Soul Surfer

This weekend Fellowship Church had special guest, Bethany Hamilton.  Bethany grew up in Hawaii in a family of surfers.  Her parents had her on a surf board before she could even walk.  At the age of 13, with a promising future as a professional surfer, she was attacked by a shark.  In the attack, she lost her left arm.  Bethany's faith in God and determination helped her through the traumatic experience.  Less than one month after the attack she was back in the water on a surf board.  Bethany never gave up and achieved her dream of becoming a pro surfer.  The recent movie, Soul Surfer, tells her story. 

After seeing Bethany's appearance and Fellowship Church, and watching the movie, there are two things I found incredible.  The first is her strong faith and how she never gave up on God or questioned God's intention.  She knew God had a plan for her and she has used her experience to inspire others.  The second thing is her determination and how she never gave up.  Bethany's surfing career could have been over after the attack, but she was determined to get back on the board and compete on a professional level again. 

It was amazing to see how many people showed up to Fellowship Church this weekend.  You would have thought it was Christmas or Easter.  There were a ton of screaming teenage girls and it was amazing to see how excited they were.  Bethany is such an amazing role model.  Tomorrow is the first day of school in TX and I hope they all go back to school and share Bethany's story with their friends.