WHEN I WAS 12, my family and I went to hear a talk on Christian Science. Afterward, the speaker asked me if I was in the work of Christian Science healing yet. I told him that I was only 12! He then basically said that since God did the work, I could be a healer at any age, and that God works through and with anyone sincerely wanting to know Him better, and willing to put that desire into action.

I'd grown up hearing how my parents' families had relied on spiritual healing. Going to God had become the norm, whatever the situation, and I really wanted to be a healer myself.

For example, when my dad was four years old, his mom had fallen down the stairs. Her injuries put her into a body cast. For a single mom of four young children, this was devastating, but her best friend, a Christian Scientist, suggested she ask a Christian Science practitioner to pray for her. She did, and within two weeks—not the six predicted—she was out of the cast and back to work. Through prayer, my dad was also healed of a severe wound from a chainsaw accident. My mom was cured of polio, and she and my brother of toxemia and severe aftereffects of his birth. I was healed of third-degree burns, a broken arm, a painful ear infection. The list goes on. The prayers of Christian Science practitioners had been part of those healing experiences. I thought they had the most wonderful job, and I knew I wanted to be like them—to help people be free of fear and illness.

My conversation that day with the Christian Science lecturer stayed with me and inspired me to start thinking more seriously about the teachings of Christian Science. Yet, it was an experience I had when I was pregnant with our first child that led me to be fully dedicated to the work of Christian Science healing.

A sonogram showed my uterus as misshapen, and the doctor said I would not be able to carry a child past three months. He was concerned, as well, that my life was in immediate danger. I called a practitioner for prayer. He helped me understand more fully that everyone is a child of God—not material but spiritual—and that God, as Love itself, is the only Creator. The practitioner reassured me that nothing could keep God from creating and finishing His work. God was the Life of both my baby and me, and nothing could change that. When a new sonogram was ordered, about a week later, it showed that every problem had been corrected and my baby was positioned right where he was supposed to be. I cried tears of intense joy, gratitude, and humility. I had experienced God's work in yet another, very profound way.

Right then I knew I had to help others experience this kind of healing, which restores both hope and health. So began a deeper, more consistent study of the Holy Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's writings. Then, when our son was 18 months old, I took Christian Science Primary class instruction.

Since that time, nearly 12 years ago, I have been accepting requests for prayer as a Christian Science practitioner. In 2005 I applied to advertise in The Christian Science Journal, ready to serve in this way 24/7. To me it's a way of more openly showing my love for God and for Christian Science. It's also a kind of thank-you to Mrs. Eddy for working so tirelessly to make Christian Science available.

The Bible says: "Pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). Taking this step has brought such blessing, as I see the wonderful results of going to God in prayer, whatever the need. For me, there is no more rewarding thing than to be asked to pray for someone, and then to hear the words, "I'm healed!"