When our older daughter was born, the doctor told me that she had jaundice and that he would have to watch her closely. I never once accepted that verdict but turned immediately in prayer to see what God was telling me. I gained a sweet, clear assurance of Soul's immediate presence, its beauty, color, and allness. That was all my daughter could have or express. There was no further mention of the problem, and no further evidence of it.

When I was pregnant with our younger daughter, I was told rather late in the pregnancy that she was in a breech position. As I prayed, I saw that if anything needed adjusting, it was in thought—the belief that anything could ever be out of its perfect place in God's creation. One evening I had such a clear realization of God's law being all, governing all, and keeping all perfect. At that moment I felt the baby's position shift.

At the birth the doctor was concerned about the lengthy delivery and at one point indicated that he would need to use forceps if it was prolonged further. I had my husband contact the Christian Science practitioner who was praying with us. Before he returned, the baby was on her way naturally.

As an infant this same daughter had been suffering from a serious cold and was unable to nurse properly or sleep comfortably. After church one Sunday as I held her close, I prayed the Lord's Prayer. Its words, meaning, and healing power so inspired me that I was momentarily unaware of the child or myself. When I finished the prayer, the child was completely healed.

The day before we were to leave on a trip, this same daughter had poison ivy. We talked about God's creation and how one idea in God's creation could not harm another, because God saw it all as very good. She was able to go to bed, and I continued to pray. She told me the next morning that the itching had stopped immediately. The evidence was practically gone, and by the following morning there was no sign of the rash.

As this daughter walked onto a plane for a week at camp, she told me that her eye hurt and asked me to pray for her. She also prayed for herself with the truth that "there is no room for imperfection in perfection." (The full statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy reads, "Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection inperfection" [p.424].) After I turned to God and felt assured of His allness and presence, my fear was gone. When I called her the next day she was just fine.

Many of the healings we've had have been very quick, but others have taken much longer. In looking back I can see that in the more difficult challenges what has really been going on has been deep spiritual growth for all of us. These challenges have forced me to stay consistent, firm, and persistent for truth to a degree that I hadn't imagined to be possible. I've had to learn to stay with the spiritual facts because they are the facts in spite of any physical evidence to the contrary. I've had to learn that it isn't me with my own mind that needs to know the truth but rather that I need to know that divine Mind, God, is the only Mind. The divine Mind is knowing perfectly the truth of all its own creation. I do need to yield to this Mind, and to let those ideas from Mind be the only ones I accept.

The severest challenges have been the very means by which I've seen most convincingly that God's kingdom is come, right here, right now. Through these times I have seen more of God's oneness and have been blessed.

Truly, Christian Science is the Science of being, the Science of God and man. Mrs. Eddy has given us the key to the kingdom, and for this I love her dearly. My gratitude is boundless.

Joan Sieber Ware
Charleston, Illinois