I learned 3 important lessons this week:

* The hardships I go through are nothing compared to others throughout the world. There is so much sorrow, heartache and spiritual darkness out there. I have mourned with those that mourn this week.

* Judging others is the very thing that stands in the way of us helping lift another soul!

* The phrase : "You can't teach and old dog new tricks" I have changed my mind and no longer believe it! With FAITH in Christ all things are possible!

The difference between a degree and education is a yearning. When one is willing to "pay the price" (meaning time, effort, and huge amounts of study) for a great education, the efforts given are not as hard because of the yearning to do so.

Could it be that what we were born for was to create "Great" souls?

"Find a great leader in history, and you will nearly always find two central elements of their education-classics and mentors. From Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington to Gandhi, Newton and John Locke, to Abigail Adams, Mother Theresa and Joan of Arc-great men and women of history studied other great men and women."

"Thomas Jefferson is a model of this system. He was one of the best students in history, and his education is in many ways a model for successful leadership education today." Oliver DeMille

As a family we love learning from the classics!

The Founders were great men and women of genius and inspiration, but it didn't just happen to them. They were ordinary people who chose to live good, honest lives and to "pay the price" of greatness.

In our day, the world cries out for good, honest people to pay that same price. Make your own education a Thomas Jefferson Education, then pass it on to your children, and begin exerting statesmanship in your community--and you will become the change you wish to see in the world!