When I first came to Christian Science in 1897 I was a very sick woman, entirely discouraged. Soon after I was treated, I began to feel better. My mental condition was strengthened and changed, and the body soon reflected this mental change. I never realized how spiritually hungry I was till I began to study Christian Science; it seemed as if I could not get enough of this bread of life. At first I read secretly, not that I was opposed to studying Christian Science, but I think I felt a little ashamed to do it. I soon overcame this feeling. My Bible had always been my best companion and God my guide, but I found out by studying that I had trusted God only so far and no farther. After a brief study I tried to put into practice that which I had learned, and this improved my daily life and work.
First came the demonstration over sin and sickness with myself. It is indeed a constant "watch and pray," for the spirit seems so willing and the flesh so weak. As I am mother of three boys, there came by-and-by the opportunity to prove how far I could trust God. One of my first demonstrations was over a dislocated arm and collarbone, the details of which were given in the Journal for February, 1900. The second demonstration was the healing of my oldest boy, who fell on an iron rail severely injuring his back. I treated him. After a few hours he came to supper, but he had to sit on pillows or stand up. Next day he went to school; I had to write a request to the teacher, that he might be allowed to sit or stand at his convenience. He did very well. One evening while going to bed he asked me to look at his back. I looked at it and found that the lower bone of his spine stood out like a hook, but the deformity soon disappeared under treatment.
Last year my youngest boy fell and broke his wrist, and his hand turned backward. The word came to me, "Lo, I am with you alway," or as we read in Science and Health, page 317, "in all ways and conditions." I held the broken arm in my hands, treated the boy, and in the strength of the Lord I put the splinters and bones back into their right places and bandaged the arm and hand.
