ON ONE ESPECIALLY busy day in 2005, our family of four was visiting my in-laws. By midday, my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was not acting like herself, and by early afternoon she had a fever. We were at my brother-in-law’s house and it was obvious to everyone that she was unwell. Neither my husband nor his family are Christian Scientists, and I could feel their anxiety rising about how I would handle the situation. My husband has always respected my desire to rely on God’s care for healing in our family and I have had many experiences that prove its efficacy.
I talked with my husband and we agreed that he would drive my daughter and me back to my mother-in-law’s house, where we were staying, because I felt that my first order of business was to get to someplace quiet where I could pray for our daughter. He told his mother that we agreed that if our daughter was still unwell in the morning, he would give her medication.
As soon as we were alone, I got my daughter comfortable and I settled in to pray. At the front of my mind was concern about what was wrong with her. I also felt pretty alone with no Christian Science friends nearby. But I had my Bible and Science and Health with me, and I opened Science and Health at random. In the chapter “Fruitage,” which features testimonies from people healed by reading Science and Health, I read this by a mother: “I think I never realized what fear meant until I began to try and put into practice my understanding of Christian Science for my children. I have proved, however, many times, that fear can neither help nor hinder in our demonstration of truth. The first time I realized this was in the overcoming of a severe case of croup for my little boy. . . . My first thought was, ‘O if only there was another Christian Scientist in town!’ But there was not, and the healing had to be quick. I picked up Science and Health, which lay on the table beside me, and began reading aloud. I had read but a few lines when these words came to me as though a voice spoke, ‘The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword’ ” (pp. 619–620).
