Liz Escoffery — Blog — SPOKEN BRIDE

When the vocation to life-giving love within marriage answers a deep need and question in the world--specifically, the question of how couples are called to understand the beautiful mystery of their embodiment and creation--amazing fruits result.

Liz Escoffery learned the Creighton Model of Natural Family planning during her engagement. “The more I learned,” she says, “the more I became passionate about the science and information I was learning about my body. I gained a new appreciation for the Church's teachings on marriage and sexuality. I began sharing it with everyone I knew, especially those in their childbearing years--but really anyone who would listen!”

The seed of Liz’s passion for NFP and fertility awareness was planted. It continued to flourish during the first year of her marriage as she pursued a certification as a Creighton FertilityCare practitioner. A believer in continual professional development and the wholeness of the human person, she has since additionally earned a Masters degree in Theology and become a childbirth educator. As Liz’s own family has grown to include three children, her fertility care services have become her primary work. Her business, Indy FertilityCare, offers both in-person and virtual courses in the Creighton Model, email and phone support, and speaking engagements related to women’s health, Catholic marriage, and the Theology of the Body.

For anyone to whom NFP might seem dry, dubious, or awkward, Liz takes pride in “making the process of learning Natural Family Planning engaging, interactive, and thorough.” She loves witnessing couples become a team in their efforts to begin charting their fertility, and walks alongside them every step of the way, offering resources to connect clients with holistic medical providers in their area, support for long-term reproductive health, and teaching courses in childbirth preparation and postpartum NFP.

In this way, Indy FertilityCare supports not just women, but families: “I am so inspired by my clients,” says Liz.. “Those who have faced devastating side effects as the result of being on hormonal birth control previously. Those who have used NFP their entire marriages. Those who have converted to the Catholic faith (perhaps later in life) and find themselves using NFP for the first time after feeling their family is ‘complete.’ Those experiencing high-risk pregnancies or miscarriages and finding courage to try again. Those living (and struggling) with chastity before or during marriage. I learn so much from each of my clients and am enriched by them!”

Watch Liz's interview with Song On Fire, on sexual intimacy in marriage, here.

An interview with Liz

Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana

I root for: the Miami Hurricanes and the Indianapolis Colts

Favorite saints: St. Mother Theodore Guerin and Blessed Solanus Casey

What is your favorite thing about working on weddings? The opportunity to see the raw, maturing love between bride and groom in the weeks and months leading up to their wedding and be inspired by the gift of self they are choosing to make to one another.

I take my coffee: strong, with flax or almond milk.

Favorite place I've traveled: Tanzania. I had the chance to go with my grandparents and loved getting to see familiar zoo animals, but in their natural environment.

Ministries and projects I’m involved in: PreCana marriage prep retreats, vocation awareness in my parish, and classes at my local crisis pregnancy center.

Best wedding day memory: our first dance, which my husband and I choreographed ourselves!

On my bucket list: Own a condo in Miami with my husband and fly there on the weekends.

Love means...to sacrifice and give until it hurts.

I think back often to my engagement, and to its many hours spent at Eucharistic Adoration. During that time, I would beg Jesus to make me into a good wife and, someday, mother.

I didn’t know then that those many hours of prayer would carry me through the smooth and bumpy parts of married life my husband Bill and I would encounter. Five years into our marriage, a strong prayer life remains a gift and refuge in the midst of full, enjoyable--but busy--days of family life and work.

Introducing Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is a type of prayer I return to often. Latin for “divine reading,” it is a Benedictine form of prayer, traditionally done by reading a short passage of Holy Scripture and choosing a word, phrase, or image that stands out to you. The passage should be read several times in its entirety, once aloud if possible. Then, whomever is spending time in prayer meditates on her standout word, reads the passage again with new eyes, and engages in an exchange with God about what he wants to reveal. This prayer can be individually, as a couple, or in a small group.

We can do the same thing with any text, whether thoughtful prose or poems, song lyrics, or liturgical rites. In that spirit, I want to share with you a way to use lectio divina to meditate on the Catholic Rite of Marriage.

Below, along with the text of the Rite, I offer my own reflection questions to help you enter more deeply into this encounter. Whether you pray this on your own or in the presence of your fiancé or spouse, first take a moment to ask for the Holy Spirit to guide your time in prayer. Breathe deeply and savor the silence around you.

(Name) and (name), have you come here to enter into Marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?

Is there anything I need to surrender or let go of before entering into this Sacrament? What does it look like to make a free gift of myself to my spouse?

Are you prepared, as you follow the path of Marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?

Who are some holy couples whose marriage I admire? What can I learn from their witness?

What will be the building blocks of a lifelong marriage? Is there a particular virtue I need to cultivate now that will allow me to love and honor my spouse for the rest of my life?

Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?

How do I view my fertility? Have I learned Natural Family Planning and been diligent in trying to understand the Church’s teachings on the dignity and purpose of sex in marriage?

Have I considered the possibility of infertility? Of an unplanned pregnancy? How would I love my spouse through these situations?

Which dimensions of my sexuality need the Lord’s healing touch (Consider spiritual, physical, intellectual, creative, communicative, emotional)? Is there a dimension we are very strong in already? Is there one we need to grow in as a couple?

I, (name), take you, (name), to be my husband. I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life.

Where am I spiritually with this vow: does it make me nervous? Excited? Does it seem like it will be difficult? What fears or anxieties do I have in committing myself to this purpose?

Depending on your wedding liturgy plans, additional text for your prayer time can be found in the language of the wedding Mass, wedding outside of Mass for two baptized persons, and a wedding between a Catholic and unbaptized spouse.

Check out the Nuptial Blessing and the Blessing at the Conclusion of the Wedding, as well, to find more liturgically rich and beautiful language which is great for lectio divina.

I hope this exercise in prayer helps you take any inspiring, holy text and use it to enter into a dialogue with God and with your spouse in marriage. Whether you utilize lectio divina to prepare for your wedding day or to savor the graces of your marriage in the weeks, months, and years afterward, may it bless you and encourage you to continue in prayer.

About the Author: Liz Escoffery is a Certified FertilityCare Practitioner and Birth Boot Camp Instructor with Indy FertilityCare. In May 2017, she earned her Master of Arts in Theology from St. Meinrad Seminary & School of Theology. She enjoys working with engaged couples and newlyweds (both in Indianapolis, IN and virtually) and has helped over 175 women and couples learn the Creighton Model. She and her husband Bill have two children and another due in March 2018.

WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST

Blog

Vendor Spotlight | Indy FertilityCare