Article November 10, 2003 Issue

Our Mother who art in heaven

By Marta Greenwood

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT I sat by my daughter's bed, watching over her and praying for her. At the time, Laura was six years old. She had developed asthma and was on a medicinal inhaler. Her breathing worried me and kept me awake most nights as I listened for her to make sure she was all right. She was the prettiest child you can imagine—everybody adored her. It seemed so cruel to see this girl who just loved life be struck down with a condition that stopped her from enjoying a normal life like other children.

As if this breathing condition weren't enough, she developed a severe reaction to the medication, which caused side effects such as headaches and nausea. Nevertheless, since we didn't have an alternative, we continued with the medication. Each day, Laura would sit around the house, listless and tired, while her friends played outside. During this time, she also developed a skin condition, diagnosed as eczema. One day the eczema became acute. We had to bandage her arms because of the severity of the condition and to keep her from scratching. We tried different kinds of medication and ointments and diets, but nothing helped.

About this time, someone gave me the book Science and Health. I started to read it, sometimes for long periods during the days. I was desperate for answers to my daughter's problems. If there was a God that healed, I wanted His healing for my child. Reading the accounts at the back of Science and Health of people being healed through reading that book gave me hope. So, I would take Laura and her sister to school, and come back home and just study the book all day.