The more spiritual our thoughts are, the better equipped we are to see that what looks like an insurmountable problem is really no more than a lack of confidence that divine Mind has all the answers—but it does. And we all can hear these answers. God equips us to find the way out of tough spots with His direction and protection.

I've seen this happen. My husband and I sold our home in town and bought what we thought was a perfect home in the suburbs. Six weeks after we settled in, heavy rains began. Because of a poor drainage system on our property, water seeped in under the sliding glass door of the sunken living room. Before the room filled with water, which it soon did (now a truly sunken living room!), we hastily moved the furniture to a higher level in the house to save it.

We needed an answer—and fast—to keeping the water out. But the realtor and our insurance company—even the handyman who knew the structure well—gave only casual responses to our calls for help. Meanwhile, the downpour continued. Finally, I asked my son and a nephew to come and help—one drove nearly two hours in rising water, the other was nearby. They worked far into the night in the pouring rain. Eventually, they were able to direct the water away from the house and prevent flooding of the entire property. At one point, my son doubted the house could be saved.

But even there, in all that mess, I felt God had an answer.

Then one week later—a second flood! This time, we saw an announcement on television saying we could get sandbags from the fire department, so I called them. Soon, three firefighters appeared at our front door—minus the sandbags. But two of them volunteered information that was to prove important: "We've been in this house before when it was flooded." The fire department computer revealed that the house had been flooded four times. This fact had not been disclosed to us by the former owner or by the realtors. In California, disclosure is a stringent real estate law. I realized it was God who had sent that information to us by means of the fire department's statements.

Later we learned that because we had lived there for only a short time, we had a right to request rescission of the sale. Without animosity or resentment about the lack of disclosure, I saw that allowing ourselves to feel like victims of an unprincipled transaction would make us part of the problem. We didn't want that, and we protested the lack of disclosure, hiring a lawyer.

Daily, I checked the motive behind our actions. I knew it was important not to harbor any worry or hold any preconceived idea about how the case should turn out, even though it involved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I kept myself from hashing over what might have caused us to get into such a situation. And I knew not to judge the people who had allowed the deception. Instead, I listened for God's answer. And I refused to believe anything could keep me from hearing that answer. When I prayed a prayer that includes this: "...may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" I knew there had to be a blessing this for everyone (see Mary Baker Eddy, Church Manual, p. 41).

I prayed, too, for assurance that each individual involved was actually created by God to be honest, intelligent, fair. None of us could ever be less than what God's love would have us be.

Knowing there was a possibility of our making another move, my son's family encouraged us to consider the area where they live. Until then, it had never occurred to us to live near our kids. But with such a cordial invitation, we opened up to that possibility, and found an ideal place there. We entered into a purchase agreement—contingent on our winning the case. But it was a year before the trial was scheduled.

The case was then postponed—twice. Finally, after two-and-a-half years and a ten-day trial, the judge ruled in our favor: The house was to go back to the original owner, and our payment was to be refunded. Expenses concerning the move, as well as attorney fees, by then well over $200,000, were to be reimbursed to us.

But months went by without our receiving this money.

Before the financial settlement was received, God gave me an answer as to the way that we could close the escrow on the house in the new area: As foolhardy as it seemed, I drew out my nest egg and took out a high-interest, variable-rate loan. My prayer included trusting God completely and not letting myself sink into fear about anything that was going on. We were able to move into that new home—at the right time.

Soon after, the entire reimbursement was given to us. I believe the whole community was helped by having a greater awareness of the importance of disclosure.

This experience taught me a lot about patience and trust. I learned to be careful not to tell God that we had to win the case. That would have been asserting my will rather than trusting His. I also learned to be firm in acknowledging that the divine Principle that is God was acting not only in our lives, but also in the lives of everyone involved. As my way of thinking about all these things became more spiritual, the essence of what home is became clearer to me. This idea was really helpful: "Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God" (Science and Health, p. 254).