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    Soul Surfer Devotions
    Soul Surfer Devotions
    Soul Surfer Devotions
    Ebook176 pages1 hour

    Soul Surfer Devotions

    By Bethany Hamilton

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    About this ebook

    She’s blonde, brave, and totally determined—she’s a gutsy professional surfer who has inspired millions, and her biggest audience is teenage girls. In this devotional, Bethany speaks straight to her soul sisters about letting God lead in the epic ride of life.

    In this devotional, Bethany shares stories of women to admire, prayers to focus on, and wipeouts to avoid. Girls will hear thoughts on friends, family, faith, gossip, and peer pressure—Bethany covers it all.

    This book will release in time for the scheduled Spring 2011 launch of Bethany’s movie, Soul Surfer, starring AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, and Carrie Underwood. This re-release is updated with new content, a “Where Is She Now?” page, and journaling spots.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateApr 10, 2011
    ISBN9781418554569
    Author

    Bethany Hamilton

    Bethany Hamilton is a source of inspiration to millions. In 2003, while surfing, she lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark. With resilience and tenacity, Bethany returned to the water a month later, and within two years won her first national title. Her unbelievably positive attitude fascinated the world, resulting in an autobiography that was later adapted into the film Soul Surfer. Her courage and talent led to her induction into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Bethany and her husband, Adam Dirks, are also involved in charities such as Friends of Bethany, a foundation she and her family created to support amputees and youth. In addition, Bethany authored Body and Soul to encourage others toward confidence and fitness. Her new documentary Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable brings her passions together, showcasing her world-class surfing and love for life as well as her message of female empowerment and never giving up.

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    Reviews for Soul Surfer Devotions

    4/5

    16 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Incredible account of the author's attach and resolve to make meaning out of her life for others.
    • 4/5
      I thought this was a very well-written, inspiring novel!

      I find it so amazing that a girl who endured such a tragedy as Bethany could make such a comeback. You can tell by reading this book how selfless, strong, determined, and spirited Bethany is. I very much admire her. I thought the book was great, not only because Bethany was able to tell her story firsthand, but the book was more like a journal than an actual "book," with pages here and there listing her favorite surf spots and surf language, as well as pictures.

      Reading about Bethany's comeback as a surfer was really humbling as well. It makes you think about how many times you've wanted to give up (and have!) and how many times you complain about petty everyday issues.

      I think Christians especially will really love this book (or anyone with religious beliefs) because Bethany is a devout Christian, and God was her rock throughout everything. God was her anchor, and I loved reading about Bethany's struggles, and her realizations about Christ and the things He has in store for us.
    • 5/5
      “I don't really want people looking to me for inspiration. I just want to be a sign along the way that points toward Heaven.” A good way to drive this point home with students is to have them make a list of signs they have passed along the way that points toward Heaven. Have the students share them with each other and discuss how they were impacted by these signs. Discuss how some signs might not be as obvious as others - depends on who you are.
    • 2/5
      I read Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton because I was book talking to a group of tweens who were active in church and the book I had initially selected, Tweak by Nic Sheff which is about drug addiction, didn’t seem appropriate. The book was not particularly well written and its constant upbeat tone became almost unbearable after a very short period of time. That said, this is a case of a reader and a book not being compatible, not the book being poor quality. This book is great inspirational book for teens and tweens. It was a true you-can-do-anything-you-put-your-mind-to book. It is also a great outlet for teen readers who have a very upbeat and positive outlook on life while still struggling with all the normal things every teen goes through. Hamilton writes, “I may have no clue where I’m going, but He sure does! A lot of teens feel this way, I know. You graduate high school and you’re like, ‘What now?’ I can relate. It’s like all of a sudden, you’re face-to-face with your future and its one gigantic question mark.” (1525 of 2230 Kindle ebook) 3Q 2P.
    • 3/5
      3Q, 4P. There's no doubt about it. Bethany Hamilton is one amazing and inspiring young adult. The main reasons why I wanted to read this book are: 1) I am utterly impressed by female athletes, especially professional surfer girls, and 2) like everyone else, I love a good shark attack story. Hamilton does not hold back in her jaw dropping autobiography. I am so impressed by this girl's courage and will to not give up. I love Hamilton's story and how she has used her story to inspire so many young women and to bring hope to amputees around the world. I would love to meet her someday. Hamilton's other passion, her faith and spirituality, really comes out in her writing. It is almost too thick in some parts and at times detracts from the story. But, since Hamilton is up front about the importance faith has in her life, I also see her spirituality as a true extension of who she is as a person. With this said, I think some teens who really just want to read about surfing and shark attacks may get turned off by Hamilton's spirituality talk. The writing quality could have been stronger and more polished. Parts of the book feel flat and underdeveloped. Although, in true teenager style, Hamilton has added fun tidbits such as a "surfspeak" glossary and outstanding surfer pics that will make any surfer wannabe in awe of Hamilton's mind blowing natural talent.
    • 4/5
      Soul Surfer is the true story of Bethany Hamilton, the fourteen-year-old surfer from Hawaii who lost her left arm to a shark. Hers is a truly inspirational story. It's told very matter-of-factly, and Bethany gives much of the credit for how well she's come through her experiences to her relationship with God.

      Bethany's attitude throughout the book is amazing. There's no whining, no "why me?"s (at least not in the sense that you'd expect), no defeatest attitudes. In fact, pretty much the whole story is told in a positive, upbeat manner. You can really see how much her family and friends mean to her and how much they all came together to get through what must have been an extremely difficult time.

      Soul Surfer is a quick read; on audio it was just under four hours. My only real complaint (besides the odd, slightly annoying music that popped up between sections and chapters) is that there really is no significant mention of the struggles Bethany must have gone through learning to adapt to using one arm. She does touch on it briefly, but really, we hear more about having to work with AnnaSofia Robb (who plays Bethany in the film that just came out based on the book) to make the adjustments needed in her surfing for the movie than for Bethany's. I can only imagine that for someone so young it must have been too recent a struggle for her to discuss in her book, or perhaps that just wasn't the focus she wanted to have. She stresses throughout how important her relationship with God is; and that is indeed a very large theme in her story.

      Overall, this is an inspirational book about a truly remarkable role model for not only young girls, but for all of us.
    • 3/5
      Soul Surfer tells the story of Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm after a shark attack. I could see the story of her returning to surfing as an inspiring story for students, however despite being an interesting tale there are serious issues with the pacing in the book. I could see many students being engaged for the first section of the book discussing her accident and recovery, but losing interest in the chapters that followed. As such, this would likely not be a story I would go out of my way to suggest, even though her story is an inspirational one.
    • 4/5
      Ms. Hamilton tells the story of her shark attack and what happened afterwards from a very faithful perspective. She doesn't dwell on the surely difficult period of learning to accept her new reality. Instead she talks about how she was supported and cared for as she learns to adjust and thrive with the loss of her arm. There is also an interesting history of how her parents came to Hawaii and met and an explanation of just much surfing plays a role in their family. Additional material was added to the audio version I listened to, adding information about the shooting of the film by the same name.
    • 5/5
      This inspirational tale of a girl overcoming all odds will tug at your heart strings. You'll find that you won't be able to put this book down as you comb through the young life of Bethany Hamilton. She takes you on a journey of her struggles and triumphs, and all the while you find that she is the bravest woman of her time. This is a book that you will not want to miss, I promise.
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to like Soul Surfer a lot. I enjoyed the surfing bits and the story about what happened and how she came back from it. Unfortunately, it was too preachy for me to really truly enjoy. I rolled my eyes quite a bit at the immature language/sentence structure (yes I know she was young, but that's what editors are for).The thing that hurt my opinion of the book the most was what my students would perceive when reading this (beyond all the references to God.) She talks about being a practical joker and pulling some things that I would not want my students to do. She also has an immature outlook about safety around the water that I don't want my students to gain. As an adult who knows better I guffawed at her youthful sense of invincibility but wouldn't want my students to make the same errors.
    • 2/5
      I wanted to like this book. I find it inspiring that although this girl lost her arm, she's still able to surf. However I found the book to be full of trivial information about Bethany and her family, not so much about her life story. I understand she was age 13 when this book was released, but I thought it unnecessary of her to share with readers that she wishes she could sometimes ignore her fans. I also thought it was immature of her to write that when people ask her questions about herself, she tells them to read her book. Judging by all the merchandise and fan club currently on her website, I think she's more concerned with being a "brand" instead of a role model. Maybe if years from now she writes another autobiography, it will be more mature and set a better example for her young fans. Personally I prefer how she was portrayed in the movie version of Soul Surfer. The movie painted a more positive, engaging, mature public image of Bethany Hamilton.
    • 5/5
      Bethany Hamilton was thirteen years old when she had her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii. Soul Surfer tells of how Bethany delt with the situation and kept strong in her faith through everything. I really liked this book because she had so much positive attidute in everything that happened and she knew that God was with her through everything.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about a girl, Bethany, whose dream was to surf. When she has a terrible experience once out on the water, it was extremely hard for her to get back on the board. Bethany gets attacked by a shark. She was out on the water with some friends when it happened and was immediately rushed to the hospital. Bethany's whole left arm had to be taken off, and was now nothing but a stub. This is a great book about chasing dreams and following your heart.

    Book preview

    Soul Surfer Devotions - Bethany Hamilton

    DEVOTIONS

    FOR THE

    SOUL SURFER

    BETHANY

    HAMILTON

    with ANN BYLE

    Soul_Surfer_TXT_0001_001

    DEVOTIONS FOR THE SOUL SURFER

    Copyright © 2006 by Bethany Hamilton

    All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

    Published by W Publishing Group, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee, 37214.

    W Publishing Group books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

    All Scripture quotations from the Old Testament, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 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 The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

    Written by Ann Byle.

    Page Design: Lori Lynch, Book & Graphic Design, Nashville, TN

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

    Printed in the United States of America

    06 07 08 09 10 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

    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.

    Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction

    God Has a Plan!

    Different Words, One Language

    The Big What-If

    Freedom

    No Worries!

    Extreme Christianity

    Water of Life

    Master of the Impossible

    Women I Admire: Ruth

    God Makes Us Different

    One Big Adventure

    Compassion in Action

    Sticking with the Jesus Recipe

    Weighing In

    The Big Spider (or Centipede or Lizard)

    Listen Up!

    Packing Your Bags

    Women I Admire: Mary

    The Real You

    Standing Strong

    A Taste of the Bible Every Day

    Popularity Contest

    Living for Christ in the World

    Talk the Talk

    Finding the Positives

    Possessing Patience

    Women I Admire: Sarah Hill

    Thanks for Everything

    Training for the Big Event

    God Never Leaves

    God created Diversity

    Everybody needs a Friend

    Die to Self

    Women I Admire: Joni Eareckson Tada

    Who Are You Living For?

    Log in the Eye

    The Rock and the Hard Place

    The Big Lie

    Employment Opportunity

    The Right Path

    Peace Meets Storm

    Feeding on God’s Word

    It’s All About Timing

    Broken for God

    Women I Admire: Cheri Hamilton

    A New Role

    Salvation

    Sticking Up for Your Friends

    Epic Waves and Troughs

    God Looks at the Heart

    What’s a Boyfriend Anyway?

    The Best Advice

    Resisting Temptation

    Women I Admire: Gladys Aylward

    Promoting Peace

    Free to be Me

    The Way of the World

    Parents Need Forgiveness Too

    A Friend to All

    Judgment God’s Way

    Fragrance of the King

    Slow to Anger!

    Women I Admire: Rachel Joy Scott

    Making Adjustments

    Judging Your Neighbor

    God’s Timing is Perfect

    First Love

    The Real You

    True Friends

    True Beauty

    I Surrender All

    Women I Admire: Jackie Pullinger

    Make a Friend

    Serve one God

    Partner Up!

    I’m Just thirteen!

    24/7 Open Line

    Every Detail, Every Hair

    Winning for Jesus

    Aloha

    Trophies on the Shelves

    A young woman I Admire: Cassie Bernall

    Spread the Word

    The Blessing and a Curse

    GoodWill Ambassador

    God Sees the Bad Stuff

    Light vs. Darkness

    The Secret to Winning

    What Does the Future Hold?

    Second Chances

    Women I Admire: Esther

    The Body is Weak

    Why Not Me?

    Used, not Abused

    Motivated By Love

    Faith Meets Real Life

    A Willing Heart

    Every Day for God

    True Courage

    Faith + Prayer = Power

    What’s Slowing You Down?

    The Power of Prayer

    Who’s Your Savior?

    The Greatest Dad Ever

    Skittles

    Ticked Off

    Oh, Brother!

    Don’t Stop Trying

    Motivation

    Heaven on Earth

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    It is with complete sincerity that I would like to thank my heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. Also, everybody who’s helped me on this book: Ann Byle for co-authoring it with me; Kate Etue, my editor; Tim Beals; and the publishers W Publishing Group and World Vision. And special thanks to my good friend, Becky Baumgartner, who helped me write and organize my thoughts. This book never would have been written if it weren’t for your dedication.

    I want to acknowledge the rest of the Bethany Team: Andy Smith and family; Roy Hofstetter and family; Ryan McLaughlin and family; Dad, Mom, Noah, Timmy, and Becky, for all your hard work and full support. Without all of you my life would be much more difficult.

    I want to recognize my church, North Shore Christian Fellowship, and my youth group friends, whom I would practically die without! You guys keep me grounded. Also, my pastor and his wife, Steve and Trisha Thompson; my youth leaders; and my best friend, role model, and youth leader, Sarah Hill, who encourages me when I’m tired of being famous and helps me to remember God’s overall plan.

    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.

    And to everyone else I know, thank you for the love and support you’ve shown me throughout my life!

    INTRODUCTION

    Well, it’s been more than two years since the shark attack, and my life has changed so much since then. I’ve seen God answer a lot of prayers in my own life and in other people’s lives. I’ve traveled all over the world, and it’s been great to see that God is working in places that most people have never even heard of.

    Now I’m back competing in surfing. It hasn’t been easy, but God has always been there to strengthen me and give me courage. My life has become very public since the attack, and I could never do what I now do without having a strong relationship with my loving heavenly Father. I always call upon him for everything, and he has shown me that if I just stay by his side I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

    I would like to encourage everyone never to be afraid to follow Jesus. Prayerfully live your life, dig deep into God’s Word, and put your seat belt on, because you’re headed for a life of adventure in Jesus. He’ll accomplish more than you could ever ask for or even imagine through your life!

    I also want to welcome you to check out my Web site, www.bethanyhamilton.com. Here you can follow up on the adventures I continue to have, the work I’m doing in Christ’s name, and my surfing contests. Please understand that I do get a lot of e-mails, (thousands!) and I would love to respond to them all, but I can’t. I appreciate your e-mails and just ask that you don’t be offended if you don’t get a reply.

    Aloha,

    Bethany

    GOD HAS A PLAN!

    Ididn’t plan on losing my left arm in a shark attack on October 31, 2003. I didn’t plan on having to learn to surf all over again, and I certainly didn’t plan on becoming famous. I never thought I’d talk to Billy Graham, or throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees baseball game, or talk to kids all over the world who have lost limbs in wars and accidents.

    One thing I did plan on doing was whatever God wanted me to do. I wanted my plan to be his plan no matter what. In fact, one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11, talks about the plans God has for those who follow him. God put his plan into action in my life in a dramatic way, yet I’m thrilled to have these huge opportunities to tell people about him.

    Maybe you’ve had something happen in your life you didn’t plan on: your parents divorced or someone you loved died.

    Maybe you’ve gotten sick or injured or lost your home to a natural disaster such as a hurricane. Guess what? It’s all part of God’s plan, and he’ll use you through it if you’re willing.

    Willingness means letting God’s plan become your own, whether it’s losing an arm in a shark attack or simply listening to his voice.

    FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, DECLARES THE LORD, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE. (JEREMIAH 29:11)

    DIFFERENT WORDS, ONE LANGUAGE

    Surfers have their own language to describe the sport. For example, haired out means being too scared to take off on a wave; grommet or grom is a young surfer; and tubed means riding deep inside the barrel of the wave. Skateboarders, stage actors, photographers, and computer geeks have their own language as well.

    Christians have a special language too. Sure, we may use different words in our worship services or sing to different music. We use different translations of the Bible, and may even worship at different times of the day. But our common language is love.

    The Bible says that people will know we are followers of God by our love for one another. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily lives or in the rules and practices of our church that we forget about loving the people around us.

    For you, this love might mean being nice to the girl who doesn’t like you and talks behind your

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