surfer girl

well my dear ones,

A few weeks ago, my friend, Trish, told me

that I really should go see a movie called

"Soul Surfer," about the life of

a young surfer girl named Bethany Hamilton.

Trish said on a scale of 1 to 10

she considered it to be a "12."

We didn't get a chance to see it in theater,

but my wife picked up the DVD

and this afternoon we finally got a chance

to sit and watch it.

I concur with Trish; it's at least a "12."

Bethany was the young Hawaiian girl

who wanted to be a professional surfer,

but at age 13 (back in 2003)

she lost most of her left arm

in a shark attack while surfing.

Within a month, she was back in the water;

the movie details her amazing courage

in the face of tragedy;

it's the most uplifting movie I've seen

in as long as I can remember!

You can learn more about Bethany here:

http://bethanyhamilton.com/

and here:

http://www.soulsurfer.com/

     

Actually, I'm much happier that my wife

got the DVD instead of us going to the theater.

While AnnaSophia Robb did an excellent job

of portraying Bethany,

the DVD had many out-takes on it

including several interviews with

the actual Bethany.

So if you watch it on disc

please be sure and see the bonus material.

I love this young woman!

In the span of a couple of hours

she has risen to become

one of my best inspirations.

and one of my greatest heroes.

Bethany is awesome!

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

recharge

well my dear ones,

I've been having some issues

with my bike for the last couple weeks,

like not being able to start it

because the electric starter

couldn't turn the engine over.

Back in the good old days,

we bikers didn't trust electric starters,

and we rode bikes that had kick-start backups.

However, nowadays, most bikes are just like cars

in that they rely on a battery to fire them up.

With a discharged battery,

my Harley was just a 750 pound lump

of iron, steel, and rubber;

without a recharge,

it wasn't going anywhere.

Bike or car,

once your vehicle is started,

your alternator keeps your battery charged.

If your alternator goes,

or if the belt that drives it breaks,

your battery will die in short order.

It's much the same with us;

sometimes we keep on driving ourselves

when we have nothing keeping us charged.

It's easy to get caught in a rut

and just keep on working and working

until we grind ourselves down

and we feel like we have no energy at all.

That's when you need to stop,

and plug in to the Source;

take a deep breath,

and look around you

at the beauty of Creation.

Today, as I was mowing the lawn,

I caught some movement at the corner of my eye;

when I turned around,

I saw about 20 orange butterflies

flitting about one plant in my wife's garden.

It was so awesome to just watch them.

From the song of a bird

to a display of clouds in the heavens

there are wonders all about us.

Try and take some time to take them in

that you might recharge your heart

and refresh your soul.

Oh yes, what about my bike?

The battery was beyond mere recharging;

it needed to be replaced.

Sometimes we need a recharge;

and sometimes we need replacement parts.

2600 years ago,

the prophet Ezekiel told us it was possible

that we could ask for and get

a new heart and a new spirit.

May we all get them when we need them.  =)

     

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave