LIFE SKETCH

Many called him “Jai” but to me,

He was my MR. BOJANGLES! 

When the doctor received the call from me that my water bag had broken and amniotic fluid finally was gushing forth and the much anticipated labor was about to begin, there was both anxiety and relief in his voice. You see, being pregnant with “Mr. Bojangles” had not been normal by any means! He was way past due and my doctor adamantly insisted on inducing labor. But my darling baby boy and I had other plans. He had stubbornly chosen to stay inside his “life-sack” just a little bit longer and his Mommy had just as stubbornly agreed that he could.

“No, you cannot induce labor. When it’s time, my baby will come!”  This is what I told my physician and he knew that I could not be persuaded otherwise. My heart was fixed. Why? Well, it’s really very simple. I knew that God . . . and God alone . . . was The One Who opens the womb!

And just because He had allowed the majority of mothers to deliver their babies in 9 months did not have anything at all to do with my “Mr. Bojangles”. God had ordained this precious little life, and He was in total control. For you see, the Lord my God said in Jeremiah 1:5:

 “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.”  The Message Bible.

And I absolutely love what is written in Psalm 139:13-16, The Message Bible:  

Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; 
You formed me in my mother’s womb.
  
I thank you, High God – You’re breathtaking! 
Body and soul, I am marvelously made! 
 
   I worship in adoration.   What a creation! 
You know me inside and out. 
You know every bone in my body.
 
You know exactly how I was made, 
bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing
into something. 

Like an open book, You watched me grow
from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life
were spread out before You
The days of my life all prepared 
before I’d even lived one day. 

As I stated earlier, being pregnant with Mr. Bojangles was not normal. It had been a long wait, but now it was his time. And The Father of all life was ready to open my womb . . . after twelve months. Yes, you are reading correctly. I carried ARIC JAI-SHON LEXING - my “Mr. Bojangles” twelve (12) months,  not nine!

On that wonderful, ordained day in Culver City, California on the Lord my God graciously, openedmy womb. Yes, He favored me, and opened my womb, indeed!

We had such a very special bond, the two of us. My baby boy knew how to wrap me around his little finger!  And it was so easy to “spoil” him. Once I held him in my arms, I just did not want to put him down. I sat gazing deeply into those big, beautiful eyes that pulled you instantly into them. And I wondered what God had in store for this darling child. I knew it was not anything “ordinary” or “common”.

And I also remember one particular day when this little one objected strongly to my putting him down in his little seat.  Wow, did he have a set of lungs!  I said, You must be a prophet or evangelist, boy!  And he would not stop crying . . . even after about 30 minutes. He was wearing me down. He was about to win when I decided to place his seat in front of the multi-colored beads hanging from the doorway to the kitchen. Then suddenly the screaming ceased.  My little guy had discovered by accident of course that he liked the feel of those beads on his little feet as he jiggled them like jello. He cooed ever so sweetly as his tiny little feet danced joyfully. The beads, well, they really captured him and quieted him down.

My little guy looked like he was dancing with the beads.  And so right then and there, he had his special name from his mommy.  He would be known as my  MR. BOJANGLES  -  and if I may say so myself, he was the original creator of  “Happy Feet”!   Oh, yes, those precious little feet were dancing joyfully.  Yes, they were happy feet, indeed.

My, sweet, precious, beautiful Mr. Bojangles!

Oh, the Holy Spirit is so wise.

Mr. Bojangles’ reading improved so much so that his teacher called me for an interview and wanted to know what accounted for this drastic change. I told her about my writing my son his very own book; and she asked to read it; gladly I said yes. And she was so excited about it that she presented Wimbledon, the Racquet Dog to the Hawthorne School Board. And so, I think I’ll be publishing his little book soon. Yes, I will publish his special book. Oh, how he loved it so!  He was only 7 when I penned it. I can still hear him say, “Mom, I gonna keep this til I get a man!”  And I can still see him holding it ever so proudly on his heart.

 

How do you really talk about someone who grew inside you, received his life from the life source God placed in you, and then in one moment gone too quickly from you?

In one moment  everything changed.  My Mr. Bojangels was gone.  How  do you really summarize a life so laden with untapped potential?  How do you?  Oh, I can tell you of the painful time when his older sister passed away at the tender age of 18, and I can speak of the strong bond  he and his younger sister developed between them.

I could speak of so many things.  Truly he was a beautiful young man of great promise!

Yes, I could speak of so many things like my special memories of that one particular Sunday morning when we were on our way to Church. We had about 15 minutes before the next bus was due to arrive, and so, I decided to take advantage of the time and began passing out Christian tracks to the passersby and witnessed to them about the love of Jesus.  My “Mr. Bojangles” surprised me when he said, “Mom, you’re embarrassing me.”

So, I said to him, “Oh, I’m embarrassing you because I’m passing out tracks and talking about the love of Jesus? But I’m not supposed to be embarrassed at all while you boldly stand out here kicking your legs and throwing your arms around right here on the sidewalk?! Oh, I’m not supposed to be embarrassed, I’m supposed to applaud you while you show off your latest karate moves out here on the streets?!”

Yes, I could speak of so many things.
So, many, many things.

I could speak of my own personal dream of my children and I ministering together side by side as we did when they were young and tender. Yes, I could speak of so many things like the arrow that pierced my heart afresh, and the incredibly deep pain of losing now two of my three beautiful, gifted, significant, beloved children. Children who are absolute treasures from the very heart of Almighty God, my Darling Father.  Precious, precious treasures, who had so much to deposit; so very, very much to contribute to this world.

Oh, how I could speak of so many things.


Jesus, Jesus, oh, Sweet Jesus, the ones who murdered my beautiful, darling son had no idea who he was or the magnitude of his existence!  They had no idea!  But I am not an activist or advocate for their condemnation.  And neither am I an activist or advocate for retaliation.  But I am an Ambassador for Christ!  And I know the only way to conquer evil is with good!  And oh how I know that no matter how black this present darkness is, it can never . . . ever . . . overwhelm or extinguish pure light.

God’s ultimate justice shall prevail!  My son did not die in vain!  His blood shall be seed that will reap a great harvest of young souls for the Kingdom of my God!

Mr. Bojangles has a lot of jewels
 in his crown!

* * * * *

LA TIMES PRESS CONFERENCE

Written by Rev. Ora Stearns Smith in honor of her beloved son, Aric Jai-Shon Lexing, who was slain in Los Angeles, California on July 20, 2007.  Jai had just received his Masters in Criminal Justice only in May, 2007 and was waiting to pursue a career in law enforcement.

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