JACKSON...

My good friend Debra, and myself, hauled my girls to Jackson Tues. We had planned this for several months, but never actually doing it. The girls were excited to know we were going to spend the night there and shop. I had made no reservations for a Hotel or anything, we were just going.

Our trip was delayed a few hours by Debra and I needing to attend the Poll Workers meeting, then we could head out.

As we traveled on, with traffic being decent, we pull up at the Holiday Inn Express at Flowood, deciding to get a room first. We all got out and I asked about rooms. The guy was explaining the rooms to us then this woman...that came from nowhere....walks behind him, never stopping and says, "We have no rooms for tonight." She kept right on walking through to an office...never looking our way. The guy then lets us know there are no rooms except Suites. We thanked him and left. It went from being ok friendly to the "mystery" woman being "quietly" rude.

We drove just a short distance back the way we came and saw Sleep Inn. We wheel in there...I can say wheel, Debra was driving at this point! haha GOT'CHA Debra..gotta pick at her somehow! Anyway, Madge and I go in and the woman was very friendly, had a room, ground floor not far from the pool, just around the corner from where we checked in. We were glad to get the room because we were tired just from having had class that morning then driving up...plus Debra had a sinus infection and wasn't feeling well at all...but the Lord had allowed her to see the Dr. the day before.

Debra and the girls grabbed a baggage cart and by the time I was finished checking in, they were bringing everything in!

As we entered the room we were pleasantly surprised! The rooms were very nice....no tub, but we all loved the large shower. We unloaded the cart and sat to take a breather.

The girls filled us in at that point where they wanted to shop and eat. After a little energy kicked in...very little I should say, we did a little shopping at Academy and treated ourselves to the Olive Garden for supper. I had never eaten there, Madge either for that matter, but Debra and JoBea had and loved it. Well, Madge and I loved it too by the time we left. I told the waitress she would have to roll me out and she said,"we do have wheelchairs I could roll you on out." and laughed.

At some point we made it back to our room to relax for the night. Relax we did. We had been so busy we didn't even go to the pool side much less get in..we did look out the window at it tho. That didn't bother this bunch.

We all knew the next day would bring about the most shopping, school shopping that is.

I think we all slept well and got up, some slower than others, to ready ourselves to face the MALL! JoBea had wanted to eat breakfast at Ihop and even tho it was later in the morning, that's the direction we headed. After waiting a few min. the hostess sat us with menu's. As others were seated after us, they received water and were waited on....we never did. After about 10 min. or more, no one ever came back to us. That's when the majority ruled at our table that we would leave and eat at the mall beings it is now almost 11. As we left the IHOP several employees watched us leave, never asking us what the problem was or anything. To the Mall we went. We ate from around the world...JoBea ate in China, Madge and I in Italy and Debra, well I guess Debra ate in America. As we gained our energy and strength we hit the pavement, or I guess I should say, the marble floor. Shortly after lunch Madge was hit with a migrain, so her shopping was short lived. It wasn't as bad as she usually gets them, but bad enough. She hung in there as best she could. As we shopped we saw a few folks from our hometown...I'm glad we were on our best behavior, or at least good. Our feet hit almost every inch of that Mall. From there we back tracked a couple places and with the last stop JoBea says to me, "I am sooo tired of shopping." I near 'bout fell out! A 15 yr. old saying she was TIRED OF SHOPPING?!! I asked her if I heard right, and I had.

As we were leaving Jackson, we saw a Military plane taking off.

He blended in so well with the sky you couldn't hardly see him...and I'm sure that's how it's meant to be.

The girls, Debra and myself all had a great time. The girls and I slept well last night, and after talking with Debra this morning, I learned she had too.

THANK YOU LORD for a safe trip. Thanks for leading us in all that we did, what we said to others (and did not say). It's so great to know YOU and the Joy that comes from knowing You, especially in a world such as this, in which we live. I pray for Christians in big cities that are dealing with this on a daily basis on greater levels. I pray they will hold Your hands a little tighter so they can stand strong in your love and others may see You through their lives.