Mikee's New Life

Hey guys, I wrote a children's book, yeah I know what your thinking, it is so out of the ordinary for me...but sometimes God's prompts me to move out of my comfort zone. Although it has not been edited, let me know what you think!

One day Mikee was shooting baskets in his driveway with his best friend Dax. His Dad arrived home early from work. His dad said “hey Mikee and Dax, how’s you guy’s shooting going? Mikee replied, “It’s going good dad, I’m sure I will do great in our first basketball game”

His dad said, “Mikee your Mom and I need to talk to you when you get a chance.” His dad went inside the house. Mikee pitched the ball to Dax and said. “Next bucket wins.” Dax then fires a shot that bounces of the rim of the goal. Dax quickly gets the rebound and “Swoosh! He hit the game winning shot with little effort/”

Mikee says, “Yes, I can’t wait till our first game/” Dax then goes home so Mikee can talk to his parents. Mikee goes inside his home and finds his parents sitting at the kitchen table. Mikee’s Dad then says,” Mikee will you come sit down, we need to talk.”

Mikee pulls out the empty chair at the table and says, “What’s up Dad?” Mikee’s dad then says, “son I know you don’t understand, and I know you will be upset. But we are going to move so I can take a better job.”

Mikee, with tears running down his face, says “Dad, but Why? Mikee’s mom put her arm around Mikee, and said, “son, your daddy will make more money, and this is an opportunity of a lifetime for him.”

Mikee then said, “Mom, Dad I don’t want more money I just want to keep my friends, what about Dax? What about my first basketball game on Saturday?”

That night, lying in his bed, Mikee began to cry even more. What was he to do without his friends, especially Eric? Would he even get to play basketball again on a team? Mikee cried himself to sleep.

The next morning Mikee set at the table waiting for his mom to finish cooking breakfast.
Eggs and toast were on the menu for that day. Mikee was so upset he could barely eat.

It was almost time for school; Mikee grabbed his backpack, kissed his mom on the cheek and ran outside. It was a good thing that he ran out when he did, the yellow school bus was just pulling up to the front of his house.

Mikee climbed the steps to the bus and saw his best friend Dax. Dax said, Hey Mikee, I got you a seat over here!” Mikee set next to his best friend. “Hey Mikee, why you so sad?” Mikee started to cry and said, “were moving Dax, my dad got a dumb new job.”

Dax, with a sad look on his face said, “no, you can’t leave me! You’re my best friend. What about our basketball game on Saturday? Who will I sit on the bus with? Who will I shoot hoops with? Whom, will I have sleepovers with?” Mikee began to cry even more, I don’t know Dax. I don’t know.
Three days later the movers showed up at Mikee’s door. In just a few hours, Mikee and his parents stared at his empty house. All their things were now loaded on the moving truck. Dax had snuck up behind them. Mikee’s mom jumped back and said, “Oh my gosh Dax, YOU scared me”

Mikee’s dad said to Mikee, “Hey buddy, we got to get going, why don’t you go ahead and say goodbye to Dax. As Mikee’s dad walked away he shook Dax’s hand and said, “Dax, you can come visit us anytime, we are only a few hours away.”

Mikee then looked at Dax, and without a word they gave each other their secret handshake. Dax, said, “Mikee, don’t worry, you will meet new friends, and who knows you might even get on a better basketball team.”

Mikee gave Dax a hug and got in the car with his parents and off they went to travel to their new home. Two hours later they arrived at their new home.

Although it was weird being in a new home, Mikee was excited about his new room it was a lot bigger than his old one. After a late night of unpacking, Mikee lay in his bed in his new room and began to doze off. The next morning, Mikee awoke early to noise of his parents hanging pictures on the wall.

“Good morning son,” his dad said. “Good morning, dad!” “Mikee, I got some exciting news for you!” his dad said. “Oh yeah, what’s that dad? Mikee asked. “Well, my new boss found out how much you love basketball, and he got you on his son’s team, your first practice is tomorrow, “ his dad said. Mikee, with a huge smile on his face, said, “Really dad, you’re the best dad in the whole world!” Mikee couldn’t wait till the next day.

All day long, he tried to keep busy, unpacking more of his room, playing in his new backyard, and even reading a book. It finally came time for bed, and Mikee couldn’t have been more excited to go to sleep. He knew the next morning his hopes of being a pro basketball player would become one step closer.

Mikee, Mikee, wake up. It’s time to eat breakfast so your food will have enough time to digest before your big practice, his dad sad loudly. Instantly Mikee jumped out of bed, and rain down the stairs to eat breakfast.

A couple of hours after breakfast, it was now time to go to his first practice. Mikee was a little nervous being the new kid and all, but he was excited too. He walked through the gym doors with his dad by his side, and saw 8 unfamiliar faces, that would soon become his teammates. “Hello there, Mikee, we have been expecting you,” an older man said to Mikee. Come to find out that was his Dad’s new boss and the coach of the basketball team. He was really nice.

Mikee noticed a blonde headed boy near him had quit dribbling. “Hey Mikee, I’m Elijah my dad is the coach, the blonde headed boy said. Mikee then said, “Nice to meet you, you’re a good dribbler.”

Mikee, found peace knowing his new teammate Elijah was so nice to him. They had a good practice. In fact, Mikee did really good and impressed the rest of his teammates.

Mikee couldn’t wait till his next basketball practice. Mikee went home to eat dinner and get ready for his first day of class at his new school. After dinner, Mikee took a bath and went to bed.

The next morning Mikee woke to his mom’s voice telling him breakfast was ready. “What’s’ for breakfast Mom? Mikee said as he walked into the kitchen. “Your favorite, smiley face pancakes and breakfast.” “Great, Mom thanks for cooking!”

Mikee, loved the taste of his buttermilk pancakes, but the smiley face design made the pancakes taste even better. Mikee’s mom said, “you better hurry and finish your breakfast, the bus will be here soon.” “Yes Mama,” Mikee politely told his mom. Mikee’s mom said, “one last thing mister, hurry upstairs and brush your teeth.” “No problem Mom,” Mikee said.

Mikee ran upstairs, brushed his teeth and in a flash grabbed his backpack. He darted downstairs, ran to his mom gave her a kiss and ran outside just in time to see the flashing lights from his school bus approach him.

Nervously, Mikee climbed up the steps to the school bus and peeked around the corner looking to see if there were any seats open. In a split second, Mikee heard his name being called. “Hey Mikee, I saved you a spot,” With a sigh of relief on his face, his new teammate, Elijah had saved him a seat.

“Thanks Elijah for saving me a seat, I was a little nervous getting on the bus.” Mikee said to Elijah. “No problem!” Elijah replied. After a short bus ride they it was now time to enter through the doors of Mikee’s new school. Much to Mikee’s relief he quickly found out that Elijah, was not only his teammate and new friend, he was also his classmate. Mikee said, “boy it’s my lucky day, I have you in class too Elijah. Elijah, with a smile on his face said, “great, will have a fun time.”

The teacher was nice to Mikee and he even seemed to make a couple of new friends in his class on his first day of school. The rest of the week went by fast. His second practice of the week went well, and he couldn’t’ wait till his first game on Saturday.

Mikee could barely sleep Friday night as a result of him being so excited about his first game. Saturday morning couldn’t come quick enough; He awoke to his dad’s deep voice. “Son, its time to get up, your game is just a few hours away,” his dad said. Mikee replied, “No problem, Dad.” Mikee jumped out of his covers and ran to his dresser to get his basketball uniform.

Mikee after getting dressed stared at the clock. He was so excited he couldn’t even eat. Finally, it was time for him and his mom and dad to go his basketball game.

Mikee played great, he led the team in scores with 12 points. Mikee was excited not only to lead the team in scoring but also more importantly his team won. After the game, Elijah ran up to his dad that was the coach. “Hey Dad, do you mind if Mikee, stays the night with us? He can even go to church with us!” In a split second his dad said, “I think that is great idea Elijah!”

Elijah sprinted over to Mikee who was standing next to his mom and dad. “Hey Mikee, do you want to stay the night with me?” Elijah asked. Mikee turned to his dad, “Dad can I? Dad can I stay over Elijah’s tonight?” After a brief conversation with his wife, Mikee’s dad, “said sure son.” Elijah said to Mikee, “great, just bring some clothes to sleep in and bring some jeans and a shirt, so you can go to church with us tomorrow.”

Mikee, “said, okay see you soon.” Mikee’s parents were so grateful that Elijah had been so kind to Mikee. They were becoming good friends in a short time.
Mikee and his parents headed home to pack his things.

On his way home Mikee said to his parents, “Mom and Dad, this new town might not be so bad after all. First I got on a good basketball team, and then I got a new cool friend, Elijah.” With a big smile on his face, his dad said,” I’m so glad you are starting to like this town, Mikee.”

Mikee arrived home and ran upstairs to pack his bag. In a flash Mikee had his bags packed. “Don’t forget your toothbrush, son,” Mikee’s mom yelled from downstairs. Whoops! Mikee thought to himself. In his speediness he had somehow forgot his toothbrush.

Mikee and his dad got in the car and off they went to his new friends house. In less then 10 minutes they were at the front steps to Elijah house. Ring! Ring! The doorbell sounded. The door then swung wide open and with Elijah and his dad standing in the doorway.

“Hey Mikee, come on in.” Elijah said. Mikee’s dad then thanked his new boss for showing such kindness to his son. Mikee was excited to stay with his friend at his house. The boys ran up stairs and began to play video games.

After an hour of playing video games Elijah said “Hey Mikee did you bring some jeans and a shirt to wear to church?” Mikee replied, “Yeah, I did. Hey what’s your church like?”

Elijah’s face lit up, “it’s great Mikee, we get to play games, we learn neat stuff by reading the bible, and we sing to worship Jesus.” “Hmm,” Mikee said, “I never been to church before.” Elijah said, “Mikee, since you haven’t been to church, have you ever heard about Jesus?” Mikee’s head lowered to the ground in shame.

Mikee looked up, “Well, I know people wear pretty jewelry that shows him hanging on a cross for some reason.” Elijah quickly blurted back, “Mikee you are right he did die on the cross, and the reason he died on the cross was for me and you. So that we could go to Heaven.”

Confused Mikee said, “Huh? Jesus had to die so we could go to Heaven? Why? That doesn’t make sense.” Elijah then began to share with Mikee Jesus’ story. “Well Mikee, you know when we do wrong, like lie, or disobey our parents?” Elijah said. “Yeah. I have got in big trouble for doing that in the past, “ Mikee said. “Well, that is called a sin Mikee, Elijah stated.

I memorized this verse in Sunday school it’s Romans 6:23 it says, “The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “See Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sin so if we accept Jesus into our heart, God will forgive us and let us into heaven one day.” Elijah explained.

“Cool!” Mikee said, “I understand a little bit better.” “One last thing Elijah before we get a snack and go to bed,” Mikee said. “Sure,” Elijah replied. “Have you ever asked Jesus to save you from your sin?” “Of course I have,” Elijah replied.

Elijah went on to say, “Yeah one Sunday the pastor, which is the man that speaks about the Bible, talked about Heaven and Hell. He said that if people don’t ask for forgiveness of their sin and ask Jesus into their heart they couldn’t go to Heaven. At the end of his message he told the crowd that if anybody wanted to ask Jesus into their heart so they could go to Heaven to come forward. So I went forward and asked Jesus into my heart,” Elijah stated.

“Wow, that sounds pretty cool.” Mikee replied.

“Hey Mikee, let’s go grab a snack before we go to bed.” Elijah said.

“Sounds good.” Mikee stated. The boys ran down the stairs to the kitchen to grab a snack.

Elijah’s mom walked in and asked the boys “you boys ready for some cookies? They are fresh out of the oven?”

“Wow,” Elijah said, “Perfect timing, Thanks Mom!”

“No problem sweetie, why don’t you grab Mikee and you some milk from the frig.”

Elijah walked over to the frig, and grabbed the jug of milk.”

After chomping down some chocolate chip cookies and some milk, the boys decided it was time to turn into bed for the night.

“Elijah! Mikee! You guys wake up, it’s time for breakfast!” Elijah’s mom yelled from downstairs.

“Mikee, you awake?” Elijah softly asked.

“Yeah, I’m awake, boy I slept like a baby last night.” Mikee said as he yawned.

Elijah and Mikee hurried downstairs and were greeted by warm cinnamon rolls and orange juice.

“So you ready to check out my church? Elijah asked with a smile on his face.

“I’m always up to try new things,” Mikee quickly responded.

“Great, well let’s finish these cinnamon rolls off, and go get ready for church,” Elijah told Mikee.

After changing their clothes and brushing their teeth, it wasn’t long till they were on their way to church with Elijah’s family.

After a fifteen-minute ride in the car, Mikee found himself walking up to a building that didn’t look like most churches he had saw before.

“Is this your church, Elijah? Mikee asked in shock.

Elijah laughed, “Why you ask it like that? Yeah it’s my church.”

Mikee quickly replied, “It just doesn’t look like a church. I mean where’s the steeple? It looks more like a grocery store than a church.”

Laughing even harder, Elijah said, “Mikee all churches don’t have to have steeples, our church building did use to be a grocery store, come on let’s go in, I want you to check it out.”

“Sounds good,” Mikee quickly agreed.

Mikee and Elijah, along with Elijah’s family entered through the church doors.

Mikee was amazed; Mikee and Elijah’s family were greeted at the door by a couple of nice ladies. As Mikee looked around the foyer of the church, there were all types of art hanging on the walls, there was a coffee bar to the left where a couple of ladies were serving free coffee and pastries.

“This sure doesn’t look like what I thought church was suppose to be like,” he thought to himself.

Elijah excitedly said, “Hey Mikee, let’s go this way, I want you to check out my Sunday school class.”

“Sure,” Mike replied with a little bit of nervousness.

Elijah and Mikee were greeted at the entrance of the long hallway way by the children’s pastor.

“Hey guys, welcome to Sunday school!” The young lady replied.

“Hey Lindsey, this is my friend Mikee.” Elijah informed her.

“Hey Mikee, it’s so good to have you this morning. If you need anything please holler at me.” Lindsey gently said.

Mikee couldn’t believe how nice the people at church were to him. This also helped eliminate some of his nervousness.

During Sunday school, the boys were taught a lesson on how Jesus died on the cross to save the people of their sin. The teacher read John 3:16 in the Bible “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Mikee, thought to himself, “wow this is starting to make a lot of sense, he remembered what Elijah had told him the night before about Jesus.”
Sunday school came to and end and Mikee and Elijah, met up with Elijah’s parents in the sanctuary. They found seats about four rows from the front. Mikee once again was in shock, the sanctuary was painted with numerous different colors and there were a lot of band equipment on the stage directly in front of him.
In a matter of minutes the lights dimmed, and the band walked on stage. The drummer hit his drumsticks together and the band whaled away on their instruments.
“Wow, this church is cool!” Mikee thought to himself. He was so excited about what he was experiencing at church.
The band played for quite some time, Mikee loved every one of the songs they were playing. In fact he thought he had heard a few of the songs on a radio station he stumbled across a couple of weeks prior.
After about thirty minutes of the band playing, some young guy walked on to the stage. He pulled a stool out that was hidden towards the back portion of the stage. He positioned it on the front part of the stage and sat down.
Mikee leaned over to his buddy Elijah and whispered, “Whose that young guy up there?”
Elijah whispered back, “that’s our pastor.”
As the pastor began to talk, Mikee was so drawn into what the young guy was saying, that he was literally sitting on the edge of his seat.
During the pastor’s message, he used several video clips to paint a picture of the love Jesus had for all people. This was the third time in twenty four hours that Mikee had heard how much Jesus loved him, and all the rest of the people in the world.
The pastor finished his message with a story. He went on to say that when he was a fourth grader in high school his dad got a new job and they had to move away to another city. The pastor exclaimed how sad he was because he had to leave his best friend, his teammates, and a community he grew up in behind and start all over.
Mikee’s jaw almost fell to the ground, he could not believe what he was hearing, and he couldn’t believe the pastor went through what he was currently going through. The pastor went on to say that his new next neighbor became his best friend and invited him to church where he turned his life over to Jesus Christ.
Elijah glanced out of the corner of his eye and looked at Mikee, Elijah too was in just as much shock as Mikee, as a result of hearing his pastor’s childhood story.
The pastor closed his message by asking the band to come back up on the stage, as the band gently played the pastor asked a question that would change Mikee’s life for eternity. He said, “With everyone’s eyes closed and heads bowed, I would like to ask you a question. Is there anyone in here that would like to turn their life over to Christ, and ask him to come into their hearts so that one day when you close your eyes to this earth you can go to Heaven for eternity?”
Mikee’s heart was beating rapidly; he knew he wanted to give his life to Jesus.
The pastor went on to say, “If that’s you, if you would like to ask Jesus into your heart please meet me at the front of the stage.”
Instantly Mikee jumped out of his seat and made his way to the front of the stage.
As he approached the stage the young pastor, smiled at him and said, “what’s up ill man, how’s it going?
Mikee quickly replied, “just like you, I just had to move away from my hometown, I have only been to this city a few days, and my new friend invited me to church. I had never been to church before, and I too would like to ask Jesus into my life, just like you did when you were a boy.”
The young pastor had tears in his eyes, while preparing for the message early in the week he could not understand why he felt the Lord impress on his heart to tell his congregation his childhood story of meeting Christ, but at that very moment it all made sense.
The pastor asked the young boy his name. Mikee with a huge smile on his face said, “My name is Mikee.”
“Well Mikee, my name is Chris, would you like to ask Jesus into your heart?”
Mikee almost didn’t give the pastor enough time to finish his sentence, “I want to, I want to give my life to Jesus.”
Chris, the pastor went on to say, “Okay Mikee, that is the greatest and most import decision you will ever make in your life. The Bible tells us to confess our sins and ask forgiveness for all our wrongdoing, and ask Jesus to become our Lord and Savior. The Bible goes on to say if we do these things, Jesus will forgive us of our past and one day when we pass away from this earth we get to go to Heaven.”
The pastor then said, “Please repeat after me.”
Mikee with the help of the pastor prayed, “Dear God, I know that have done bad things. I know that you sent Jesus to die on a cross and save me from my sins. I know that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming back someday. Please forgive me of all of my sins, and come into my heart. Thank you for dying for me, saving me so that I can go to Heaven when I die. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Both the young pastor and Mikee had tears in their eyes. The pastor gave Mikee a big hug and said, “welcome to God’s family! I want you to know that God wrote your name in a big book, called the book of life, along with all the other people around the world that ask Jesus to save them.
At that moment in time, tears of joy flooded down Mikee’s face as he realized not only did he had a great new friend named Elijah, but he also found the best friend he could ever have, Jesus Christ.