Testimony of Healing October 22, 1979 Issue

Single parent learns to lean on God

HARRY KEFFABER with contributions from MAXINE KEFFABER BROWN

Becoming acquainted with Christian Science was the best thing that ever happened to me! I accepted Science when my wife was healed of difficulty during the birth of our first child. When our second son was born, it was a painless childbirth.

When our second son was eight years old, he was wading in a creek near our home and he stepped on a piece of rusty wire. The wire deeply pierced his foot. He came to the house and asked me to pull it out. As I recall, he didn't cry when I extracted it. The thought then came to me, "What shall I do? Shall I apply some material remedy?" This temptation was quickly rejected as I looked at his mother. There was no expression of fear; and she remained calm and assured that the boy would be all right. The foot did not become sore or swell, and our son was able to wear his shoe and walk on his foot. The healing came quickly as a result of our wholehearted turning to God.

When our youngest child was an infant, my wife passed on. I was left with the responsibility of five children between the ages of nine months and twelve years. Well-meaning friends and relatives felt the children were too young for me to try to keep them together. It was the time of the great Depression of the thirties. I lived on a rented farm, and we were very poor. I knew that without God's help we might be separated, but I wanted to trust Him. My desire was to keep the children together and teach them Christian Science. I clung to Mrs. Eddy's statement (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 306-307): "The Psalmist saith: 'He shall give His angels charge over thee.' God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment." I saw it would be necessary to live one day at a time, and to do my duty as I could see it from day to day. A Christian Science practitioner, who was helping me understand I could lean on God, reminded me of Christ Jesus' words (Matt. 6:33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." I asked God's guidance in everything I did.