Career searching

This is something I don't think I've talked to much about. My degree is in music education, but I know I don't want to teach- especially in the public school setting. However, 37K student loans require payment, which requires a job! But currently my loans are on hold (as I'm jobless) and I'm searching for what my passions are. I talked on the phone with a life coach/family friend who helped me figure out some things. I wanted to share this.

What drives you? <-- Many people think "Money" but in reality- money motivates us (b/c we want to care for our family, etc) but MONEY itself isn't the actual drive. We just want to have it.
--- What makes you ticked off? What makes you happy? - Solving this can help you figure out what you truly care about. I narrowed mine down to
a- Personal (human) dignity. The TSA stuff with the full body scanners and pat downs makes me livid. Why? B/c i see it as an infringment of our rights and human dignity.
b- education of women- in terms of their own body, their rights, etc. For example, I am using Natural Family Planning (NFP). It's about seeing what the woman's body does naturally (it TELLS you when you are fertile!) and using these signs appropriately. If you want babies- now is the time to do it! If not, then you shouldn't right now! Women should know the harms of birth control, inducing labor, and other things. We need to be educated about our choices!
c- my faith.I want to do what is right, and help encourage others to do what is right- through education!

I always knew education was important to me (my major!) but what I was not sure. But as I talked to this friend, I narrowed down some fields I may be interested in learning more about. One of them being a Doula or labor assistant. I've never been in the labor room, but I have been reading and researching about choices there are and what they mean- I find it interesting to know how it works. Women have been birthing babies since the beginning of time! Why suddenly are we trying to control it? Our controlling it is HARMING the baby and mother!
I contacted a local Doula and she sounds great- we talked and got along really well. She gave me some information. I'm hoping to sit in on some of her meetings/classes to see what she does and how I enjoy it. She's actually converting right now to Catholicism and is interested in incorporating NFP into her practice! She is working with CAPPA on a program that she thinks it right up my alley in terms of interesting and morals. I'm excited to learn about it and I'm really thinking I'm called to this.My dad is offering to pay half the price of the coursework, should I chose to follow this.

It also makes me happy- it's a blend of what I believe and my values with my parents faith and values (more new age/naturalistic).

So this is where I am now!

Thoughts on abortion and NFP

First thing: I'm having a lot of trouble with blogger- it says "service unavailable" a lot and won't load... anyone else?

Anyway, to my topic. On the thought of "Respect Life Sunday" yesterday, a forgotten part of "respecting life" is the conception part. First of all- our society has created a very negative image of pregnancy. Even the word. Pregnancy. We impregnate a cow. Preggers- that term makes me angry! It sounds dumb. You can google "symptoms of pregnancy"--> doesn't that sound like a disease?! What happened to "with child"? Doesn't that sound happier? We don't celebrate life- it's a fight, here in America. Trying to get insurance to cover the birth, trying to get maternity or paternity leave... it's a fight.

Life begins at conception. Period. As such, abortion is wrong- the act of killing a unborn child (Intentional, as compared to accidental- miscarriage.) There is no "choice" in the matter- unless you believe in killing others because they inconvenience you- because you invite them into your home--> Yes, the sexual act is an invitation to your world. You wouldn't tell a friend "Hey- drop by sometime." and then kill them when they come over, b/c you are "too busy." 

I am "pro-choice." I am pro choice as in "you made the CHOICE to have sex.... you CHOSE sex---> something that gives life. You chose life." If you want to chose to not have a child, please, don't have sex.

I am practicing NFP- natural family planning. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, this is what it is.

The female body releases an egg part way through the cycle- this we call ovulation. The body, in preparation for this, creates mucus. The point of the mucus is to help sperm live for more than a few minutes/ 1 day. Otherwise, without mucus, pregnancy would be very rare! You would have to have sex basically as you ovulate!... So in NFP we watch the mucus. When it's there, and the more fertile type, you know ovulation is coming. The couple would abstain during the time if they were wanting to not conceive.  We also chart temperature- it helps us know when ovulation happens, and we can use it to determine pregnancy. The charting of mucus and temperature takes a whopping 1 min a day for me. It's not a big deal. 

It's 98-99 percent effective. More so than birth control pills and condoms- most women are not taught simple things about the pill such as "you need to take it at the exact same time, every day." If you miss, the % goes down. Let's not mention the unpleasurable side effects of the pill- I found this page  which I am not familiar with, but lists more links to the pill than I have heard of. The pill will at least admit to, according to epigee

"Are there any side effects or health complications associated with hormonal birth control?
There are a number of side effects and potential health risks associated with the use of hormonal contraceptives.

•  
  • Weight gain
  • Increase or decrease in acne
  • Nausea and vomiting (particularly for the first few cycles)
  • Dizziness
  • Headaches
  • Depression
  • Vaginal infections
  • High blood pressure
  • Loss of libido
  • Blood clots in legs, lungs, heart or brain
  • Stroke
  • Liver tumors (rare)
  • Heart attacks
  • Gallstones (rare)
  • Jaundice (rare)
  • Possibly cervical cancer
  • Spotting and irregular vaginal bleeding
  • Longer periods
  • Amenorrhea for extend periods
  • Headaches
  • Anxiety and nervousness
  • Pain in lower abdominals
  • Dizziness
  • Loss of libido
  • Depression
  • Increase or decrease in acne
  • Skin rash or darkened patches of skin
  • Appetite changes
  • Weight gain
  • Tender breasts
  • Increase or decrease in facial and body hair
  • Possibly hair loss
  • Vaginal discharge
  • Bone density loss
  • Enlarged ovarian follicles
  • Pain or itching (usually for a brief period of time)
  • Norplant users: infection at the site of implantation
  • Ectopic pregnancy
  • Certain cancers"

 Well, let's say you want to take the pill anyways- desipite all the side effects. Well, we determined that life begins at conception- when sperm and egg meet. Let's see what webmd says about how BC pill works.

"Hormonal contraceptives (the pill, the patch, and the vaginal ring) all contain a small amount of synthetic estrogen and progestin hormones. These hormones work to inhibit the body's natural cyclical hormones to prevent pregnancy. Pregnancy is prevented by a combination of factors. The hormonal contraceptive usually stops the body from releasing an egg from the ovary. Hormonal contraceptives also change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to find an egg. Hormonal contraceptives can also prevent pregnancy by making the lining of the womb inhospitable for implantation. "

I bolded a line. Any guess why? It is not PREVENTING PREGNANCY.... if sperm and egg meet (thus life is given, by God), and then as part of your I-don't-want-to-have-a-baby plan you take this pill that forces the body to thicken the lining, so the womb is "inhospitable for implantation" then the newly formed baby does what? died... The baby is aborted, because you asked your body to- no, forced your body to. It's an abortion still, even though you didn't even know it happened. Sad huh?

Some people say "Well, abstaining is not good for a couple." I found this. "NFP is not just a "method" based on physiology. Rather, NFP is based on VIRTUE. It is based on sexual self-control, which is necessary for a healthy marriage. There are times in any marriage when spouses have to put aside their desire for sex because of sickness, fatigue, travel, or other reasons. In a healthy marriage, love is shown in many ways, and not all these ways of showing love are physical. In fact, to refrain from sex when necessary is itself an act of love. Why? Because in effect the spouses then say to each other, "I did not marry you just for sexual pleasure. I married you because I love you. You are a person, not an object. When I have sex with you, it is because I freely choose to show you my love, not because I need to satisfy an urge." Using NFP requires abstinence from intercourse during the fertile days if a pregnancy has to be avoided. This actually can strengthen the couple's sexual life. When the spouses know that they can abstain for good reasons, they also come to trust each other more, and avoid the risk of treating each other primarily as objects of sexual pleasure rather than persons. Artificial birth control, on the other hand, gives free reign to the temptation to make pleasure the dominant element, rather than virtue. It encourages couples to think that sexual self-control is not necessary. It can encourage them to become slaves to pleasure." It really can be good for a couple to abstain. Much like we (should) abstain before marriage- even with our hormones rage-ing, we abstain for love of each other, and love of God. Abstaining has to happen sometimes, and plus- it's not the end of the world! Date- remember those sweet, fun things you do before marriage? You can still feel love without sex all the time- if not, it's time to do some talking!

Another interesting fact. "but one of the hidden secrets of using NFP is that is actually has a low divorce rate, 4.2% to be exact. Couples who use other forms of birth control experience a divorce rate of almost 60%." This is because the couple must talk- must take responsibility together (rather than all the responsibility on the woman.) Rather than once a year "Do we want kinds this year? No? Ok- then I take the pill for another year." A example I heard/read once was a couple. Female: "It's my fertile time. Do we want to, even though it means we might get pregnant?" Male: "No! We don't have the money for another child. You spend it all shopping with your girlfriends...." etc. Suddenly we are talking about REAL ISSUES that otherwise may not have been addressed. All this communication--> Helps keep divorce rates down.

The hardest thing, I've told friends about NFP and I've had many say they are interested in it after they are married (and these women are having premarital sex). They don't trust it- but they are willing to bet it all on a pill? A pill that hurts the body, hurts the environment (another long story), a pill that- if not taken exactly right- will not work? Why don't we trust nature? Why don't we trust what our bodies do- what they are meant to do. If you have a stuffy nose, a sinus headache, and a cough- you put together those signs and go "I have a sinus infection!" Likewise, can't we do the same and say "I'm fertile!" ?

Some pages I got info from, not tagged.

http://www.nfpworksblog.com/nfp-faqs/

So, just some food for thought.