A FEW YEARS AGO, my family and I experienced many changes in our lives. We sold our home to enable us to purchase a larger residence and become three generations under one roof. Each family member was willing to make adjustments for the good of all. My father, a recent widower, sold his home to move in with us. My husband, who had been able to walk down the block to work from home, was now willing to commute 45 minutes. I had been employed as a Christian Science nurse, but at the time of our move I had stopped nursing in order to pursue the full-time practice of Christian Science healing. My youngest son, who was in the fifth grade at the time, was faced with deciding if he preferred being home schooled or spending his next year of grade school as the new kid. Even our family pets needed to become acquainted and learn to live together in harmony.
For our family, turning to God daily in prayer was as natural as picking up the phone and calling a loved one. Over the years we had learned to trust the spiritual ideas that were revealed to us through prayer. We had prayed deeply and felt led during each step of selling our home and relocating. The house we found and the town we were moving to seemed like the perfect blessing. After about a year, however, I became convinced that our decision to move to our present town had been a mistake. One evening, I found myself in my office on bent knee weeping and asking God to show us why He had led us to this location. I wondered why it was important for us to live in this town and what this town really had to offer us.
One day, after I dropped my son off at school, a huge bird swooped past my vehicle and dipped down toward the river. I had never seen such a large bird before. After crossing a bridge, I drove down the first street that ran parallel to the river where I saw the bird, which I later found out was a Golden Eagle, perched in a large tree. The eagle was so close I felt as though I could almost reach out and touch him. Truly the bird was a vision of beauty and grace. In the perfect peace of that moment God gave me the answer to my questions: "It's not a matter of what this town can do for you, but what can you do for this town?"
