Upon meeting my husband, whose parents were students of Christian Science, I gradually began learning about Christian Science, including reading testimonies of healing. But I still felt a long way from dealing with eczema, which I’d suffered from since infancy and had been treating medically.

When I was a mum with three young children, I reached a point of severity with the skin condition. A doctor explained that other bodily organs would also be experiencing irritation, and she admitted me to the hospital to try to bring the condition under control. There was never the expectation that medicine could cure the condition; I was told that it could only help bring some relief. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was given more creams and a strong drug to be taken daily. I felt very uncomfortable most of the time and was exhausted and hopeless.

Then one day about ten years after I first encountered Christian Science, I returned home after taking the children to school and playgroup. I had two hours before I needed to pick my son up at playgroup, and I went to my bedroom and dropped to my knees in prayer. I was in a state of complete humility. I turned to God and asked Him to show me what I needed to do. I felt led to open Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and read it from the beginning, something I had never done before.

Well, I can tell you that I didn’t get very far because I was so electrified by the power in the promise of the opening line of the Preface: “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings” (p. vii). I couldn’t get beyond this statement. I felt it gave me permission to lean on the Divine with my full weight, with all my might—to put down a false sense of responsibility that had been weighing on me and to trust that the sustaining infinite, God, could easily bear the load. What seemed huge and burdensome to me was nothing at all to Him. In fact, it could have no actual reality because God does not, and could not, create disease.

As I prayed, I felt a surge of warmth course through my body, and I knew I was healed, just like that. I got rid of all medication and went to collect my son. For a few days I was vigilant about holding thought firmly to the truth and permanence of this healing, but almost immediately the lifetime experience of eczema seemed to take on the nature of a dream from which I had awoken.

About six months later, whilst pregnant, I experienced a recurrence of the condition, but I was ready to deal with it immediately, and within hours it was gone. In the 21 years since then, I have never had a single eczema itch. My skin has no blemishes or dryness; it is just perfect.

This healing marked a clear turning point in my understanding of the practical, healing power of Christian Science. I am in awe and feel humbly grateful for this healing and the many subsequent healings I’ve experienced through Christian Science. There are no words to describe my gratitude to Mary Baker Eddy, who, through her writings, enabled me to gain a clearer understanding of my relation to my divine Parent, God. This understanding led to permanent healing.