Beth Budelier:

Throughout her life, Beth Budelier has been moved to pray for and assist mothers, who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. She explains, “In high school and college I volunteered at the Hope Crisis Pregnancy Center in my hometown and I was among a group that started Ambrosians for Life when I was a student at St. Ambrose University, which promotes the Catholic worldview of respect for all human life from conception to natural death. We provided assistance for local pregnancy centers, like the Women’s Choice Center and Birthright, by assembling layettes, having diaper drives, and doing yard work and other housekeeping projects. The Ambrosians for Life encouraged me to pray and witness for life: we attended regular hours of Adoration, said the Rosary in the Chapel weekly, and prayed and sidewalk-counseled outside of Planned Parenthood in Bettendorf every Tuesday, the day abortions were performed.”

Beth’s passion for pro-life took on another dimension when she attended a natural family planning class in Galesburg, with her fiancé, Al. She says, “The class was taught by The Couple to Couple League, a Catholic organization, and although it taught us how to observe, chart, and interpret my fertility signs; it also had a heavy emphasis on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB). Learning about TOB opened my eyes to the gift of my body, my fertility and married love. I also learned a lot about how harmful contraception can be to a woman’s fertility and how oftentimes hormonal contraceptives are actually abortifacients – they don’t allow the fertilized egg to implant in the uterus, resulting in an early abortion. This information brought new meaning to my understanding of what it meant to be pro-life. I was upset that this information wasn’t more readily available. Furthermore, I wanted to be pro-life in how I lived and to encourage others to do the same. I could do that by using Natural Family Planning (NFP). Using NFP allowed Al and I to respect every act of marital love by not ever closing off the potential to bring about a new life.”

Beth and Al were grateful that an organization like the Couple to Couple League existed, because remaining open to God’s plan in their family as brought so much joy and peace to their marriage. When Beth began to pray about why there aren’t more NFP teaching couples in the Quad City area, she heard Holy Spirit respond, “Why aren’t you and Al a teaching couple?” Alhough she did not feel qualified or think she had enough time, they followed God’s calling and began the 9-month training process and are so glad they did.

For the past 5 years, Beth and Al have officially been a teaching couple through the Couple to Couple League. Beth shares, “We are continually blessed by the couples we teach, their desire for truth, and their openness to God in their lives.” She says that it is particularly rewarding to hear many students share how they are first seeing the deep love that God has for them and adds “I’m always a bit in awe of how powerful the words of John Paul II are and how they draw people to Jesus. Al and I are just the messengers.”

Beth clarifies, “The Catholic Church certainly doesn’t teach that every couple needs to have as many children as possible, but She does teach that we need to be open to receiving a child.” Beth adds, “There have been two instances since we started teaching 5 years ago, when a couple has come to us and shared how they’ve had a change of heart in that they’re open to having more children, even though they initially thought their families were complete. I just mark this up to the Holy Spirit working in their lives, because of their obedience to God and His commands.”

If you would like to learn more about teaching NFP through the Couple to Couple League or promote classes, check out www.ccli.org or call 800-745-8252. Or, just contact Al and Beth at 563-324-7040 or email elizabethimel@yahoo.com

Or, contact Women’s Choice Center in Bettendorf below or Birthright in Davenport at 

(563) 324-5261 for additional pro-life volunteer opportunities