See that lady surfer in the picture? She's Bethany Hamilton, a soul surfer. Earlier, during our Chapel Hour at School, they presented to us Bethany Hamilton's documentary which absolutely amazed me.

Why did it amaze me? Simply because she continued surfing, even after getting bitten by a tiger shark--and after that, she lost her left arm.

I got this one from Wikipedia, and this is how the incident happened:

On October 31 2003, Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friend Alana Blanchard, and Blanchard's father and brother. Around 7:30 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 15ft tiger shark attacked her,^[1] ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten two inches further in, the attack would have been fatal. Hamilton had lost almost 60% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped paddle her back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room. She then spent six more days in recovery at the hospital.

Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively. She is now back to using competitive performance short-boards again.

Indeed, Hamilton's story is a true story of FAITH. Even without her left arm, she continued surfing while teaching herself how to surf without her other arm. Isn't that amazing? This story had actually motivated me to keep up the FAITH I have in God--to keep serving God--to keep doing things for God.


What's the difference and how does it connect to Hamilton's story? Let's say, I still have my arms with me, and they're still complete--but sometimes, I get burned out doing things for God, sometimes--I get tired and just wanna let go of my faith--but Hamilton, on the other hand--having only one arm left, kept pursuing and kept building up her faith without ever giving up or thinking twice if she could still surf or not.


It applies as well in our spiritual lives, we should pray now because we can STILL think. What if one day, we just had a sudden stroke that eventually destroyed our MIND and caused it to be paralyzed so you can't think anymore?


We should read the Bible while we still have the EYES to read. We should sing praises to God while we still have the VOICE to sing, the TONGUE to confess that HE IS GOD, and we should SPREAD THE GOSPEL while we still HAVE OUR FEET.


Does it make sense to you now? God is so great, isn't He? I just thank Him for Hamilton's life, and I pray that her story would motivate us to DO THINGS FOR GOD WHILE THE PARTS OF OUR BODIES ARE STILL COMPLETE.

To make it simpler, I encourage you, let's do things for God while we still can.