Over three years ago my husband and I moved to a small mountain town. We had been living overseas in a metropolitan area, and the time had come to return to the United States. Although we both found jobs in our new location, the move came at a time when I was feeling fulfilled and challenged in a career overseas. Now I struggled with great resentment and a sense of limitation and lost opportunities.
I had learned through Christian Science to turn to God for the answer to any problem, and I tried to affirm that man is never in limbo—between progressive and satisfying experiences. But I fluctuated between keeping my joy and giving in to unhappiness. Then the assignment for my Christian Science Students Association arrived, and it was just perfect for me. It included this quotation from Miscellaneous Writings by Mrs. Eddy (p. 356): "My students, with cultured intellects, chastened affections, and costly hopes, give promise of grand careers."
Not long after—as I was actively cherishing my intellect, affections, and hopes—I was laid off the job I had taken in the new town, because of a company location change. My husband remained employed. But it didn't seem there was another business in our area that could offer me satisfying employment, and as our housing was provided with my job, that too was ending. To top it off, I discovered I was pregnant. Everything I had feared happening had happened, and I felt my progress toward a "grand career" had come to a grinding halt.
