Raising a Soul Surfer

A shark attack is no match for God's plan and providence. When 13-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack, the media spotlight turned her quiet life upside down. Many wondered how this rising star would find the inner strength to press on and realize her pro surfing ambitions. Would she be able to adapt her surfing style to compete? Now, Bethany’s mother, Cheri, pulls back the curtain on her family’s life to show how the seeds of Bethany’s eventual triumph were planted decades before her birth, when Cheri and her future husband, Tom, were surf-loving kids searching for life’s meaning in the next big wave. Raising a Soul Surfer follows their unpredictable journey across a continent to find each other and Jesus, and traces the hand of God at work in their lives as they married and started a family. Long before Bethany lost her arm and nearly her life, God was preparing the hearts and minds of her whole family to trust Him when it mattered most. The story of the Hamilton family, told as only a mother could, is a vivid illustration of how a sovereign God can turn what we see as a tragedy into a hope-filled witness of His power, grace and blessing.

\Cheri Hamilton was 27 and between surf sessions at Hanalei, Kauai, when she first met Christ. She was completely obsessed with surfing and lived every day just to catch “that next wave.” In 1975, she met Tom Hamilton at the Pine Trees surfing spot in Hawaii, and it was there in Hawaii that they raised their children, Noah, Tim and Bethany, and taught them how to surf. After watching her two brothers compete in various local surf meets, Bethany quickly excelled at competing and finished runner-up at the NSSA National Championships at the age of 13. In 2005, less than two years following the shark attack, Bethany returned to compete in the NSSA Nationals and took first place. Rick Bundschuh is a pastor, veteran youth worker, writer, speaker and published cartoonist. He serves as a teaching pastor at Kauai Christian Fellowship. He worked with Bethany Hamilton on Soul Surfer, her bestselling book, and is also the author of Deep Like Me. He lives with his beautiful wife, Lauren, their kids, weenie dog and a quiver of surfboards.