At the end of World War II, after moving the family to a distant state, my husband abandoned me and our four children. I am so grateful for the practical application of Christian Science that enabled me to be a successful single parent.
I had been only a homemaker until then. And there was no relative or friend to take over the fatherly responsibilities for the children. But my years of turning to God for help and confidence came to my rescue. I knew that nothing was impossible to God. And I knew also that I must love my fellowman unconditionally, including even my ex-husband. Through my daily study of the Bible Lessons in the Christian Science Quarterly and reading the Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, I was spared the unhappiness of self-pity, jealousy, hatred, envy, and disappointment. Mary Baker Eddy's poem, "The Mother's Evening Prayer," which starts, "O gentle presence, peace and joy and power" (Poems, p. 4), encouraged me to see that I could carry on alone.
I began to realize how well prepared I was. My mother had taught me to sew skillfully and to cook economically. My father had taught me much about maintaining a pretty yard, and his love of music had led me to study it.
When I learned that there was an immediate need for someone to play the piano for services at the Christian Science church we were attending, I was glad that I could fill that need. Members of the church took us in with open arms; it was like having a loving family in the new location.
Soon I was asked about giving private piano lessons. I promptly changed my living room into a studio and started teaching piano, and later organ and music theory. Becoming the family's breadwinner in this way came about with surprising ease. And since I was teaching at home, I did not need to use child-care service for my younger children.
These words in the Bible stand true in my experience: "Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they ... are more than can be numbered" (Ps. 40:5).
I well remember one particular instance of God's help. I wished to accept the invitation of my Christian Science Students Association to play the organ for the meeting. One church member kindly offered to stay with my children while I attended the out-of-state meeting. Two other members asked to ride along with me in my car. The three of us had traveled only about fifty miles of the twelve-hundred-mile journey when the oil gauge showed we were low on oil. I stopped at a garage, where the mechanic told us the car needed an overhaul. I knew this could not be the case, because the car had been thoroughly checked the day before. Also, I needed to be at the meeting to play the organ. The three of us turned in prayer to the Bible story in Second Kings, where, because of Elisha's prayer to God, the widow and her two sons were abundantly supplied with oil (see 4:1–7). We filled up the oil and drove to our destination without trouble. There, an expert mechanic told us he did not understand how we could possibly have driven those miles with a cracked gasket. We had had the oil we needed. Replacing the gasket was quickly done. This experience proved to me that I could trust God to meet every human need.
Health problems have been resolved through holding to the truth of being and denying the reality of evil. Periodic severe migraine headaches ceased to occur. I was freed of excruciating pain in my foot after a fall by declaring aloud that since matter has no intelligence, it cannot talk to me; that there is only one Mind, the divine consciousness, in which there is no pain, no accident. The pain subsided. The next morning the pain was entirely gone and the healing complete.
Prayer turned what seemed at first to be a calamity into blessings in many ways.
God's provision was shown when we learned of a new coinoperated laundry. The laundry was almost completed, and a buyer was being sought. A few days later, I received an inheritance in the exact amount I would need to buy the laundry. I had found that doing family wash in such a laundry was a big timesaver for a working mother, and my son was ready then for employment. This business would help many others, so I bought it. The business prospered. After thirty years, it seemed advisable to sell it. A buyer who had an appliance franchise came to us with an offer. And the transaction left all those involved feeling benefited. What wonderful proofs of divine Mind's control over both the buying and the selling transactions!
Prayer turned what seemed at first to be a calamity—being abandoned by my husband— into blessings in many ways. The new location was an ideal place to rear children. The consistent willingness of neighbors and friends to help filled many needs. The higher priority that was given to church activities engendered much spiritual growth. Best of all, I was forced to seek Truth more diligently, thereby finding a better understanding of God's great goodness.
I still live in the home in which the children and I spent many happy years. And I still take an active part in church activities and regularly attend Sunday and Wednesday church services. My gratitude for our pastor, the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, is ever growing greater.
San Angelo, Texas
