I LEARNED AN IMPORTANT LESSON many years ago: God is my employer. That's why, after graduating from college, I would check in with God about my employment to see what I should be doing next. Sometimes my prayers showed me that I should continue right where I was. Or the thought might be that it was time to move on. These answers were always clear and direct.

About two years ago, I checked in with God again, and this time, instead of feeling that God wanted me to "stay right where you are," the thought came, "It is time to go into the fulltime practice of Christian Science healing." Well, this was new. I had thought it would be fun to go into the practice at some point, when I finally understood something about Christian Science. But not now, so soon after graduating.

I was working 12 to 16 hours a day and most weekends, too. When was I going to have time to take any calls for help? When was I going to find more time to study than I was already doing? After a few moments of this, I stopped and finally said, "OK, God, if this is what You want to do, then You will have to guide me." And with that, I left my future entirely with God.

During the next two weeks, amazing things started to happen. My work hours were suddenly much shorter. Some tasks were now going to other people. And some projects came to an end. Some days I was finished with work in the afternoon. And just then, my cellphone would ring with a person asking me to pray.

I knew that it was time for me to leave my job, but I wasn't sure how or when to let my employer know. Shortly after this decision, a meeting was called, and we were told that our work was moving overseas. Here was my way out! But the timetable for the move was way too long for me.

As I continued praying, a specific date kept coming to my thought. But the date my employers had set was six months further away. Then one day, very unexpectedly, we were all given three weeks' notice. My last day turned out to be the same date that had come to me many months before. (I had told no one of this date.)

During my first few months in the practice, I was sick a lot with a variety of physical difficulties. I would pray about each symptom, and it would go away—only to be followed immediately by something else. I didn't have a moment's peace. A friend who had been in the full-time practice for a few years suggested that I pray about the resistance of going into the practice, which meant facing down fear, procrastination, and anything else that might keep me from receiving or doing good. I had to see that these obstacles didn't have any power when faced with the power of God. I loved helping each person who called and whom I ran into. Could resistance really apply to me?

That evening, the symptoms of illness returned—a lot of pain, breathing problems, and a headache. I felt like Hercules fighting the multi-headed Hydra. Every time Hercules cut a head off, three more would grow in its place. Then I realized that I was being distracted. These different challenges were not really the issue, but were part of something larger. The thought came, "Pray about the resistance to going into the practice." And so I started with that. Immediately there was a silence—the kind you find before you drop down a steep roller coaster. I knew I had found what I needed to pray about.

At that moment, every symptom of illness I had faced over the last weeks came back all at once. But through it all, I found this amazing peace. I stated very clearly to myself that nothing could keep me from following God's direction to go into the full-time healing practice of Christian Science. And as I felt the conviction of my desire to follow God's leading, I was immediately free of all those difficulties. And they have never returned.

There will probably be many more lessons to learn in the future. But one thing I know for sure—there will be many more wonderful healings along the way.