10/25/2026
Here's a great story! Lilo, 5 time paralymphic champion said, “Choice is an incredible tool for success even though we humans do not always utilize it as such.”
Why should I or anyone else listen to Lilo? Pastor Mark Finley tells her story – Lilo was born as an apparently normal baby, but at an early age she gradually began to lose her sight.
At school, the only way she could read the blackboard was to put her nose up close to it – so close that not only would her head block the other students’ view, but sometimes her nose would accidentally erase the notes on the board so that the other students never even saw them!
She would eventually retreat to the back row and resort to using her binoculars in order to read the material on the board.
Lilo felt singled out, rejected, and ostracized, but she persevered in her learning. Although her sight rapidly deteriorated, a kind teacher taught her how to serve volleyball.
Several times she had surgery to restore her sight, after which she could see, but only temporarily because of complications. Then she would be plunged into darkness and devastation once again.
Over a period of years, she became totally blind, but Lilo was determined to excel at something. She focused her energy on learning to throw a discus. With the training of a skilled professional and with courage, persistence, and confidence in God, Lilo did excel.
As a discus thrower, she won a paralympic gold medal in 1992. Again, in the 1996 Olympics she won another medal. Five medals total. Her life confirms the power of commitment to God, proactive choice, and persistent practice.
Learn more by clicking the photo!
Why is it that less than two percent of people who lose weight keep it off? Why do New Year’s resolutions or our good intentions so often fail? Toward the end of the article, you will learn powerful secrets from Florence, Stanley, and Lilo on how to build willpower when you have been thwarted, baf...
