The unfolding of my experience over the last two years has been a real testament to how listening and desiring to do God's work can save us in the most trying times. My apologies for all detail but I think it's needed to help make the key point of this testimony.
In April of 2017, I agreed to take a new position at a Christian Science nursing facility. This new position seemed like a good fit, and, after accepting it my wife was offered employment there as well.
But as the months passed, the job became very demanding. I was fired from my job in January of 2018. The worst part was that none of the reasons offered seemed fair or accurate.
A few days after my release, two CS friends in different locations suggested that I apply for a Reading Room Librarian position. So I did, and interviewed well with them, and a board member called me and told me that the job was mine. But I politely thanked them after turning it down. I had learned that there was a requirement that the Librarian would agree to serve for three years. Interesting l, a few days later, the same board member called and asked if I would be willing to serve in the Reading Room a few days a week, which I willingly accepted.
The experience of having worked there is something I could never regret! Introducing so many new people to Christian Science was quite a joy. One Christian Scientist, who was a regular visitor, became quite a wonderful friend. Also, I got along very well with the new head librarian and we worked on many projects together. One of the other blessings from having worked there was quite unexpected. The train ride to and from the Reading Room was about an hour long. On the evening ride home, I began texting my eldest daughter, with whom I had something of a strained relationship for many years. During this time, we reconnected and have subsequently restored our relationship, both of us having a loving, mutual respect for one another.
I was being contacted about doing Christian Science nursing in a home setting. Several opportunities opened up, and so my wife and I spent the summer traveling, nursing at various facilities. The home cases I went on helped me to feel confident that Christian Science nursing had certainly been a calling for me. Serious thought was given to continue doing only home cases.
During this time, I began to pray about the idea of home. A city name and state came during prayer, and I had never heard of this city before! So, faithfully I made arrangements to travel there. After spending time there, and in the area, my wife and I met so many faithful Christian Scientists who were making a real difference not only in their branch churches but also in their communities. This seemed to be the lesson in having traveled there, to see how our presence and our example heals more than simply improving or making changes in our churches.
Finally, after a three-week stint of temp nursing in yet another area, the Director of a nursing facility offered both of us positions, my wife as Director of Christian Science nursing and myself as the new Administrative Services Manager.
All of this came through reliance on prayer and on nothing and no one else. More than anything, my feeling is that this came more from a desire to serve our Cause than from any personal sense of what we wanted to do or where we wanted to live. Both of us have so much gratitude for what God has shown us through this very trying time, with two children still in college, and another one getting a life started for himself in another city. This, along with welcoming two grandsons into the family over the last year, being what a real estate agent declared as 'homeless' and yet supporting our beloved branch church during a very trying time for them, have all brought growth in grace and a willingness to embrace what has come forward but not cave in to personal desires, aspirations or whims (which can seem difficult to not do sometimes).
God's loving guidance has brought us through some unusual and trying experiences but has also offered us much spiritual growth.
Another wonderful lesson I've learned recently is how to trust our own prayers and God in any given situation. There has been much resolution of problems in my day-to-day experience by both trusting God and trusting our prayers are being answered.
Several weeks ago, our car was vandalized not long after we had moved into a new apartment. Taking the car to the local dealership, and then to the police, I learned that about two dozen cars had been targeted in our city the night before. The service advisor said he'd be in touch after our insurance company came out to assess the damages.
At the end of the next day, he called to ask whether we had filed the claim, as the adjuster from the same company had been there about another customer's car, but not ours. The other car was already being repaired, as our car sat idle. I became quite upset about this, but later had a revelation about how this wasn't on some standardized human timeline, but was really on God's time. The work would be done as I trusted Mind's governance of the entire situation.
On the third day, I felt led to call the insurance company. The next day I felt led to once again be in touch with them. Later that day, the service advisor called to say that the adjuster had come out and approved the repairs. A representative from our insurance company called to say the work would be started immediately and that we could pick up a rental car for the weekend.
I spent the weekend being grateful for all of the human steps working out harmoniously. A week had now elapsed, but the work was completed and all was done seamlessly by all parties, and I thanked God for getting this done His way, on His time. All I was to do was witness the constant good going on in my experience and to trust God with the details.
This trusting God with the details of everything going on in daily life has been not only eye opening but the new way to live life. Placing the needed trust in God brings about the right results and helps us to see healing in everything around us. I'm so very grateful for this opportunity to witness more of God's sweet control in my experience.
All these experiences over the past two years have helped me see that whether we are Journal-listed practitioners or not, we all have an active practice of Christian Science that goes on daily and is unimpeded by anything we think or believe is going on, because it is God that is governing our lives!