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The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning by [Simcha Fisher]

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The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning Kindle Edition

by Simcha Fisher (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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So, you’ve decided to use Natural Family Planning.

Has it blessed your marriage? Deepened your respect for your body? Has it made your sex life fantastic?

Do you and your spouse hold hands at sunset, and do pink flowers grow around your marital bed?

If so, this book is not for you.

But if you’ve tried Natural Family Planning and have discovered that your life is now awful – or if you feel judged or judgey, or if you trust NFP but your doctor doesn’t, or if just you’re trying to figure out how the heck to have a sex life that is holy but still human – you’ll find comfort, encouragement, honesty, wit, and, most importantly, practical advice in The Sinner’s Guide to NFP.

In a series of funny, frank, and profound essays, popular Catholic blogger and mother of nine Simcha Fisher shows what it’s really like to practice NFP, and how to achieve those fabled “marriage building” benefits.

The Sinner’s Guide to NFP helps you with:

NFP and Your Spiritual Life

NFP and the Rest of the World

NFP in the Trenches

An easy and lively read, thoroughly grounded in orthodox Catholic theology, this book is packed with refreshingly frank insights about sex, love, and marriage. The next time you ask yourself, “If NFP is wonderful, why am I so miserable?” – don’t panic. The Sinner’s Guide to NFP is here to help.

Print length

130 pages
Language

English
Publication date

October 9, 2013
File size

681 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Simcha speaks … with honesty along with the wit and wisdom that always make her teachings so memorable and helpful. She summons all of us to trust, mutual patience and kindness, and to a joyful honesty about NFP. --Msgr. Charles Pope, Pastor of Holy Comforter - St. Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC

Fisher is wide-awake; she appreciates irony and with a sense of humor that is proportionate to the seriousness of her purpose she helps the reader wake up and smell the irony, too ...
NFP is not free. It costs a great deal, of both partners. And yet...through the very depths of her learned compassion expressed so eloquently and with such transparent humility Fisher provides the evidence of its solid, life-enhancing value. --Elizabeth Scalia, author of Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life

Before The Sinner s Guide to NFP, the only way you could get this kind of candor on the subject of Natural Family Planning was in private conversations with your best friend. Simcha has taken all the things we think about NFP but feel like we can t say, brought them into the light, and addressed them with insight and razor-sharp wit. You ll laugh, you ll nod your head in recognition, and you ll ultimately walk away inspired by the kind of encouragement that only someone else in the trenches can offer. --Jennifer Fulwiler of Conversion Diary --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Simcha Fisher is a Catholic blogger, speaker, and freelance writer. She blogs for the National Catholic Register and Patheos at "I Have to Sit Down". She lives with her husband and children in Southern New Hampshire. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FRM6Q72
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 9, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 681 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 130 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #609,288 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,575 in Marriage & Long-Term Relationships
- #2,226 in Catholicism (Kindle Store)
- #2,799 in Parenting & Relationships (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
373 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		87%
4 star		6%
3 star		2%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Ellen Holloway

I was excited to read it but....... then I read it

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2020

Verified Purchase

My husband and I first read this book when we were learning NFP and working on healing our marriage from the use of hormonal contraception. This book hurt us more. NFP is a BEAUTIFUL teaching. Yeah it's NOT easy, no duh. But this just fuels the fire of people not choosing to actually follow the Catholic Church's teaching because it's SO negative. We are called to embrace God's gift of our fertility. If you're that angry at NFP, an incredible resource that allows couples to discern and space children as needed, then you need to sit down with your partner and talk about what is really bothering you. NFP isn't ever the problem, the couples' outlook toward sex, intimacy, and children is the real issue.

Please read this book with caution. This is NOT how all users of NFP feel. This isn't even how the majority of NFP users feel. This is how people who don't truly understand the absolute beauty and perfect design of human fertility and NFP or FABM feel. Please take the time to read and learn the true beauty of the teaching behind humane vitae and TOB and know that there is no reason to be angry at the Church for teaching NFP.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

Anjanette Barr

Catharsis!!

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

Because sex is complicated. Before marriage and after. Before parenthood and in the trenches. It's difficult, and it's funny, and it's so refreshing to read a book that's candid about it. This book is written for Catholics, but I would have appreciated it before I was part of the Church as well. Anyone who has attempted any kind of Fertility Awareness knows that there are days when they wish they had more fertility ignorance.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Everyone should read this book!

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

Hilarious yet full of great information. A must-read, especially for people like me who teach NFP. The only thing I wish she would have included is a more clear recommendation for couples who seem to have to abstain for long periods of time to consult with an accredited teacher in their method (and ask for a referral to another teacher if your current one is not being helpful). Going through charts with a teacher during times of hormonal changes (like post-partum, peri-menopause, or illness/stress) can often help reduce unnecessary abstinence. The author has great tips for managing times of abstinence, but it's best to make sure that that abstaining is really necessary.

The other thing I would have liked to see too is recommendations for teachers as to how to encourage often reluctant couples to choose NFP over contraception without making NFP sound like all sunshine and roses. Often in marriage prep courses our audience is very mixed - everything from very devout Catholic couples to people who are only there because a family member wants them to have a church wedding. Also, there are many couples where only one is Catholic and the other is really not interested in NFP.

But these are just minor points,and maybe outside the scope of the book. Everything that she did include is really great information and I really strongly recommend this book!

20 people found this helpful

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Sarah M

So much more!

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2017

Verified Purchase

I'd heard this title occasionally come up in conversation and wasn't super interested ... I assumed it was a short-cut for super fun couples who hate NFP(sinners, obviously!!🙂). This book is EXCELLENT and both men and women can take a lot from it. As the author notes early on, it is not to sell the concept of NFP or teach charting. It's dripping with humor, TRUTH, and encourages reflection. There are some very big concepts in here that go well beyond child-spacing and fertility. Buy it, read it ... re-visit it yearly.

12 people found this helpful

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Aisling

a solid read for inspiration and encouragement!

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book had me in tears multiple times, sparked many deeply fruitful conversations with my husband, was re-purchased several times for sisters and friends, and I recommend it widely.
It isn't strong on practical, concrete guidance for navigating the various struggles of living out NFP that it talks about, but I still found the guidance that is offered to be sound, and primarily to be heartening. I think what this book does best is re-center and re-vitalize you for living your love. And gives you hope that you're not alone, you're doing great, and you've go this. :D

5 people found this helpful

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Jonathan F. Sullivan

From a Catholic Husband's Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

Simcha Fisher's new "The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning" is the most refreshing and honest work on NFP I've ever read. In easy prose that's at times laugh-out-loud funny, Fisher has the courage to face the true ups and down of using NFP as a Catholic couple -- both the joys that come from marital chastity and the fact that sometimes, when you want to have sex and need to abstain, it kinda sucks.

The book is divided into three sections. In the first, "NFP and the Spiritual Life," Fisher outlines important spiritual considerations of the Church's teachings on martial love. In the second, "NFP and the Rest of the World," she deals with the counter-cultural implications of NFP. But the final and longest section, "NFP in the Trenches," is the real meat of the book, where Fisher takes a brutally honest look at what it means to put the Church's teachings into practice. Fisher is not afraid to tackle difficult and rarely-discussed aspects of marital sexuality and should be commended for finding safe ground between frankness and explicitness.

As a husband I can also say that the book is "guy-friendly"; while much of the advice is clearly directed towards wives, it never turns flowery or overly emotional in a way that might turn of committed Catholic men, and I recommend that husbands and wives read the book together.

"The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning" is an outstanding contribution to the Catholic conversation on marital sexuality and I heartily recommend it.

45 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

SDonnelly

a refreshing read :)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

Being relatively new to NFP I can not express enough how much I enjoyed reading this frank and honest book on the highs and lows of what it entails. It encouraged me to talk to my hubby about the difficult parts and has genuinely helped us grow closer in our bid to use nfp. Thank u!!

2 people found this helpful

RenLady

a much-needed book on this topic.

Reviewed in Canada on November 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

It's about time that somebody who actually uses nfp write about the struggles involved and how to deal with them (or at least, how to laugh about them and know you're not alone). This book is both insightful and hilarious.
My only complaint is that a good deal of the material in this book is not new for anyone who reads the author's blogs. However, it's nice to have it all in one place.

2 people found this helpful

Brian

Refreshingly honest, real, and faithful.

Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

Refreshingly honest with a sense of humor and realism but faithful to church teaching. A good and easy read. Some practical things for married life beyond things related to NFP. Worth it.

2 people found this helpful

Anita

Excellent, funny and bang on!

Reviewed in Canada on October 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

It is so refreshing to read a book on this subject that is so direct and so honest. Simcha does an excellent job, as always, of cutting right to the point without candy-coating the tough realities. I appreciate very much her wisdom and willingness to share it. I recommend this book to all married couples, regardless of age or stage....we can all be reminded of our purpose in marriage....to LOVE...even when it hurts.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

So happy this book exists!

Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

Every married couple considering, practicing or avoiding NFP should read this book! It’s hilarious, honest and steeped in wisdom. You won’t regret it!