Bethany Hamilton - Soul Surfer Devotions

SOUL
SURFER
DEVOTIONS

SOUL
SURFER
DEVOTIONS

BETHANY HAMILTON
with Ann Byle

Copyright 2006, 2011 by Bethany Hamilton

Formerly published as Devotions for the Soul Surfer.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a
registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Written by Ann Byle.
Cover design by Studio Gearbox.
Cover photo by Noah Hamilton, noahhamiltonphoto.com.
Page design by Lori Lynch.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Italics in scripture indicate the authors added emphasis.

All Scripture quotations from the Old Testament, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

All Scripture quotations from the New Testament, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from New Century Version (NCV). 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Control Number: 20-06011602

ISBN: 978-1-4003-1723-3

Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

Mfr: RR Donnelley / Crawfordsville, IN / March 2011 / PPO 117811

This book is dedicated to Jesus Christ,
who has given me the most wonderful
friends and family and who loves me
with an undying love.

Bethany

Contents

From the bottom of my heart I thank my heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am grateful to everybody who has helped me on this book: Ann Byle for coauthoring it with me; Kate Etue and Michelle Burke, my editors; Tim Beals; Thomas Nelson; and World Vision. Special thanks to my good friend and sister-in-law, Becky Hamilton, who helped me write and organize my thoughts. This book never would have been written if it werent for your dedication.

I want to acknowledge the Bethany Team: my managementDad, Mom, Noah, Timmy, and Becky for all your hard work and full support in every area of my life, and Roy Hofstetter and Andy Smith for helping us get our feet off the ground. Without all of you, my life would be much more difficult; and because of your diligence, God has been able to do great things through our lives and ministry.

I want to recognize my church, North Shore Christian Fellowship, and all my friends I grew up with at youth group, whom I would practically die without! You guys kept me grounded. Also, my pastor and his wife, Steve and Trisha Thompson; and my youth leader while growing up, best friend, and role model, Sarah Hillyou encourage me when I get overwhelmed and help me to remember Gods overall plan! So important!

I would also like to thank Rick Bundschuh, who helped me write my first book, Soul Surfer, because it opened up so many doors and paved the way for this book.

To all my other friends and family, thank you for the love and support youve shown me throughout my life!

Bethany

At Home

Well, its been more than seven years since I lost my arm in a shark attack, and my life has changed so much since then. Ive seen God answer a lot of prayers in my own life and in other peoples lives. Ive traveled all over the world and have been able to see that God is working in places that most people have never even heard of.

But at the same time, some things in my life are pretty much the same! Im still living on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, in the same home with my parents, Tom and Cheri. I turned twenty-one on February 8, 2011, and have grown to the height of five foot eleven! The main reason I still live at home is because I travel so much. Im usually traveling more than 50 percent of the year. So its kind of pointless to get my own place at this time in life.

My oldest brother, Noah, got married in 2009 to my friend and personal assistant, Becky. He is still my main photographer and shoots weddings, portraits, and lots of other photo jobs; and he helps manage my surfing. And my brother Timmy, the bodyboarder, is working as a camera PA in the television/filmmaking industry. He still shoots video of me and does other video-related work on the side. Both brothers worked on Soul Surfer, the feature film about my story.

That brings me to some big news: a major motion picture is coming out about my life! Its so weird to even be saying that. Its based on my book Soul Surfer, and its being released by Sony Pictures Entertainment! Its so exciting yet nerve-racking to have this movie come out. I did some of the stunt surfing for my character, which was really fun! The movie has a great team of actors and a great story (Im a little biased, ha ha!), and I think its going to be a really positive film.

I have also had the privilege of being invited to speak in front of congregations and groups of all sizes to share my story. Ive been to churches, community events, business conferences, schools, and other sorts of events. Though speaking isnt quite my forte yet, I have had moments of really feeling comfortable on the stage, sharing my heart during my Q&A sessions. Its something Im definitely considering doing more of in the future, but for now Im going to focus on surfing!

On the Board

As far as surfing goes, I began competing full-time on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) circuit in 2008. The ASP has two tiers of competition: the Star Series and the World Tour. I primarily surf the Star Series, with the goal of qualifying for the World Tour which is comprised of the top seventeen female surfers in the world. So far, I have come really close to qualifying and have placed in the top twenty every year.

Now that Im a pro surfer, its definitely important that I be a serious professional athlete. As I began taking my training to the next level, talking to the experts, and learning more about the human body, I began to get serious about my nutrition in addition to my fitness. My family has always been pretty healthy eaters, or so I thought! I have spent a lot of time in the past few years soaking up information about how our bodies were designed by God to function and about how to help them do that in a world of processed foods, which can lead to problems and diseases. I have since developed a habit of eating that suits my bodys needs, and I would encourage you all to do the same.

Aside from having a good nutritional diet, I have been doing a lot of physical training. As you can imagine, this is highly important for any professional athlete. In my case, since I have only one arm, I needed to work on my spinal alignment first, getting straight, then strong! My trainers and I have worked out a program for me to help my spine stay in alignment, and theyve developed specific exercises to help me in my surfing.

I also work with a few surf coaches who focus specifically on my technique, maneuvers, overall performance, and competition strategy. I love the constant challenge to improve and push my limits. Its critical for me to be doing that because the other women surfers are really good these days, and we all have to continue to raise the bar!