Happy June, Happy Summer

It seems impossible to already be looking into June and the beginning of the Summer! This new season brings a promise of great excitement and change to the world and it is exciting for us to tell you that our St. Gianna Center will be making changes!

We will be moving our location to Most Holy Name of Jesus Church in Gulfport. The area is lovely and the space that we will be renting is larger, which allows for more appropriate filing and storage of needed supplies. That will permit a more compelling and professional atmosphere for our in-person clients.

We will also be conducting our education program at this site with the next class starting in November. It will provide an area more conducive for teaching and learning. Let me know if you know anyone who might be interested in learning this amazing language and teaching couples the Creighton Model.

Just as it is for so many of us, change is hard for our Center. When I think about the many opportunities we encounter to make change, I also think of how many of those opportunities we allow to just slip by us. It reminds me of a story about a Christmas gift that “never changed.”

A wonderful family who struggled financially for years had a “well to do” uncle. He never married, never had a family and it was the custom of this “struggling” family to invite him to their Christmas celebrations. He never missed going and his gift was unchanging. It was a nicely decorated box of Aqua Velva after shave lotion. The father in the family always graciously accepted the gift.

One year, the uncle died just before Christmas and when  this family was clearing his apartment, they found the ever-expected box of Aqua Velva. With a wry smile, thinking how his uncle never changed, the father decided to keep it. He placed it in the very back of his own linen closet and promptly forgot it was there. As the years passed, the oldest child was finishing high school and hoping to go to college. This was not affordable for them. The young man got a job instead and financially helped as he could. The other children followed suit. Mom was diagnosed with cancer and needed medical help as well as help around the house. Their insurance policy would not cover this, so the father retired early to help at home. Their financial struggles continued. Ultimately, they made the decision to downsize, and they sold their home in an attempt to have a little more money.

In clearing the home, the father, once again, found that box of Aqua Velva way back in the linen closet. It brought back so many memories. As he held it, he looked at it closely and realized that it had been opened and was taped closed. He broke through the tape and was stunned to find that the box had been stuffed with $100 dollar bills! When he counted them out, he discovered that there was one hundred thousand dollars in that box! He was, of course, overjoyed at that moment. Then his thoughts went to all the years it had been in his linen closet unopened because he never thought that his uncle’s gift would change. He thought of all that he and his family could have done if only they had opened that box all those years ago.

My lesson from this is that change may provide us with unexpected treasures. It is certain that not changing and/or not accepting change does absolutely nothing different.

Our St. Gianna Center is growing. We need to recognize the necessary changes and we need to make them. Understandably, there will be growing pains along the way. The one “unchanging” thing is our mission. We will provide education, support and training for the promotion of good reproductive health using the Creighton Model; which respects all human life and the self-worth of participants. No matter our location, our services will be ethical, effective and affordable.

We can make these guarantees because of the tremendous generosity of you, our supporters. Please continue to pray for and donate to our Center. We want to spread this wealth of knowledge to as many as possible. If you’d like to help us financially in the move, visit our donor page.

You remain in our daily prayers of great gratitude!

May every day of your Summer overflow with pure joy!

Pray for us as we make this move.

St. Gianna and your loyal spouse, Pietro, please pray for us.

Diane Hale, RN, CFCE

If you would like to learn more about the Creighton FertilityCare System and how you can discover authentic answers to questions about women’s healthcare, please contact St. Gianna Center at info@stgiannacenter.com. We’ll get you connected with a FertilityCare Practitioner who can start you on your journey to FertilityCare.