Soul Surfer--Bethany Hamilton

We had the privilege to get to see Bethany Hamilton LIVE at one of the local MEGA churches in our area. My friend, Beth (whom I call Beth-All-Knowing) let me know that she was going to be in the area speaking. Beth always knows the great events going on in our area! So, we put it on our calendar and made a plan to attend. My girls have read the book, and shared with me, and a-hem... didn't quite get that one read, but enjoyed what I DID read. We did; however, see the movie...it was really good. We enjoyed getting to see a good movie with a great message and testimony of the Lord's grace in someone's life. Well, I was super impressed with Bethany in real life. She was interviewed in front of thousands of people...the church was packed and I think they had another thousand people in overflow rooms watching the video feed. She is very well grounded in God's word. The pastor that was interviewing her stuck more to her story and the shark attack and her surfing skills...she is the one that turned the talk to scriptures. When asked "what's your favorite verse?" Bethany had a great answer she said something along the lines of "well, it depends what day it is and where I am in my reading of God's word. I try to be in the Word everyday and the Lord speaks and using different verses at different points" She then pulled out her Bible app on her I-phone and shared what she had been reading recently and told what it had meant to her. I think the pastor was hoping for a token verse like "Philippians 4:13" so he could give that as "Bethany's verse" or have a t-shirt made or something. It was great to hear this young woman who has be thrown into the limelight stand strong in her faith, and encourage all of us as believers, but especially the young children that were there, telling us that God using bad things in our lives for His good and purposes. It was fun experiencing this with my children. You must first understand that we attend a very conservative Bible Church. We have traditional music and good strong teaching. My children love their classes and their teachers, but they are taught in a lecture style format and are required to sit quietly and listen to the teachers. My older three sit in the church service with us on Sunday and participate in taking notes. We don't have bubbles falling from the ceiling in the children's building, or tickets earned to be redeemed for prizes after class, and they sure don't get to make a music video while participating in their singing time. This was all very foreign for our children! We also have very conservative worshipful music often with full orchestra and an organ! The music at this event was led by a band. The drums and bass were so loud that they made my chest vibrate. It was so loud you couldn't understand what they were saying. One of my kids pulled me down to their level and said "this doesn't seem like a church". When I picked up my younger children from class they said "this was just like chuck e. cheese". I laughed. There were also remote controlled shark blimps flying around the sanctuary which were quite fascinating. Even my old brain seemed a bit over stimulated! It was a fun family night out ended with dinner at IHOP...you know "where kids eat FREE"...they probably lost some money on our order that night!