My Inspiring and Touching Travel Experience to Little Rock, Arkansas and Jackson, Tennessee

In October 1999, when my daughter was almost a month old, my husband, my oldest son Channing, my newborn daughter Kayla, and I made a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas and to Jackson, Tennessee. We were heading to Little Rock to visit some friends and to Jackson for a Polishing the Pulpit conference where Christians can come together and study various biblical topics. We were concerned how our infant daughter would handle the trip, but she did beautifully.

In Little Rock, we stayed with my friend Sara and her mother who are simply extraordinary people in many ways, and I count them as being a part of my family. Sara is now happily married and living in Tennessee, and her mother passed away in October 2008 after a long battle with cancer.

While staying with Sara, we also had the opportunity to visit with my friend Lorri. She is another amazing person who has been fighting a long and hard battle of a different kind. Her battle is to help her husband receive a new and fair trial. Damien, her husband of ten years, has been serving time on Arkansas' death row for the slayings of three eight year old boys. While it is true that justice should be carried out upon those who are indeed guilty, there is no evidence which ties this young man, nor his two friends, Jason and Jesse, to this crime. In recent years, DNA evidence and other important information have come to light regarding this case and those who may be responsible for these heinous crimes.

My husband and I were able to accompany Lorri and Sara to visit with Damien and Jason, and it is simply amazing how these two men are able to hold up and keep their sanity within the circumstances that they have found themselves. While both men had a positive attitude and outlook on their future freedom, Jason's perspective and character were especially inspiring. While you would expect someone in his predicament to be focused primarily on self, he was very caring, kind, and hospitable. It was almost as if you were visiting at his home rather than at a maximum security prison.

Throughout the years, my husband and I have exchanged letters with Jason, Damien, and Lorri and have visited with Sara and her mother. Yet, this trip was particularly touching for my family and me.

On our way back from Little Rock, we stopped in Jackson, Tennessee for my husband to attend the Polishing the Pulpit conference that was being held at a local hotel there. I was not able to go with him, but I was able to enjoy my two children, my friend Debbie who lives there in Jackson, and my sweet mother-in-law and father-in-law who drove down to help me with the children while Michael was attending the conference.

Michael was greatly encouraged spiritually by the conference, and I was thankful to be able to have time with my friend Debbie and my in-laws. I haven't heard from my friend Debbie in several years, but I will never forget what a strength that she was to me when my husband and I lived near Jackson and when she and I worked together at a local group home in nearby Pinson, Tennessee.

The time with my mother-in-law and father-in-law also has special significance to me as well, for my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly in August of 2004, and my mother-in-law and I are still very close to this day. That trip will always be special, because it is one more memory that my husband and I have of his parents' time with us and two of our children.

Two lessons that I learned from this trip and would like to share before I close are: 1) don't ever live as if you have tomorrow, because tomorrow might never come. Spend time with those that you love now, because you never know when they might leave this earth, and 2) don't judge unjustly or consider only one's appearance alone. Always take the time to look at the facts and consider the evidence presented before you. Don't allow public opinion to influence your decision when it comes to deciding the fate or lives of others. The repercussions are often irreparable.