PARENTING July 10, 2006 Issue

A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD

LAUREL SHAPER WALTERS

HAVING CHILDREN has helped me learn to place all the control where it belongs—in God's completely capable hands. For me, this lesson began on the day I had our first child. I was working full time in a demanding job that required regular travel. Then, our second child came along just 13 months later. This forced me to release a personal sense of control and turn to God during the many chaotic moments that filled my days and nights.

Both children needed me in different ways—and often at the same moment. My time was stretched thin with work deadlines to meet, and there was often little time for sleep. I had to learn how to turn things over to God and patiently listen in prayer for where my efforts were most needed each moment. In hindsight, I consider this a blessing.

Mary Baker Eddy perceived God as a balanced, divine Parent providing every maternal and paternal quality in one all-embracing package. "Father-Mother is the name for Deity," she wrote, "which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation" (Science and Health, p. 332).