Mormon Life - Fun For Less tag

The Promise of Far Away Places

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:04:00 -0600

by S. Michael Wilcox
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Since I was a young boy, I dreamed of traveling the world.

When I was young I used to sit enthralled in the auditorium of my high school listening to John Goddard while staring impassioned at his slides. At the age of 15 he made a "life list" of the places in the world he wanted to explore and was fulfilling his dream. He would then share his travels with children all over America. I remember thinking to myself, "I want that job!" My own head filled with the places I wanted to see--Machu Picchu, the Great Wall, Jerusalem, Florence, the Great Barrier Reef. Our house in California was close enough to the railroad tracks for me to hear the whistle at night. What an inviting sound it was. It held the promise of far-away places as it faded into the distance. And I would dream.

Travel is in our blood! We are born with a curiosity that longs to be fulfilled in foreign lands, beautiful scenery, historical locations, distant cultures, adventure. Where ever I go, I try to connect to the land, for the land has memory and if we are still, if we listen, we can hear the voices of the past, and they will lift us with their intensity and their desire to instill in us a love and connection with all times, all places, all peoples. We are of the world and it calls to us in many voices.

Upon his return to the fields of Gettysburg, Joshua Laurence Chamberlain, the Union defender of Little Round Top, shared his musings and describes in eloquent language the reason why I love to travel--what I expect to happen each time I walk the paths of the past.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

I Will Cause the Earth to Testify the Truth of these Things

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:27:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Elder LeGrand Richards responding to a question from Dr. Paul Cheesman, Director of Book of Mormon Studies at BYU's Religious Studies Center in the 1960’s said, “I heard Brother Callis once say that when Joseph Smith received the plates he got down on his knees before the Lord and said, “O God what will the world say?” And the voice of God came to him. “Fear not, I will cause the earth to testify the truth of these things.” (Taken from a letter from LeGrand Richards to Paul R. Cheesman, Dec. 30, 1969)

While traveling through archeological sites in Mexico and Guatemala I have seen this statement verified time and again.

One of the most interesting artifacts to Mormons is found at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It is a tapestry, dating to the time of Cortez. It depicts the origin of the Mexican people and has a resemblance to Lehi’s journey to the new world.

*To read the full article, click here.

Cruise or Tour Pre-Tour Checklist

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:23:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Begin packing 2 or 3 days prior to your trip
• The greatest stress to your vacation is the packing and lack of sleep the day before you leave.
• Pack and prepare everything ahead of time so you can relax and get a good night’s sleep before your vacation.

Use a packing list
• Use a packing check list to do your packing.
• Take the time to check everything you need off the list as you pack.

Contact bank and credit card companies
• Find out if your ATM cards will work where you are going.
• Let your credit card & debit card companies know which countries you could be using your cards in.

*To read the full article, click here.

Walking Where Jesus Walked

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:20:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

When I walk through the Biblical sites of Jerusalem, I often think of the story told of Neal Armstrong when he toured Israel. The story is told by Meir Ben Dov, excavator of the Temple Mount and southern walls in Jerusalem.

“While standing on the stairs before the Hulda gates, the ancient gates to the temple, Mr. Armstrong asked me if there was a site where Jesus walked upon 2,000 years ago, without doubt," Ben Dov said. "I answered that these steps are, for sure, where Jesus had stepped up to the temple. Mr. Armstrong was so excited he then told me that his excitement to stand where Jesus had stood was more than he experienced while walking on the moon”.

That story echoes my feelings. To walk where Jesus walked more than two millennial ago excites and inspires me with a silent, reverential awe.

How are we able today to know where He actually walked? It can be determined through several methods; primarily scriptural accounts, geography, historical traditions, and statements by prophets.

*To read the full article, click here.

A Box of Chocolates and a Getaway

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:17:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

My wife Lizzie came home one day giggling, handed me a piece of paper while saying she loved the story on it. It read: “Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo
woman if she would like a ride. With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car. Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a white bag on the seat next to Sally."What in bag?" asked the old woman. Sally looked down at the white bag and said, "It's a box of chocolates. I got it for my husband". The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said "Good trade." While Lizzie continued to giggle I wondered to myself, “Is she trying to tell me something about me and the state of our marriage?”

All marriages are happy, it’s the living together that causes all the problems. Consider a few of the problems that stress a marriage. At the top of the list are financial challenges, household responsibilities, balancing busy schedules, pressures of work not intended to, but most often brought home. Trying to keep communication lines open by really talking heart to heart. This sincere communication is especially hard for males. I once saw a bumper sticker that summed it up. It read “My wife keeps saying I never listen to her…or something like that.” And finally, the ultimate challenge to marriage, that of raising children. Two of my favorite sayings on the realities of raising a family are “If you kill your brother, we’re not going to McDonalds” and “My child has A.D.D. and a couple of F’s”. No wonder a person may consider trading in their spouse for a box of chocolates.

*To read the full article, click here.

Central America: In the Glow of the Golden Plates

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:15:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

“….an allure incomparable with any place in the world.”

Though all countries and climes of the earth are wonderful to visit, there are some places around the globe I never tire of visiting. I have never stepped off the plane in Central America, took a breath of mountain or jungle air and failed to receive that initial swelling of excitement I first encountered twenty five years ago. I have wandered the paths, the rivers, and the back-country of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Mexico with renewed passion year after year…….. The vibrant green backdrop of Palenque, the roof combs of Tikal’s pyramids displayed above the canopy, the quiet sanctity of Copan’s stone forest of kingly monuments, the secretive ruins of Yaxchilan reached only by river—the Mayan world—have an allure incomparable with any place in the world. The sweet smell of the jungle teeming with life and hidden temples promises an adventure I think few can resist. These all have felt my footfalls and I have stared into the still stone lidless eyes of ancient kings and pondered the decay of nations and their brief blink of power on the world’s stage of vanished empires.

This is the world I had pictured and peopled in that rich creative world of human imagination as I read the Book of Mormon as a boy. It became a part of my inner world when I first heard my mother read, “I Nephi having been born or goodly parents.” Yet, somehow the stories once recorded in the glow of golden plates seem more real, more intense, more deeply true against the backdrop of root-gripped ruins with their fading stuccoed palaces, crumbling terraced pyramids of grey and black covered with the runic mystery of hieroglyphic memory. The angry scolding voices of macaws, the deep-throated roar of howler monkeys, the warning hum of insects, the sweet-flowered scents of jungle green, the rising majesty of volcanic peaks stir and awaken the oft-repeated, oft-told tales, as though they were memories of events mine own eyes and witnessed.

*To read the full article, click here.

Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're Cheese

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:13:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. At his next appointment the doctor spoke to Morris and said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?" Morris replied, "Just doing what you said, Doc: Date a hot mamma and be cheerful.” The doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said, you’ve got a heart murmur; be careful."

When I hear this story I think of Anne, an 80-year-old classy lady who I came to know and admire while directing a Book of Mormon tour in Mexico and Guatemala. Like Morris, this woman was not going to let her age get the best of her. She was a living example that age really is something that doesn’t matter unless you’re cheese!

Our group had finished a full day of walking the magnificent ruins of Tikal in Guatemala. Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Mayan kingdom. The city once stretched over 72 square miles. It became one of the most powerful cities of the ancient Maya. The site is known internationally for its majestic temples. The large stone and cement structures stand stoically above the forest canopy. Tikal is known as a wonder of the world and one of the most spiritually moving spots on earth. Walking this large archeological site is no small task! Anne was with us every step of the way, soaking in the history and grandeur of the magnificent temples.

*To read the full article, click here.

Is It Really Safe to Travel in Israel?

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:10:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Is it really safe to travel to Israel? What about terrorists? Are the hotels safe and secure and what about the buses on a tour, are they truly safe? And what about flying in and out of Israel- is that safe? Here is the simple answer to all of those questions, ABSOLUTELY YES, and here’s why! Bad press and exaggerated TV reports have frightened many of the would be travelers. Let me put it into perspective what I mean. A few years ago at the height of an Arab and Israeli conflict in Gaza, I received an emergency phone call from my 89 year old mother while I was leading a tour in Israel.

“Are you safe?” she asked.

“Well, yes Mom, and so are all the people that are traveling with us,” I responded, “We watch it on TV just as you are but we are far away from Gaza.” The conflict that people in America hear most about comes from the border between Israel and Gaza. Gaza is fifty miles away from Jerusalem and has never been a problem for any of the hundreds and hundreds of people who travel with my wife and me to the Holy Land.

*To read the full article, click here.

Hidden Jewel of Creation

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:07:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

“This was the most spectacular place I have visited in the world…..”

I always knew it was there, the last continent, the end of the earth, the final destination for the exploring soul of man, and I wanted to see it, but I was not prepared for the experience. For me visiting Antarctica was the opportunity of putting another pin on the map, of finally reaching every continent on the planet, hitting that magic number seven. But a hidden jewel awaited me. This is the most spectacular place I have ever visited in the world!.....

The unexpected wonder is often the most memorable and the beauty that spread before me that first sunlit morning may have been the best day I have spent on any tour, certainly it topped my list of spectacular and untainted majesty. Black pinnacles of rock shot up from the Antarctic sea, their heads capped with overhanging ledges of snow. Glaciers poured through the valleys wedged between mountain walls which bore that tremendous pressure in the constant struggle between ice and stone. Here was the whitest white nature brings forth. Here shone the purest light, one which magnifies the distance and gives everything within the range of the eyes a translucent clarity. Here the most pristine waters rose and fell in the gentle ocean swell. The light played upon the surface of the icebergs displaying blues that put the sky to shame and inviting a dozen new shades into the wheel of color.

*To read the full article, click here.

Zarahemla Christmas

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:04:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Perhaps the most spectacular city in the Maya world is that of Tikal, located in the Peten Jungle of Guatemala. Dozens of pyramids and housing complexes spread over a vast area. The Temple of the Jaguars rises steeply to a small temple topped with a high roof comb. From the summit of Temple IV you can see for miles in every direction. Piercing the jungle canopy, the peaks of decaying pyramids, like spent volcanoes, rise out of a panoramic sea of thick, green foliage. On every visit, I climb as many of these Mayan mountains I can, saving the oldest, the Lost World Pyramid, for last. It is not crowned with a temple, and is not as high as its brothers, but it dates to Book of Mormon times and its simplicity is compelling. From its summit the broad expanse of sky dominates the green world below. Had I heard Samuel the Lamanite’s five-year prophecy from the walls of Zarahemla, I would have come to a place such as this on that night two thousand years ago, when this same sky was lit by a sun other than the one I see settling into the cebia trees in the west. On that night it was lit by the light of the son of God.

Sitting here in the warm sunlight, it is difficult to imagine the dark fears and faith-stretching test of the believing Nephites who waited for a prophet’s words to be verified. “There shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night . . .and it shall be the night before he is born. And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld” (Helaman 14:4-5).

*To read the full article, click here.

Santa's of the World

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:02:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Come with us as we travel the world finding the traditions of Saint Nick...

England

From England we have acquired several customs. The first is the use of Christmas trees. This was made popular during the rein of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Prince Albert came from the country of Germany and missed his native practice of bringing in trees to place on the tables in the house, therefore one Christmas the royal couple brought a tree inside the Palace and decorated it with apples and other pretty items.
The second custom is what is known as Boxing Day. It is celebrated the first weekday after Christmas. What this means is that small wrapped boxes with food and sweets, or small gifts, or coins are given to anyone who comes calling that day.
Santa is known as Father Christmas, wearing long red robes and had sprigs of holly in his hair. Instead of mailing out their christmas list, children throw it into the fireplace and Father Christmas reads the smoke. England is also where the tradition of hanging stockings by the chimney began, due to the fact that Father Christmas once accidentally dropped some gold coins on his way down the chimney which got caught in a drying stocking. Another interesting thing is that instead of opening up their gifts as soon as they wake up, English children wait until the afternoon.

*To read the full article, click here.

What Do We Know About the Wise Men?

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:50:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

When you go to Israel, also plan a stop at Petra, Jordan. It may be the home of two of the "wise men".

No one knows for sure how many wise men went to Bethlehem to honor Jesus as the newborn king of the Jews. Tradition says there were three wise men and there may have been. We do know that the wise men came from the east of Bethlehem "following yonder star." However they did not arrive on the night that Jesus was born. The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Understanding which English words the King James translators chose to use to reflect the meaning in Greek is important. Eight times in Matthew 2:8-21 the words "young child" are used when talking about the wise men looking for Jesus. The Greek word used is "pad ion" and young child is the best translation. If the wise men had come on the night that Jesus was born the Greek word would have been "Brephos," which means "infant" or "baby." Also when the wise men "were come into the house (oikia)", they saw the young child (Padion) with Mary his mother. The word "house" in Matt. 2:11 is 'Oikia" in Greek and it can only be translated as "family residence or house." Three times Luke insist that Jesus was laid in a "Phatne." A phatne is a Greek word that can only be translated as "a fodder a crib, a manger, or a stall." "Wise" as found in Matt. 2:1 referring to the wise men is the Greek word "magos." Magos can be translated into "Magi, Sorcerer, or Wise Man." Most magi were also students of the stars and most ancient societies believed in heavenly signs. The shepherds did come the night that Jesus was born but not the wise men nor the star.

*To read the full story, click here.

We're Making Memories

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:47:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

In family, from the get-go memories are being made. I’ve been with Lizzie when each of our five children were born. My theory that girls are much more expensive to raise than boys was verified when I noticed that my boys came out of the womb with their little hands clinched into a fist. To me, that was symbolic of the challenges that boys have to face in life. But when my girls came out of the womb their little hands were cupped just wide enough for an American Express card to fit in it. My “pet peeve” while the children were tiny, was changing a wet diaper and as soon as I’d finished, they’d wet again. Lizzie was so patient when they did that. She’d just pinch their little cheeks and say, “you little rascal you.” I, on the other hand was terrible, I admit it. When they would wet after I’d changed their diaper I’d say, “Hey man, you had your chance!”

They were so cute in those early years, but eventually they became possessed with a teenage spirit. This spirit took control of their once sweet, little bodies and personalities. When a daughter became irritated at me, the possession would cause her to put the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth, and then click her tongue while expelling air in an irritated manner. Then she would roll her eyes to the back of her head and immediately fold her arms defiantly while shaking her head as if she had the palsy. My boys became possessed with a “messy” spirit. I couldn’t believe their bedroom! Do you know how you can tell if the room you walk into is a teenage boy's bedroom? There’s fruit flies hovering over the waste paper basket and the hamster’s trying to escape to cleaner air! My trying to correct them just got me into trouble with them. We used to have two magnet signs that hung on our olive green refrigerator back in those possessed, teenage years that summed it up. One read: “When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” The other read: “When Daddy ain’t happy, ain’t nobody cares!”

*To read the full story, click here.

What Do You Know About Turkey?

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:45:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Turkey itself was once the home of the Ottoman Empire which ruled vast territories upon three different continents. It was a world power that lasted from 1299 to 1923. At the height of its power, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the empire controlled much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states. Because the Ottoman Empire with its capital in Istanbul, the former Constantinople, had aliened itself with Germany and the axis powers during World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled primarily by the British and the French. The Republic of Turkey was officially proclaimed on 29 October 1923.

For Christians Turkey will always be a Holy Land. It was the place of many of the wonderful events of the New Testament. This is where the great missionary Paul was born. Some of the earliest Christians converts came from Turkey: Lydia, the seller of purple was from Thyatira (Acts 16:14) and the infamous Jezebel who was later condemned by John also came from Thyatira. The seven letters sent by the Apostle John from the Isle of Patmos recorded in the Book of Revelation chapters two and three were delivered to seven cities in Asia Minor in modern day Turkey. Timothy was the Bishop of Ephesus, one of the seven cities. The Book of Ephesus, I Timothy and II Timothy were written to him. The Book of Galatians was written to the member of the Church living in central and northeastern Turkey. In Troas Paul raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts:20:6-12). So many great New Testament events occurred in Turkey one has to go there and partake of the Spirit of Place.

*To read the full article, click here.

Getting Old is Not for Sissies

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:41:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

Someone once said that: “getting old is not for sissies!” I’m beginning to learn this first hand. It’s so unfair. You’ve paid your dues of raising the children, working nine to five for forty years and finally paid off the mortgage. Now, life is really ready to begin! No matter what scientists say about when life begins, life begins when the kids move out and the dog dies. Just when you think you’re ready for it to begin, all of a sudden your body and mind begins to lose it. The following story says it all.

An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.

The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, "Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly."

*To read the full article, click here.

A Disposition to be Pleased

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:39:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

There is a story I always think of when I first cross the Jordan River into Israel. It is a moment in the life of Thomas who, unfortunately, has been branded by history with the preface—“DOUBTING.” For some reason we remember Thomas at one of his weakest moments. Yet there is another story of Thomas found in the New Testament which took place east of the Jordan River. Jesus had just received word that Lazarus was sick and Mary and Martha urged him to come to Bethany. This was dangerous for Jesus as an attempt had recently been made on his life. The apostles warn him about taking the journey but when they see he is determined to go to Bethany it is Thomas who speaks. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Why do we not call this courageous apostle, “Devoted Thomas?”

I think it is best to remember people at their best moments not their worst. I have found this to be true of nations also. When we travel it is always best to see other peoples and cultures in the kindliest light we can bring. If we look for goodness we will surely find it everywhere. I have noticed that the people of other countries warm wonderfully to visitors who appreciate the unique contributions and beauty of their homeland. Mark Twain once said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” He wrote two remarkable books covering his wide travels to many nations of the world and although he sees reasons for mirth everywhere there is no mistaking his admiration for the lands and people he encountered. Travel helps us drop the sometimes exclusive nature of a too deeply rooted sense of our own national identity and broadens it to an inclusive love of the world.

*To read the full article, click here.

Passport Family Portraits

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:27:00 -0600

by FUN FOR LESS
source: MormonLife.com

It was a Saturday afternoon, the mail lay waiting on the kitchen counter. I saw the slightly thicker envelope topping the pile addressed to my daughter-in law. When she came in the door my wife casually said to her, “There’s a letter for you, Carolyn, you may want to open it.” She looked at it and read the return address—U.S. Passport Office….. Picking it up somewhat breathlessly she broke the seal. Holding her first passport in both hands she said with almost reverent awe, but with a voice bursting with excitement and tinged with a measure of joyful disbelief: “I have a passport! I have a passport!”

For such moments I live. We travel for many reasons, but prime among them is the opportunity to watch our children thrive in the atmosphere of another country, among other peoples. Most people who travel carry their cameras, snapping shots with each new locality. We too bring our digital memory cards, but the most precious stored images are those held in our minds not those captured in the electronic world of gigabytes. They are the memories, savored and relived when the tour is long past of connections made between those I love and that broad, wide, wonderful world of which we are all citizens. These are moments that can never be captured by the limited focus of a lens.

*To read the full article, click here.

Cruise or Tour Pre-tour Checklist

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:02:00 -0700

by FUN FOR LESS TOURS
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Never stress about your trip preparations again. Just check out our checklist. Begin packing 2 or 3 days prior to your trip:

The greatest stress to your vacation is the packing and lack of sleep the day before you leave.

Pack and prepare everything ahead of time so you can relax and get a good night's sleep before your vacation.

Use a packing list:

Use a packing check list to do your packing. (Visit funforlesstours.com for a packing list.)

Take the time to check everything you need off the list as you pack.

Contact bank and credit card companies

Find out if your ATM cards will work where you are going.

Let your credit card & debit card companies know which countries you could be using your cards in.

Click here to read the rest of the checklist.

Disposition to Be Pleased

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:04:00 -0600

by S. Michael Wilcox - FUN FOR LESS TOURS
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: When we travel it is always best to see other peoples and cultures in the kindliness like we can bring. There is a story I always think of when I first cross the Jordan River into Israel. It is a moment in the life of Thomas who, unfortunately, has been branded by history with the preface—“DOUBTING.” For some reason we remember Thomas at one of his weakest moments. Yet there is another story of Thomas found in the New Testament which took place east of the Jordan River. Jesus had just received word that Lazarus was sick and Mary and Martha urged him to come to Bethany. This was dangerous for Jesus as an attempt had recently been made on his life. The apostles warn him about taking the journey but when they see he is determined to go to Bethany it is Thomas who speaks. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Why do we not call this courageous apostle, “Devoted Thomas?”

I think it is best to remember people at their best moments not their worst. I have found this to be true of nations also. When we travel it is always best to see other peoples and cultures in the kindliest light we can bring. If we look for goodness we will surely find it everywhere. I have noticed that the people of other countries warm wonderfully to visitors who appreciate the unique contributions and beauty of their homeland. Mark Twain once said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” He wrote two remarkable books covering his wide travels to many nations of the world and although he sees reasons for mirth everywhere there is no mistaking his admiration for the lands and people he encountered. Travel helps us drop the sometimes exclusive nature of a too deeply rooted sense of our own national identity and broadens it to an inclusive love of the world.

When in the Netherlands, I never fail to remind myself of the words written by one of their greatest native sons, Erasmus of Rotterdam once said: “I wish to be a citizen of the world, not of a single city….The whole universe is my fatherland.”

Click here to read the rest of the story.

----

S. Michael Wilcox is an educator traveling with Fun for Less Tours.

It Was Just a High School Assembly

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:11:00 -0600

by John L. Lund - FUN FOR LESS TOURS
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: The following article is one of many inspirational stories shared by Fun for Less educators on many of our trips. The event was similar to what we could find at a typical high school in Southern California on a Friday for an assembly. There was a big game that night between rival schools and a dance was to take place afterwards. The bleachers in the gym were filled with nearly three thousand students. Excited to be out of their classes and with their friends, there were three thousand voices all abuzz about everything from the upcoming game to who broke up with who and what would be the appropriate attire for the evening. My daughter was a senior and one of the three thousand voices. She had brought home an announcement that the assembly speaker would be addressing the topic of "Overcoming Adversity." Uninvited and yet welcomed, I asked for and received permission from the principal to attend the lecture.

The noise from the student body was deafening and a determined vice-principal finally brought the crowd under control and yet there was a persistent din in the background. I quickly moved as close to the speaker's podium as possible in order to hear. What I expected was a polished presenter who would be dressed for success, someone filled with wit and wisdom, someone who had overcome drugs or alcohol and now was a role model at the top of his or her field of employment. What followed was a life changing moment.

Standing in front of the entire student body was a woman in her mid-forties. She was blind and flanked by her two daughters.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

----

John L. Lund is an eductor traveling the world with Fun for Less Tours.