Storm (10 page)
Authors: Rick Bundschuh
A. My hair is thin, so it naturally bleaches out from the sun even more than most people’s hair. I like everything real and natural, so I don’t use artificial products and I try to avoid chemicals as much as possible.
Q. I heard you’re really cute, so I checked out some of the pics on the Web. Sure enough, you are. Life’s not fair. How come you’re cute and popular, and I’m not?
A. God makes us the way we are for a reason and he never makes a mistake. You were designed with his perfect love! We just have to make the best of what we’ve got. And besides, it’s what’s inside us that really counts. Kindness and love are more important than looks. My mom has me look up words in the Strong’s Concordance to find their deeper meaning. I found out that real beauty is more valuable if it’s inside our hearts.
Grace, pleasant, agreeable, precious, delight, honor,
and
godly
were a few of the words that were a part of being beautiful. Sin is what really makes a person look ugly, so be beautiful with a clean heart!
Here’s what the Bible tells us about outward appearance:
The L
ORD
said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height … The L
ORD
does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the L
ORD
looks at the heart.”
— 1 Samuel 16:7
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment … Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
— 1 Peter 3:3 – 4
Q. What’s your middle name?
A. Meilani, which means “heavenly flower.”
Q. Do you have a nickname, or does everybody call you Bethany?
A. Bebo, B-ham, or Bethy.
Q. What’s your favorite holiday?
A. Valentine’s Day
Q. Who’s your favorite movie star?
A. I don’t really have one, but I like to laugh, so I’d say either John Heder, who plays Napoleon Dynamite, or the actor who plays Dewey in
Malcolm in the Middle.
Q. Do you have any pets? If yes, what are their names?
Q. What kind of pets do you have?
A. I have a dog, a shar-pei named Ginger. She’s the most adorable little dog you’ll ever see! She’s been in our family for years. I used to have a horse named Koko. My mom sold her because she took too much time away from surfing, and she bucked too much.
Q. Do you take your pets with you when you travel?
A. No. Ginger hates water, so she doesn’t like to go to the beach. We even had to get her a raincoat so we could walk her. (It rains a lot here.)
Q. Who takes care of your dog when you’re gone?
A. There’s usually somebody in my family still back at home — my dad or one of my brothers. My entire family doesn’t come along when I travel. So someone is home to take care of things, including my dog.
Q. Do you drive yet?
Q. Do you have your driver’s license?
A. Yes, I just got my driver’s license! In the summer of 2006 I finally passed the test, and now I can drive myself to the beach and Bible study!!!
Q. What grade are you in?
A. I’m in my junior year of high school. That would be the eleventh grade. For more about school, see the chapter “School and Other Stuff".
Q. What will you do after high school?
A. I’m not sure yet. I have so many things that I’d like to do, but my first priority will be pro surfing. I’d like to travel to contests all over the world. Also, at the same time I can study the Bible on my travels and get an online degree or something. I love photography, so I’ll try to learn about that too! For more on the future, see the chapter “What’s Happening Next.”
Other Books In the Soul Surfer Series:
Soul Surfer Bible
Fiction:
Clash (Book One)
Burned (Book Two)
Crunch (Book Four)
Nonfiction:
Ask Bethany —FAQs: Surfing, Faith & Friends
Rise Above: A 90-Day Devotional
Zondervan
Storm
Copyright © 2007 by Bethany Hamilton
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
ISBN-10: 0-310-71224-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-71224-4
CIP Applied for
All Scripture quotations, 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. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2011 ISBN: 978-0-310-72814-6
Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan
Soul Surfer
is a trademark owned by Bethany Hamilton.
Editor: Barbara Scott
Art direction: Merit Alderink
Interior composition: Christine Orejuela-Winkelman
Illustrations: Monika Roe
Photography: Noah Hamilton
07 08 09 10 • 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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