Many blessings

Well, tomorrow is my birthday and I am feeling very blessed. I'm surrounded by people that care about me, not to mention all the material blessings I have been given all my life. Most of these things seem to have come for free - but some blessings you have to work toward.

All the blessings of my friendships did not happen overnight, you have to show you care and put some effort into the relationship. All the blessings from my marriage did not just appear either - we work at it and have learned from books based on Theology of the Body how to become a better spouse.

I found a NFP website that I think is helpful in explaining what I have learned. There is a quote in the bottom half of the article that explains how God's "love is free, total, faithful and fruitful." Since we are created in the image of God we need to try to love as He does. His love is freely given without any reservations. His love will never abandon you and is so strong that it needs to create more to love. We are called to love like that. I would even look at it as a marriage mission statement. Love is a free gift, no strings attached. It is total in accepting the entire person (in fertility or infertility). Love is faithful through good and bad and love is fruitful. It can be fruitful in many ways, most obviously children. Less obvious is the ways in which spouses lift each other up and be witnesses to the community of marital love. Right now, I believe that is what I am being called to do through my life ministries. The thoughts and theology behind this post can be found here.

It has taken a while for me to fully accept the blessings that can occur. At first, it was hard to trust that I could read the signs of my body. A 4 month class doesn't completely undo the years of being told you could get pregnant at any time - one of the only things I remember from my teen health class and something that many people in college told me. But as the months have slipped by I have thought less about charting and more about how the love I feel has grown exponentially. I feel cherished and honored in my marriage knowing that I am being loved just the way God made me.

That love has raised me up to a higher goal - spreading the word. Words will never begin to describe the joy that has come into my life once I have truly meditated on and put into practice that which natural family teaches: openess to life.