Keilla and Celia are two peas in a pod. They were put in the same Grade 5 class at the Wellspring Academy this year and instantly became best friends, doing all the things that best friends do: playing together during recess, eating lunch together, sitting next to each other in class... Unfortunately, this is where things started to get messy.

Celia and Keilla are two peas in pod in the same grade 5 class at the Wellspring Academy

When you sit by your best friend, it doesn’t usually lead to the best level of concentration in class. You whisper little comments and pass little notes and before you know it, the lesson is finished and you missed the whole thing! This was exactly what was happening with Keilla and Celia. In fact, not only were they passing notes, they were keeping an entire notebook that mainly consisted of gossip about other kids in school. Their performance in school was seriously slipping and they were getting more and more troublesome for their teacher to handle.

Then one day at the beginning of the term, another student was leading the class’ daily devotional and both girls felt completely convicted about what they had been doing. They confessed to their classmates about the notebook they had been keeping, sincerely apologized for the bad things they had been saying about others, and asked for forgiveness. The Head Mistress was there to witness the girls kneeling down while other students prayed for them, even ones who had been treated badly by Keilla and Celia. It was an inspiring moment of forgiveness, reconciliation, and turning over a new leaf.

Since that time, Keilla and Celia really have made the effort to change their behavior and attitude. Of course everything isn’t perfect, but steps are being made in the right direction. Their teacher and the Head Mistress say that they have seen a real difference in their hearts and it is showing in their relationships and performance in class. Now Keilla says that her favorite things to do are “learn, pray, and show others love.” As the big kids on the block next year in Grade 6, this is the kind of attitude that will set the right example for students in the lower grade levels. Both of the girls hope that with God’s help they will be able to be role models for the younger students by demonstrating the power of prayer and the beauty of forgiveness.