Growing up I was never the smart one. I was always among those that were last in class for exams, sports and pretty much everything else.
One day around the age of 10, we were driving past one of the most esteemed high schools in the country. I declared to those that were in the car, “This is the school I will go to.” My mum turned around with a smile and said, “You know you will need to work really hard to go to this school!”
A year later, I was taking a set of exams called the CPE’s. If I was among the top 200 out of around 10,000 students, I would get a chance to apply for my dream high school.
When the results came in, I was devastated. I came in 747th. I enrolled into another school that fit my grades. Reluctantly, I bought the books required and the school uniform.
During that season as an 11 year old I kept replaying the verse in the bible that I heard my aunty speak over me. Deteuronomy 28:13, “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail… you will always be at the top, never the bottom.”
As reality was setting in for me that I would be attending the other high school, my heart was heavy! For over a week I would cry in bed at night with tears of sorrow and declare, “God you promised that I would be the head and not the tail! God you promised that I would be the head and not the tail..” I repeated this over and over again.
More time passed and my family went away for a holiday for a few days. We were coming back on the Sunday for me to start high school on the following Monday.
When we got home that Sunday my dad found an envelope that was inside of our house. We had a high window with a small gap that was open at the top. It didn’t quite make sense how the letter would have gotten in there, as it seemed it did not come from the post.
In the letter was an invitation to attend the high school I always dreamed of going to, that I did not qualify for. My parents did not understand how we received the letter and thought that I may have just been invited back to do an exam. We were all perplexed by the situation.
The next day, I went to the high school and they called out my name first (my last name starts with “A”). They asked me to stand in line and then they had all the other students line up behind me. I walked into the classroom and was an official student of the prestigious high school! No exams or other steps required!
Nothing could have prepared me for this moment. God heard my prayers! I was the head and not the tail!
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