“God, I want my life to be more than just surfing. I want to honor you with my life. I don’t know what that looks like, but help me figure it out.”
I remember praying those sort of words with my mom by my side at age 13.
I had just finished second at Nationals in the 18 and Under division. (And I was competing against seniors in high school!) It was safe to say that I was heading in the right direction to reach my dream of becoming a pro surfer!
Surfing was a passion that God had given me, but I wanted my life to be more than just competitions. I wanted to use my life for Him.
Little did I know that 2 weeks later, I would lose my arm.
God brought me on a journey of learning to push through some of the hardest challenges and accomplish some crazy fun things! He used this wild and devastating experience to give me a neat platform to share my story and be a reminder that we all can overcome.
I want to share one of my favorite verses that helped me in my journey:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
I love this verse because it’s a reminder that this world is not perfect. We’re all going through tough stuff and that’s why we need to trust in God and come to Him with our problems.
This verse is not saying we get to bypass the hard stuff. It’s saying that through the hard stuff we go through we can trust in the Lord’s promise that he has died and overcome death on our behalf, Christ overcame all our wrong doing and has made us whole again.
So as we navigate this challenging world we are able to be prepared for all the yucky, weird and painful stuff we may have to go through. Yet all the while we have a hope that is greater than all of it because our mind is set on what God has done for us. I believe this leads us to steer our life in a way to say no to a lot of the junk that is offered to us, overcome the hard stuff, love our neighbors well and live out the life the Lord has set before us.
Friends, God created me to be more than a surfer, more than the shark attack survivor, more than even this overcomer sharing her story with many, more than a mom and a wife… I believe it’s more simple than that… He has created you and I to be forgiven and loved by Him, and to simply enjoy that! Don’t settle for what the world has to offer you. Don’t settle for the lies that you’re not loved or not good enough. Don’t settle for giving up when the going gets tough… You get to be a child of God, dearly loved, cherished and accepted!
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