I was a single parent with two children, teaching in a private school in west Texas, when the desire and direction came for me to take Christian Science Primary class instruction from a Christian Science teacher in New York City. I had no money to even consider getting to New York, much less stay in a hotel for 12–13 days. I was already having trouble making ends meet at home. In spite of all this, I decided to follow this inspiration and contacted the teacher.

After my interview with him and a discussion of my concerns about finances, he said, “Why not make this demonstration not only for now, but also for all time?” My question was: How was I going to do that when I had nothing to begin with? With prayerful metaphysical support from him and with legions of angels (I didn’t even know then that angels were “God’s messages,” but I sure felt God’s guidance), the way opened up. 

One of the spiritual concepts that really helped me was from the book of Isaiah: “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (30:21). I could feel that God was leading me, and I felt that every step was completely fulfilled by Him before I took it. I also felt a lot of support from the dear branch church I had joined at the time.

Solutions to suitable care for my children and the need for funds began to emerge. My son had just joined the United States Marines and would be shipping out. My teenaged daughter would stay with her dad and his new family. There was the prospect of a summer job at the private school where I taught. It involved putting together and running a summer program. The program needed to make enough money to cover its cost and my salary. Two people—a coach and I—applied for it. The coach was offered the job and he took it, but a few weeks later he came to me and said he did not want it. 

So I got the job, and began the immense planning and executing of the program. It ran on a very tight budget, but I did get paid the promised salary. This took care of all of my expenses to and from New York City, where I took class. It paid for class instruction, and afterward enabled me to take a trip to The Mother Church in Boston, and even do some shopping before I went home. My conviction that God would meet all my needs and the way the job worked out—not just getting it, but also being able to raise the funds for the project—were part of my preparation for class, in addition to the studying and praying I did about class itself. I don’t really think I would have appreciated class as much as I did without seeing the way things had opened up so I could get there.

Wonderful as all of that was, this is the most important part: Class went beyond what I could have ever imagined, and for a time after class, I rode the “cloud” of simply cherishing what had taken place in my life. However, I soon learned that I needed to put this great truth into practice on a much higher level than I had before. Sometimes it was very simple and other times it was a real clinging to God, but demonstrations were coming, one right after another. It was a total commitment and leaning on God. I trusted that God had been guiding me all the way and that He wasn’t stopping here. Today I am grateful to say that I am a Christian Science practitioner listed in The Christian Science Journal.