When I think of how beautifully...

Nanette Nelson Melvin

When I think of how beautifully I have been cared for, how sweetly I have been led, throughout the years of my life, I am filled with deep and humble gratitude to God for His goodness.

It has been my blessed privilege to be brought up in Christian Science, my father having been healed of a so-called fatal disease some years before I was born. Upon my healing in infancy, my mother's faith in Christian Science was confirmed, and from that day she became its student and for many years devoted her life to its practice.

In spite of gloomy prognostications that I would never grow to womanhood, I did and have raised a family and am now a grandmother. My second child was born in the home of a Christian Science nurse. All went well until the eve of my return home, when I was stricken with childbed fever and seemed to be passing on. Through the consecrated work of my teacher in Christian Science, my mother, and the nurse, this condition was met within a few hours, and I returned home with my little son the following day. Some months later a severe case of what seemed to be typhoid fever, although it was not diagnosed, was quickly healed.

Throughout the years that followed there were many healings and endless instances of God's protection and loving care. My husband had planned so carefully and looked after every financial detail so thoroughly that when he passed on I felt lost and very much alone. I was greatly helped over the hurdles of grief and loneliness by this passage from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy (p. 66): "Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love." New views I saw—for my loved one and for myself as well. These words from our Hymnal (No. 148) became a constant refrain at this time:

My Father has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.

Placing my hand in my Father's, I have been led every step of the way. Indeed, as I look back upon it now, the result has been little short of amazing not only to me but to others as well. For the breaking up of my home in the Middle West, for my moving to California and finding just the right home at a time when such a thing was considered well-nigh impossible, for the great lesson learned that man, who is at one with God, is never alone— for all this I am grateful beyond words. The help of practitioners and the priceless love and holding up of my hands by friends and loved ones at both ends of my journey contributed in no small measure to the consummation of this demonstration.

My appreciation of our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, grows daily. To me the most wonderful thing about Christian Science is the fact that one cannot be its earnest student without coming under its gentle but none the less thorough process of regeneration. Timidity, self-distrust, and uncertainty are being laid off for an ever-unfolding sense of fulfillment and joy. Christian Science means to me: