Back to her hyper self

For as long as I can remember, I had begged my parents for a dog. Then I saw Darcy at the Humane Society. She was sitting in her cage wagging her tail, but I could tell she was scared. I pointed her out to my mom, and we decided to adopt her.

Well, we've had her for about two years now, and you can't even tell she was unhappy at any point in her life. Whenever we sit and watch TV, she jumps right up to one of us and literally plops right down. Then she'll look up at you, expecting you to cover her up with a blanket! Darcy sleeps under the covers in my bed, and she knows she can get anything she wants if she bugs me long enough.

One Sunday night, horrible storms came through our area, and to top it off, Darcy didn't seem herself. She wouldn't jump up on our laps to watch TV, and we had to lift her up to do so. Later, whenever she had to move, she would cry and her body would shake all over. My mom, my dad, and I were praying off and on for her until it was time to go to bed. I couldn't sleep because I was so scared. We've had a lot of healings in our family through Christian Science, and I know that prayer works. But I was having a hard time not thinking about all the worst things that could happen.

When I heard my dad come in the room, I got up and hugged him. We went out into the pitch-dark living room and sat down on the couch. With the storm still raging outside, it was hard for me to concentrate on praying. But then I realized that nothing could keep me from listening to God. In the Bible Lesson that I had been studying that week from the Christian Science Quarterly, there were many passages that helped me. One from the Bible was: "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul" (Ps. 121:7). Another was from Science and Health where it says about God, "He fills all space, and it is impossible to conceive of such omnipresence and individuality except as infinite Spirit or Mind" (p. 331). Those statements helped me understand that Darcy was part of God's perfect creation. And since God created everything good, and He is All-in-all, there was no room for evil or sickness. Dad and I were saying out loud what we knew to be true about Darcy—that she was governed by God all the time. That God is our fortress, and His infinite love always protects us, including dogs. That whatever God created can't be harmed because good is omnipresent and God is the only power.

I prayed for about two hours. Then I started feeling peaceful, and I knew Darcy was going to be OK. So I went to bed. My parents continued to pray and told me later they had hardly slept a wink all night.

The next morning things had improved a lot. Darcy was walking around and jumping in our laps. And the morning after that, she was completely back to her hyper self! I spent the rest of the day telling God how grateful I was that she was healed. Now Darcy is more affectionate than ever!

Amber Van Goey
Aledo, Texas

God was there for Skipper

Robin: One time, our dog, Skipper, ran away. My mum and brother and I went to look for Skipper, but we didn't find him. My dad came home from work, and after dinner we looked again.

Brendan: I was very afraid and worried that something would happen to Skipper. Would we see him again? When we couldn't find him, my mum called a Christian Science practitioner. We knew she would help us pray to know where to find him.

Robin: The practitioner told us we could ask God where to look for Skipper by saying, "Shepherd (meaning God), show me how to go."

Brendan: These words are from a hymn by Mary Baker Eddy. Praying with this hymn helped me trust that God was guiding all of us (including Skipper). And I felt God would show Skipper how to find shelter and warmth, and help him out of trouble. That comforted me. As I went to sleep that night, I continued thinking about the hymn and trusting God to bring Skipper safely home.

Robin: The next day, we put up signs and asked a few business people if they had seen Skipper.

Brendan: A few of them said they had seen Skipper moving in a direction farther away from home. But I kept the thought with me that God would guide both him and us.

Robin: Then one lady said she'd seen our dog the night before, and he'd been sleeping under some stairs. She showed us where the stairs were, and Skipper was still there.

Brendan: He was so glad to see us!

Robin: I'm very glad that Skipper was safe ....

Brendan: ... and that God was there for him when he went missing!

Robin and Brendan Batchelor
Coquitlam, Canada