NFP | The Catholic Realist

God Provides. Yes, He Actually Does.

Posted on January 22, 2014 by RRMM

I am 23+ weeks into my pregnancy with our happy surprise Baby #3 (a little girl). When I say she is a “surprise”, I mean just that. We are people who use NFP regularly and though we are pro-life and thus always ready to accept a new little life as God sees fit to give it, we weren’t purposefully trying to get pregnant with this little one (as we were with our other two). So, when, that 2nd little line showed up on a pregnancy test last fall, surprised is the best word to describe my reaction.

When it took 14 months to get pregnant with my first child, I learned quickly that God alone is the author of Life and only HE knows when it is best for a person or family to have a baby. Sometimes our will and His will line up (we were trying for a 2nd child and God deemed it to be the right time and we got pregnant quickly). Other times, it’s challenging to understand why God is or isn’t allowing a pregnancy to happen.

I have never once take for granted the gift of this new little life within me when I know so many people who would give anything to get pregnant and I am so thrilled to be having another little girl. But, from my limited perspective, I wouldn’t have chosen right now to be pregnant again! Read More

Size Doesn’t Matter

Posted on February 3, 2012 by RRMM

I come from what some might consider a “big” family, being one of five children. My Catholic family came in the standard way – one mom, one dad. My husband’s family, however, arrived at their 15 kids (yes, you read that correctly) in a different way – one mom, two dads.

Now, before you freak out that that is an “unorthodox” way of having a big Catholic family, you need to know the circumstances. Josh’s mom and dad got married and had 6 kids. His dad died tragically at a young age, leaving his mother widowed with small children. Several years later, she remarried a good man with two children who had just come out of a difficult marriage. They had 7 more children together. If you are keeping up, that means my husband has 5 full siblings, 2 step siblings, and 7 half siblings.