For many years I had repetitive and severe menstrual struggles that seemed to take over my life. I traveled often for work, so having days of pain and immobility were not helpful to me or my co-workers. At times it seemed as if there was no end in sight.
I would study the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and I frequently asked for the prayerful support of a Christian Science practitioner. The practitioner would lovingly remind me that I was not a prisoner—I was born free, remained free, and did not need to suffer. I worked with the idea that God is the only cause, and that there is no other supposed cause I need to bow down to. Matter did not create me; God, Spirit, did. Since God created me as a spiritual idea, I wasn’t trapped in or subject to a material body. I wasn’t linked to the physical belief of painful menstruation—I had no part in it. I was innocent.
I continued to pray and know the truth about myself, even when I was feeling fine. One day during a tough struggle, I became very scared. I thought about having children—something I had always looked forward to—and I wondered if having children was a good idea if I couldn’t handle this problem. Because I had always wanted to be a mother, this fearful thought really woke me up.
