(Dec. 22, 2009) Kathleen Quiring is a self-described “fancy-pants trendy individual” who rethought some of her opinions on Natural Family Planning (NFP) after writing to the author of a new blog on marriage whose popularity is skyrocketing.

Intrigued with an impressive-looking website graced with an articulate and charitable defense of NFP, Kathleen, married and in her 20’s, carried on an intense discussion of the merits of this method with Dustin Riechmann, 30, who writes regularly on his new blog, Engaged Marriage.

“Not only was I incredibly impressed by the blog overall,” Kathleen wrote, “but I was also intrigued by its informative coverage of NFP. It didn’t take long before I was thinking to myself, “I really need to rethink some of my opinions on natural family planning.”

Kathleen, a Protestant, then did internet searches and now writes favorably on her own blog, Project M, about “this really cool but highly misunderstood phenomenon.”

Hugely Popular Blog

Dustin knows the "amazing rewards" of a great marriage.

Launched only three months ago, Engaged Marriage has been viewed by 7,000 people, most of them in the last month. The idea for the blog came upon the heels of Dustin’s involvement for five years in the marriage preparation classes for the Catholic diocese of Springfield, IL.

“Our talk is focused primarily on the real meaning and depth of sexuality,” said Dustin, an engineer by trade. “And it provides a real (and candid) overview of Natural Family Planning (NFP).  Our journey to and with NFP is a long story, but it’s safe to say that we can relate to young couples and convey why NFP is the best thing that we have done for our own marriage.”

With the motto of the website, “Achieving the Extraordinary in Marriage… and in Life!” Dustin, who with his wife received their NFP instruction from the Couple to Couple League, says that NFP and sexuality are a core part of the website.

“I really started to see an opportunity to connect with married couples in a better and broader way,” he says of the blog’s origins.  “Finally, a few months back, I felt a call to pursue an online presence where many people could be reached, particularly younger couples.  And I decided I had more to share than just NFP, though sexuality remains a core topic on Engaged Marriage and one of the most popular.”

(Read also our NFP conversion stories: Cohabiting Couple, NFP Turns Husband into a “Joseph.”)

Classes in the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning are offered by the Couple to Couple League (CCL) to married and engaged couples, and can be taken at 15 locations in the Archdiocese of Chicago, IL and surrounding area, including southeast Milwaukee and northwest Indiana. A homestudy course is also available at CCL Central.

The next series of classes in northeast Illinois will begin Fri., Jan. 29, 2010 at 7:30 pm at Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines. To register, and for a list of classes, go to the CCL Central class locator. Or go to the Chicago CCL’s Classes by Location and Maplinks.