Michala grew up in Miami, Florida until the age of 13 when she moved to Houston. Even though she was the new kid at school, Michala acted like she had been there forever. On the first day of school, she met a new friend and this is how it all started.

“Good morning class, I’m Ms. Tanner, your Algebra teacher for the year. Please stand, say your name and something about yourself,” Ms. Tanner coolly stated.
“ Hi, I’m James Fountain and I’m human, “ one boy said sarcastically.
“My name’s Lily and I like going to the movies,” the girl next to me said.
“

I’m Michala Andrews and I just moved here from Florida,” I said. I listened as the other kids said their names and I realized I had a lot in common with them. The first day of Algebra we just played games until the bell rang.

“Ding” the bell tolled

Now it was time for me to go to Science in rm. 1604, but I didn’t know where it was. Since Lily was standing next to me I asked her, “ Do you know where 1604 is? I have Science next.”

“Yeah I have Science second, too, just follow me,” she responded.

Well, I followed Lily to Science and I caught up with her for a few more classes we had together. At lunch she introduced me to some of her friends, Amanda, Hope and Raven.

When I got home my mom was waiting for me since she works 8-3, allowing her to be home when my 4-year old brother, Jonathan got home. My mom, Stephanie Andrews, works for Opinionated People Across America. OPAA is a nation-wide company that does market research or finds out what people like and don’t like. My dad, James Andrews is a doc at MD Anderson; so he doesn’t get home ‘til 6:00 PM.

Life from then on was pretty much the same. My brother and I went to school and my parents went to work every day. We even found a church home, Missouri City Community Bible Church. Eventually I got to know a lot of people at school from different cliques. Days, weeks, and months passed, finally it was Take Your Child to Work Day. I decided to go to work with my dad. To my disappointment my dad had a busy day so I ended up spending half my day with Jordan, Melissa, and Desiree, the nurse and two secretaries in his office. Towards the end of the day I met one of my dad’s patients, Rachel Stern, a 47-year-old woman with brain cancer. She was really nice and she changed her weekly appointments just so she could see me on Saturdays when I visited my dad. When she thought I had gotten comfortable enough with her she invited me to her house for milk and cookies.

Next Friday, I went to Ms. Rachel’s house, and we talked for 5 hours about the 1990’s and early twenty-first century while snacking on Oreos and milk.

“What did Houston look like when you were 13 in 2001?” I asked.

“Well someone had just come up with the idea of light rail to cut down on pollution and there were a lot more car dealerships selling less expensive cars still powered by gas. Most buildings were really tall, skyscrapers, and were still above ground. Unfortunately, people had just thought about underground buildings,” she replied.

“Where’d you live in Houston and what school did you go to,” I asked.

“I lived out in Katy and I homeschooled a few years, but that was when homeschooling wasn’t as popular.”
“And, now there are way more activities and resources for them,” she said
“Oh my goodness look at the time it’s already 8:00 PM. I better get you home before your parents come searching for you. Thanks for coming. My family moved away because they didn’t like Houston and my friends don’t keep in touch so I get kinda bored in the middle of the day when my husbands at work,” she said.

“ No problem. I had fun. I never thought hanging with adults could be fun. All the ones I know are boring and don’t give a care about the things I’m interested in. So I just hang out with kids my age,” I replied.

So I went home that night and talked with Lily, Raven, Hope, Amanda, Sarah, Anthony, Jermaine, and Alexa, on AIM all night.

Because I had so much fun I ended up going back to Ms. Rachels house over and over again. One time her 17-year-old Daughter Aliza was there. In the middle of lunch she had the idea to go to Astroworld even though we would be waiting in the long lines of kids out of school. We drove there in Aliza's purple convertible Eclipse. Finally, we got there and we stayed until it closed. Later on I called my parents and asked them if it was okay for me to spend that night at Ms. Rachel’s house, but I ended up staying the weekend.

Another time when I visited her, she took me to volunteer at the hospital to read to the kids in the cancer ward. Unexpectedly, I enjoyed looking at the happy, smiling faces of the little children whose bodies looked like all the energy from their body had been drained. It touched my soul. The week after that we sat down to our regular Oreos and milk, because they were her favorites. Out of nowhere she asked me, "Do you have any hobbies or play an instrument or sport?"

Confused why she was asking I answered, "Well, um, no I hadn't really thought about it. The closest thing to playing an instrument or sport was my elective in school. I took AMT, art, music and theater in different parts of the year.

"I was just thinking, I was just like you when I was 13. Almost everyone I knew was doing something along with hanging out with their friends while going to school. Don't you think it would be fun to play on a team and have some competition? I only wish I had taken advantage of it," she said.

I thought about it for a while then I said, "Yeah, that would be fun. Do you know somewhere I could go to play," I said.

"The Y offers different sports you can play, we can check them out," she suggested.

So we got up and left to go sign me up for volleyball. When we got there, there was only one spot left open. It was like it was waiting just for me and no one else, like it was planned that way or something. Silly me, I didn’t think that maybe it was planned. I didn’t realize that in the short time that she had known me, Ms. Rachel had figured me out.

Volleyball went well; I was a natural and I made some new friends who I started to hang out with a lot that summer. But that wasn’t the only thing Ms. Rachel had up her sleeve.

Another time I spent the night, Ms. Rachel brought me to her old friend, Leah McFarley’s house. Ms. Leah just so happened to teach the flute. Not coincidently, she offered to give me free lessons, so every Saturday Ms. Rachel would take me to Ms. Leah’s house for an hour and then I would go to volleyball practice two hours later. Every month I would volunteer at the hospital just to see the joyful expressions on those little kids faces.

Life had turned around for me. I was volunteering, playing sports, and after a lot of practice, playing complicated songs on my flute. Ms. Rachel even got my walk with God on a more personal level. Before Ms. Rachel came along I went to church every Sunday and that was it, barely thinking about God except when I said grace. God must have put it on her heart to help me get closer to Him. So, one Friday night Ms. Rachel took me to her church and introduced me to the youth pastor, Mr. Dante Rumen. Dante, that’s what he told me to call him, took me to bible study where there were like twenty to thirty people my age in a big group reading along in their Bibles.

“…Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Mathew 7:7,8…” I heard the lady recite.

After she finished Dante introduced me to everybody and we played some games and hung out some until around 9:00 PM. Then, Ms. Rachel came and got me because it was over. In the car she asked me, “How was it, do you think you wanna go back next week?”

“I had a lot of fun and one thing really stuck out to me. They read Mathew 7:7,8 and I realized I could go to God for anything at all and He would answer my prayers and listen to me. I knew he was born in a manger, mocked as the King of Jews, He died on the cross for my sins and God raised Him from the dead. I never really thought we could be close enough to God to be His friend. I would love to go back next week and learn more about God’s love,” I explained.

Ms. Rachel touched my life and helped me see life wasn’t all about your friends and yourself; there was a whole lot of world still out there.

School started back up again and I continued going to Bible study, volunteering, playing volleyball, and practicing the flute, but I stopped meeting Ms. Rachel for our Oreos and milk on Saturdays. One day in October when I got home from school my mom sat me down and said, “ Michala, do you remember Ms. Rachel, the lady with brain cancer whose house you went to every week this summer?”

“Yes, why what’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

“She had a stroke and was put in the hospital this morning and her cancer has spread out almost taking complete control of her brain. She really wants to see you,” she informed me.

Anxiously I asked her,” Can I go see her NOW pleez!!”

“Sure honey, get your brother and get in the car,” she told me.

Those were the longest twenty-five minutes of my life. I raced out of the car and off the parking lot into the hospital.

I asked the lady at the front desk, ” ‘cuse me, which room is Rachel Stern in?”

“She’s in room 106 on the second floor,” the lady at the computer said.

I ran upstairs and down the hall ignoring all the people telling me to walk. Not caring, I didn’t know where my mom and little brother were. After a while, I reached room 106 panting. First stopping to catch my breath I went inside to find Aliza and her dad, who I’d never met before, standing next to Ms. Rachel. Looking at her uncomfortably connected to all those machines, a tear rolled down my cheek as I stepped closer and my mom walked in.

“H...Hi Michala…H…How are you?” Ms. Rachel barely spoke.

“I’m okay, what happened? What’s wrong?” I sobbed.

Aliza answered for her mom saying, “About six months ago in early April your dad told her she could definitely count on six months to live and didn’t know about anything after that. We were so happy she made it this far. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you. She was probably trying not to worry you.” She continued sadly by saying, ”My mom wants to say some last words and she really wanted you here.”

“Hmm,” Ms. Rachel cleared her throat. “ I’ve really lived a full life. When I was little my mom provided for my sister and I as best she could and we had some great experiences. Then when I got on my own I really started depending on God. Out of nowhere this wonderful, hardworking, handsome, Christian man, Brandon Stern came into my life making it even more of a blessing. Who knew 5 years later we would have our little bundle of joy Aliza; and now yet another, Michala who has become almost like mine. I want y’all to know I love you very much and you’ve changed my life. I hope I’ve touched yours too,” she finished.

As she finished I heard a long beep and saw a man walk over to the machines then say something to Mr. Stern and Aliza. After a while Aliza started sobbing loudly and I figured out God said it was time for Ms. Rachel to meet Him.

God is awesome, He sent Ms. Rachel into my life at the turning point in my childhood to teenage years so that things would go well with me in the future.

That was the amazing story of my thirteenth year. After Ms. Rachel died I still went to Bible Study, in fact I started my own for people my age trying to do better in life. Also, I volunteered every week, instead of just once a month, especially in the cancer ward to bring as much joy as possible into their lives. I kept playing volleyball and I tried much harder for Ms. Rachel, then one year I got MVP and my team won all the games of the season. My flute lessons with Ms. Leah continued and I practiced everyday finally being able to play in the school orchestra my freshman year of high school. I decided to baby sit and I introduced Jasmine to the same joys Ms. Rachel showed me and I felt really good seeing how it helped her life. My world was opened up so that I was no longer stuck inside my mini Oreo, but my world was THE world, the largest Oreo ever.