When I was expecting our second child a number of years ago, I began praying with a Christian Science practitioner in preparation for the birth. I planned to have an obstetrician perform the delivery in his clinic, but was concerned that he would be out delivering another baby when the time came that I would need him. When I told the practitioner my concerns about the timing, she responded, “Nothing is timed in the kingdom of heaven. Everything is timely.” I held to this thought for the next several months, and I felt at peace knowing everything would be timely.

Two weeks before the baby was due, the contractions started. After calling the doctor, I opened Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 by Mary Baker Eddy and read this sentence: “This Mind, then, is not subject to growth, change, or diminution, but is the divine intelligence, or Principle, of all real being; holding man forever in the rhythmic round of unfolding bliss, as a living witness to and perpetual idea of inexhaustible good” (pp. 82–83). My thought focused on the phrase, “the rhythmic round of unfolding bliss.” I knew that God was guiding the birth, and that nothing could disrupt the perfect timeliness of God’s ideas.

Later that evening, I called to tell the doctor I was heading to the clinic. His wife answered the phone and said she would let him know. (This was before cellphones. I found out later that the doctor had been out at the time—his office had closed for the day—and his wife told me she’d prayed about it and that divine inspiration enabled her to reach him at another patient’s house! She gave credit to the concept of God as one Mind, something she’d learned from other Christian Scientists who’d been patients of her husband.) We arrived at the clinic about half an hour later, and the doctor walked in just as we drove up.

Just before our daughter arrived, the phone rang. It was another woman about to give birth. The doctor told her he didn’t have time to talk but that she could come right away to the clinic to deliver her child. I thought: “Great! The very thing I feared: two babies at once!” But again I turned to the thought that in the kingdom of heaven, everything is timely. I felt so peaceful and buoyed by all the prayer I had been doing in the months leading up to the birth. Just half an hour after we arrived, our daughter was born.

The other mother and her family arrived as we were about to leave. The doctor was so busy with her that he could not see us to the door. My husband helped me out as he carried the baby. By this time it was very dark outside. As I stepped off the porch to the sidewalk, I tripped, twisting my ankle as I landed. Hobbling to the car, I felt torn between the pain in my ankle and my joy over the harmonious birth.

My mother had arrived the day before to stay with us and help take care of our older daughter. That night she stayed in my bedroom to care for the new baby so my husband could sleep. She and I stayed awake that night, rejoicing together over the timeliness of the whole experience and being so thankful for all the good that had taken place—this pushed any thought of my ankle out of my mind. I felt full of gratitude for all the spiritual ideas that had carried me through the pregnancy and the birth.

At one point, I needed to get up to use the bathroom—but I realized then that my ankle felt like a watermelon and I didn’t know how I would be able to get there. Right at that moment, I marveled out loud at how Jesus was able to say, “Rise up and walk,” and people were healed immediately. 

During my pregnancy, I’d been praying to understand that God was the true Father and Mother of my baby—and I suddenly saw that this was true for me as well. I found myself throwing off the covers and walking to the bathroom with complete freedom. There was no pain or swelling. I had been healed in that instant—just as Jesus commanded! How truly grateful I was for this experience, especially as it meant that I would be able to walk freely while carrying our daughter.

The truth that things are not timed, but timely, in the kingdom of heaven has helped me in so many experiences in my life. My gratitude for Christian Science and for numerous healings for my family and me is immeasurable.

Linda Opdenweyer Lewis
 Seattle, Washington, US