has children, who knows real estate, and who went broke and came back. He is Dave Ramsey and I just read his book More Than Enough. If only he were Catholic, I would be at peace but 4.5 out of 5 isn't bad.
I pray that he can help me discern how to be a better steward.

Stories are Best

Jennifer F. has yet another great post, this time concerning her conversion to the pro-life side of the world. It is a great story, full of interesting self-analysis and learning despite her own obstacles. The battle is being won.

Proficient Underachiever

I think I have created my new motto:

"Conserve your passion."

As a perpetually moving man, I often burn out on projects. I have a supernova of interest and shortly thereafter, I collapse into a white dwarf burning myself up. One of the tips I picked up from Robert Kiyosaki's books was to be an underachiever. Or, said in a more positive light, don't do everything you want to do right now, save some of it for later. I have found this to immensely improve my drive and interest in my various schemes. It also forces me to focus on those things for longer periods of... Look! Something Shiny!

How Chaste a Foundation

A book review of Emily's Hope by Ellen Gable
Full Quiver Publishing

by: James F. Volpe


The Couple to Couple League is updating all of its materials, as well as its method, in the first overhaul since inception. The Creighton System's NaPro Technology is having tremendous success and expanding all over the nation. The NFP movement has passed through its infancy and is in the growth spurts of puberty along with the daughters of the current generation of NFP users. All NFP using parents are concerned with how to pass on the beauty of the Church's teaching on sexuality to their daughters. Since many NFP users have discovered this beauty only after hard lessons in life, they wish to spare their daughters from these same growing pains.

In order to impart these lessons in sexuality, Ellen Gable has adopted my favorite pedagogy, teaching through novelization. In Emily's Hope, Mrs. Gable alternated between telling the story of Emily, living in the seventies and Emily's great-grandmother, living at the turn of the twentieth century. This proved to be a brilliant device which allowed for simultaneously explaining the separate time frames where contraception and abortion were legalized. The story of Emily covered many situations which those in the pro-life community experience: bigotry from doctors, confusion from friends, silence from family, witnessing to deaf ears, and sympathy from no one except a spouse. The story of Emily's grandmother covered the militancy and cold-heartedness of the birth control movement as well as the rationalizations often used by pro-abortion advocates. The book teetered on the edge of covering too much with these instructional vignettes, but, thankfully, the scenes did not become overwhelming and the story held together on its own merits.

As I witnessed Emily and her great-grandmother travel through their lives, I was reminded of another gloriously educational novel, How Firm a Foundation, by Marcus Grodi. That novel covered the tale of a Christian pastor as he followed the lonely road of Christ across the Tiber and into Roman Catholicism. Mr. Grodi wrote his novel to explain his journey to his parents, whom he loved very dearly but who could not understand his conversion to Catholicism. Mrs. Gable's novel covers the conversion of a young woman's heart. She wrote her novel to explain the beauty of the sexual powers to her goddaughters in case they could not understand the witness of her life. Both novels are works of love, explaining how deep love can be.

Photo March for Life

I used my photos to capture those who attended the march but whom I didn't expect to see:

Lutherans,

Anglicans,

Democrats,

Joe G. from the Penn State Newman Club,

General Robert E. Lee,

and, of course, Hillary.

And here are the pictures of the counter-protest by pro-choice advocates:

...

Oh, wait, I didn't see a single one another first for this March for Life, and hopefully the beginning of a trend.

"First" March for Life

This wasn't actually my first March for Life, it was actually number 4 for me, however, it was a march full off first time experiences.

It was the first time I stayed with the group I came. At my first march, I ditched my high school to march with my girlfriend. At my second and third marches, I ditched my parish to march with a friend's pro-life committee from a different parish. I tried to ditch my parish this time to attend the Blogs For Life event, but it didn't work. I was pleasantly rewarded by getting to know the wonderful pro-life committee at my parish.

It was the first time that I heard a presidential candidate speak. Alright, I know it was only Ron Paul but he was impressive.

It was the first time that I took pictures. I will post some soon.

It was the first time that I saw a complete rainbow, and felt hope that the end of the massacre is near.

Punish the Prophet?

Since word seems to be spreading, here are my two cents on this story. A brief synopsis: a priest gives a homily on sexual morality and NFP, a publicly known lesbian interrupts him and leaves during the Mass with her companion, and the bishop removes the priest from the parish.

I am fully aware that I lack reservation and often discuss things publicly which should not be discussed publicly. The text of the priest's homily is certainly innocuous in itself but it is quite possible that he deviated from the text in exceedingly frank ways. By analogy, homilies about abortion should also be somewhat indirect since I certainly don't want my three-year-old to ask me why a doctor would crush a baby's skull and suck out his brains with a vacuum. However, I completely understand a priest's desire to shake a parish out of its somnolence while heinous sins like contraception and abortion are overtly accepted. Still, such a drastic response for a first offence seems well beyond the bounds of justice and gives the impression that the bishop can be manipulated easily. In a world where some bishops barely rebuke heresy from the pulpit, it is sad that the Good News is punished so severely.

PNFPN Conference

The PNFPN and Philadelphia Catholic Medical Association will have an annual conference on March 1, 2008. It will be about Marriage Prep and will include some great speakers including Matthew Pinto who is both enlightening and funny. Go to PNFPN's website to register. Leave me a comment if you are going so I can meet you face to face, dear reader.