Published 7/09/2011 Updated 7/15/2019
Hello everyone,
Today I’d like to tell you “the story behind the story” of a book that I wrote entitled The Little Boy in Blue, published in 2009 by Guardian Books. This book is based on an actual supernatural experience that I had with God. The Little Boy in Blue is very interesting because many who know my history understand that the Little Boy in Blue is a story based on the life and death of my late brother, James Lockett.
There are some important facts that you need to know, though. Although portrayed as a child in the book, James grew up to be a wonderful man. He was a husband to Janice and a father to James Dwayne and Sonia. He passed away when he was 33 years old. His later years were a struggle due to the fact that he became a quadriplegic as a result of an auto accident. Why then do I depict him as a “little boy in blue”? A detailed explanation is in order.
James’ accident
As I said in my “Hello World” post, I was saved in 1974. Following salvation, God started a hunger and longing in my heart that compelled me to go from one church to another, looking for an answer to the strong pull that I felt. Around this same time, my brother had been involved in an automobile accident caused him to become a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. My search for a deeper relationship with the LORD was intense because I also wanted my brother to be healed.
Prayers for James
After I was saved, I began to pray for my youngest brother. I asked God, in a childlike way, to allow him to walk again. I also realized that he had a greater need than walking again, though, because He needed the Lord in his life. I prayed that the Lord would save him.
My sister and I were baptized in the Holy Ghost
In 1975 God filled me with the Holy God at Full Gospel Holy Temple Church in Dallas, TX. When I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost I realized that that was what I had been searching for. I went to my little sister in Houston and encouraged her to be filled. She visited me in Dallas and six months after I was saved and filled, God saved and filled her as well. God did not disappoint us.
Our trip to get James saved
Next on our agenda was to visit James and encourage him to be saved and baptized with the Holy Ghost. We were both brand new Saints, but we wanted our brother saved and filled just as we were. In just a few months as members of Full Gospel Holy Temple, I had learned enough to help someone else to be saved. We went to James and preached Jesus! He repented and although we had only been saved a few months, we were able to pray with our brother and he received the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues!
James is baptized in the Holy Ghost
Another amazing thing happened about this time. My sister was given the gift of interpretation of tongues. While we were praying with James, I heard him speak in tongues. My sister, however, kept asking, “When is he going to stop speaking English and start speaking in tongues?” My answer was, “What are you talking about? He’s speaking now.” While I heard his new, God-given prayer language, she initially heard the interpretation of his words in English. Suddenly she began to hear his prayer language, too. What she initially heard was a translation of his prayer language. God is so good. My sister, who is now both a Missionary and a prophetess, was given the gift of interpretation of tongues that same morning.
James was given the desire of his heart
My mother and my brother were able to visit with me at Full Gospel Holy Temple Church in Dallas. This was very important to James because he wanted my pastor, the Late Apostle Lobias Murray to lay hands on him. God gave him the desire of his heart. After his visit to Dallas, he was encouraged. He was able to return to College and get on with his life. His wonderful wife, Janice, was his caregiver and she was excellent in this role. We were all very much in prayer that James would walk again.
An amazing gift and promise from God
About this time God told me that I was a Prophetess and he began to visit me in dreams and visions. God spoke to me while in prayer one morning and let me know that “James will walk again”. I was so excited because I knew what I had heard. I knew that my brother would walk again. Although future technology may improve to the extent that quadriplegics are able to walk, in 1975 this was not the case.
James passes away
Unfortunately for us, James became ill with colon cancer and passed away. We were all devastated and I was confused and more than a little upset. I knew what I heard God speak to me. I just couldn’t understand how it could be that James would die before God kept His promise to me. Needless to say, God explained it all in a most dramatic way. I won’t give away the bottom line because this is the basis of the book and I don’t want to spoil it for you. I will say that in the dream I saw James; there is no doubt in my mind that it was him.
The reason why the book is written for children
The book is written for children because the message that it delivers is simple enough for a child to understand. I do ask that a loving adult or parent read the book to children because it is not a “happy” book, as one 11-year-old reviewer told me. It is very important that children are able to talk about death and dying because they have questions just as adults have questions. Many adults have told me that the book helped them because they had traumatic losses as children that no one would talk to them about. In this sense, this is a healing book. I encourage you to read the reviews on Amazon.com about the book.
Poetic license
So now, family and friends, I hope you understand a little better about why I took some “poetic license” with dates and timelines in the book. James in my book was presented as a child because of the simplicity of the message.
The printed copy is free
The book is no longer in print and I am no longer selling them. If you would like a copy simply request it. You will need to pay shipping and handling if it needs to be mailed to you. Let me know your zip code and I can tell you the cost of shipping. I am giving them away as long as the supply lasts. The book is very colorful and beautifully illustrated. It is also still available through Amazon.com if it is easier to purchase through them. You may also contact me on Facebook, through this blog or through Messenger.
A few copies available as an audiobook
A few copies of the book are now also available as an audiobook in my voice and as an e-book through Amazon.com in Spanish. I have to charge a little for the audiobook, which I’m sure you can understand. The cost is $10.00 plus shipping and handling. Proceeds will be donated to my church. My good friend, Graciela Salinas, MSRN, did an excellent job of translating it into the Spanish language. Unfortunately, the Kindle version is in black and white, so the beautiful colors are missed. Call me, contact me through my blog, or inbox me on Facebook to get your copy.
Feedback requested
I hope you will give me feedback, either through Facebook, here on this blog or as a review of the book. Many have said that it was helpful to them and that is my bottom line. I want to help others.
How James’s experience affected my life
One last word about James’ experience as a quadriplegic is that, as a result of his injury, I became a Rehab nurse at the VA in Dallas in 1990. With the help of the Lord, I was able to do the foundational work for starting the Spinal Cord Injury Center there and worked in SCI for 20 yrs. The Center now has over 100 employees and is in the process of building a long-term care facility for the spinal cord injured. I was able to retire from the VA in November 2010. Isn’t God good? Love you all. And…I thank God that I am FREE.
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The Little Boy I Blue – Free Learns AboutLife After Death written by Alfreda Lockett Evans.