Ashley moved to a new house, and started the sixth grade in a new school. She loved her new home, especially her purple room. There was even space for her guinea pig's cage next to her bed.

At school, however, the kids seemed unfriendly even though she was nice to them. Ashley found that her classmates had already made their friends when they were younger. It was hard not to feel left out, especially since she had always had special friends where she lived before.

One night Ashley was very sad. She wondered what God wanted her to learn about friendships. So she asked her mom—a Christian Science practitioner—what she should do. (A practitioner is an individual who helps people through prayer.) They talked about how to pray for healing. From their talks, Ashley learned a lot about God. She learned that He is Love, and that each one of His children reflects He love. Because Love is infinite, no one could be outside of it. Love is everywhere, all the time—even at school.

"I know what I'll do," Ashley thought. "I'll get a pencil and paper and write down my prayer so I can read it wherever and whenever I want. And I can add to it each day."

Ashley prayed with her mom to see what was true about all God's children. Here is what she wrote the very first day: "I am the child of God. God loves us and leads us to right thoughts about all His children. If it is right for me to play alone, I will play alone, and have good and happy thoughts about others and myself. God made us all good. His children are loving, not mean."

Ashley could see that when the kids at school acted mean, she didn't have to get mad or feel sad. Instead, she could see her classmates as God made them—as loving and kind. She could know that everyone reflects the love of God. People may sometimes be unkind, but Ashley knew that being unkind wasn't her classmates' true nature because unkindness isn't from God, good.

Things got a little better at school after her prayer. But Ashley needed to listen to God more and to love everyone at school. At times, she even wrote about the kind of special goodness she saw in each of the children. She thought Crystal was happy. Kathleen was funny, and Martha was nice. Marian was kind and Clare was good. Tammy was helpful.

She thought a lot about these good qualities. Then, she remembered from the Bible something that John the Apostle wrote: "Let us love one another." The entire verse from I John in the New Testament reads, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (4:7).

Ashley's notebook was getting full. She was discovering so much about God and about His children! And she felt like she was really learning to follow His leadings. School began to be fun for her. During this time, she made friends with some fifth graders who would play with her at recess. All alone the way, she kept thinking, "I'll just keep listening to God."

After a while some of the sixth graders began to walk with her after school, to come over, or to call her sometimes. They started inviting her to play with them on the playground. It was fun to climb the jungle gym and play hopscotch together. They helped one another in class, too.

Ashley was so glad she had prayed about this. And she thanked God for His direction. She was so grateful to have demonstrated that no one is excluded from God's love.

Parent's note: From that time on, Ashley never had trouble making friends. When she graduated from high school she was voted the "friendliest girl" in the class.