Raising A Soul Surfer (23 page)

It soon became clear
that we had been in the calm center of a different sort of hurricane. When Bethany paddled out into that NSSA competition, charging hard just a few weeks after the attack, the calm eye of the storm was moving, and we were now at an epicenter, sensing something way bigger than us. We were at the point where we could just open up the floodgates without holding back and try to ride the media tidal wave. But you don’t ride tidal waves; they swamp you.

When we sat down with Sarah Hill, it took our family only a few minutes to define our central criterion for granting interview requests: Our family’s purpose was to lift up the name of Christ. We needed someone who could help us take advantage of all the interest while being committed to our boundaries and beliefs—someone who would help manage Bethany while never, ever compromising our explicit purpose and mission.

Before the attack, Tom had been in contact with an entrepreneur named Roy Hofstetter about possibly promoting Bethany’s
surfing career. Roy’s daughter Chantilly was a classmate of Bethany’s, and so Roy was already familiar with her very real surfing talent. Roy’s unique experience might help to net a sponsorship deal beyond just the realm of surf culture.

Like almost any other sport, sponsorship is how the athlete really earns his living. Sponsors help defray or fully cover the cost of travel, surfboards and hotel rooms. Our own evaporating money supply would limit how far Bethany could go. Simply put, a good sponsorship deal would enable Bethany to become a serious competitor. We were on the cusp of signing a deal with Roy Hofstetter when Bethany was attacked.

After we saw with our own eyes Bethany’s remarkable rebound from calamity and how her story seemed to resonate so powerfully with people across the board, we contacted Roy to see if he would still be willing to help. But now the need was to manage the surge of interest coming our way.

Roy agreed. He would field the requests for interviews, TV and radio appearances and all the other myriad offers we couldn’t possibly manage.

This was a tricky decision. We spent a lot of time praying for God’s leading and wisdom. We knew that by doing this we might overexpose our daughter. It might be too much, too quick, too soon. So we decided that she had to be 100 percent in agreement with anything we considered. We could always walk away.

I think what kept everything in perspective for us was that we all were committed to using the media attention solely to honor God. Bethany’s Christian faith was, and is, central to her character and was what gave her the power to spring back.

Tom and I knew it was just Bethany being herself.

We were able to tell Bethany’s story in book form, designed for 14-year-olds and titled
Soul Surfer
, which to our delight found its way into the hands of many young people. We also sought
with much more deliberation for the right pace and rhythm that Bethany would be able to handle, and that the rest of us would be able to handle too.

At one point, I was in an SUV rental, crammed tight with surfboards and luggage. Tom, Bethany, Noah and I were going to visit her surfboard shaper in Ventura, California, to pick up a new surfboard he had just finished making. I was feeling lost as we drove through two hours of heavy traffic, wondering what we were doing with our lives. Is this where we wanted to be? Tim was smart to bale on this expedition!

Finally, we reached our destination and took care of business. The shaper gave Bethany her new surfboard with Palm Fronds sprayed green on the surfboard. I looked at the design and was not impressed until I listened to the CD that was given to us, which we played on the two-hour drive back. Palm fronds were used to worship God, waving them up and down to glorify the King of kings and Lord of lords. They were used on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as He declared that He was King. I was overwhelmed at the meaning because this explained what Bethany was called to do. Worship and honor God with her surfing!

When Bethany was invited to throw the opening pitch at a Yankees game in New York City, I didn’t go, but Tom was there. Bethany had played a lot of sports, but never baseball, so it fell on Tom to take her to Central Park to work on throwing a baseball 60 feet with some degree of accuracy. He even borrowed a baseball from the nearby Mickey Mantle Restaurant and, using recall from Little League games, worked with Bethany all morning until she could put a ball in the pocket.

Later, at the game, New York Yankees pitcher and fellow believer Randy Johnson told Bethany that his kids had read her book. “Maybe the first time they’ve read a book from cover to cover,” he said with a laugh.

Bethany threw the opening pitch fast and straight, right in the strike zone. The catcher even said it had a little heat on it. All the while, Tom stood in the dugout grinning like the Cheshire Cat and flashing back to the time in his childhood when he stood on that same field with his father as a Little League all star.

My personal favorite was when Bethany threw the opening pitch for the Oakland A’s in California. The jumbotrons lit up with video of her surfing to the Beach Boys song “Surfer Girl,” and in came Bethany, riding in the back of a red convertible while the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels Squadron streaked overhead with the whole thing finishing with fireworks. Wow!

But it wasn’t the events that meant the most to us; it was the people we met who connected to us, who connected with Bethany’s story in a meaningful way.

While we were in New York, a guy named Jeff Denholm sought us out. He took the train from his home in Maine in order to be an encouragement to Bethany and us. Jeff had lost most of his arm in an accident on an Alaskan fishing trawler, but he was blessed with a good mind for engineering and the same kind of tenacious spirit as Bethany. Jeff refused to give up surfing, skiing, mountain biking and the other extreme sports he loved. So he had designed a number of ingenious prosthetic attachments for the remnant of his severed arm, ultimately becoming a surfing ambassador for Patagonia Sports. Like Bethany, nothing was going to stop him from living an active lifestyle!

One trip the family took, part business and part pleasure, was unforgettable.

We arrived at Heathrow, in London, a massively huge airport! You could live in this multi-terminal compound and get
lost forever! Our family arrived in the United Kingdom with the normal basic jet lag, even though we had seats in which we could lie down and sleep, which saved us. We took a cab to our hotel. This is never an easy feat when traveling with surfboards!

The four of us—Tom, Bethany, Tim and I—were booked into an old classic hotel. Immediately after setting down our luggage in our one room, we all looked for the bathroom. No bathroom! No beds! A nice view, but this wouldn’t work out. We called the front desk, and they had us in a side office suite or something. I was happy, because we were moved to an upgrade, which had an amazing view of an old church bell tower that was just begging for my camera.

It was Sunday, so I went down to the concierge to ask if there were any evening church services around that we could go to. He gave me the name of “The American Church” for the “tourists.” I said I wanted to go to a church with “locals.” He was clueless, so I did my own search in the phone book and found a Calvary Chapel with a six o’clock service.

We took a cab, which was great fun. The English cabs are those old black classic vehicles that smell leathery and look as if they are from the 1940s. I gave the driver the address, and we were dropped off in front of Harry Potter’s old school, or a look-alike! It was a quaint old brick school building complete with wrought iron gates. Since we had an hour before the service started, I said, “Let’s go take some family pictures at that beautiful old church across the street.”

There was a huge courtyard with a few tourists meandering around, but it looked like a service was in progress. We walked over to the entrance of the old church and past some anxious-looking film crew on the opposite courtyard corner. They were so busy looking for their target that we walked right past them with ease. We all laughed because the press was so hungry for
Bethany news, and here she was, but they were too focused to not see her walk right past them.

We walked quietly inside to take a peek and maybe get a few photos, since it was one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. It was an ancient building filled with smoke from lit candles; and those from years past had given the ceiling a blackened hue. The architectural design caused you to lift your head and look up toward heaven. There you saw the stained-glass windows telling the gospel stories from God’s Word.

The interior design of the building had created one of the best sound features ever. A woman’s beautiful voice was singing a cappella, and it cut through the core of my being, making it hard not to cry. I said, “Let’s find a seat and listen for a while.” The place was packed, but we squeezed into some seats in the back. It turns out we were at a service for the Pope, who had just died on Friday. Tony Blair was there, along with Camilla Parker Bowles, which we read about in the paper the next day. It is nice to do something special without the stress of trying to make it happen. God’s timing as our tour guide was impeccable!

When it was almost six o’ clock, we made our exit and crossed the street to Harry’s school. I had not read the books, as I am not into the occult, but I enjoyed the special effects that this school/movie set had to offer. We gathered in an auditorium with a multicultural crowd that looked like they were from every tribe and nation upon the earth. I relaxed and enjoyed singing with the talented worship team’s presentation and lineup of worship songs. Then I broke, and the flood of tears came because they closed the worship with “Blessed Be Your Name,” the song that contains the lines from the Old Testament story of Job confessing in worship that God “gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the L
ORD
.” God had been ministering to us with that song since day one, our ground zero.

God likes to open up our hard hearts to get His Word inside of our hearts. Sometimes we get so beat up by life that scar tissue hardens and closes us off to His love and ministry. Worship helps to begin healing the damage incurred so that God can bind up our wounds with His love.

The message came next, and I was pleased to listen to the pastor’s eloquent English accent. I felt guilty because the sermon was so personal, as if God had prepared a meal just for us. I hope the other people were fed just as much. It is so peaceful to be halfway across the world, and not know anyone except God and experience His love, care and guidance. God could not have planned our day better. Tomorrow we could surf in Cornwall, England!

One other aside: The longest-running kid’s show in England is
Blue Peter
. Bethany had been invited to the show to teach the hosts how to surf. The venue for the surf lessons was Fistral Beach on the north coast of Cornwall, where the surf history of England first began. Surf culture is alive and well in Great Britain, contributing to the economy with tourism, fashion and health.

Everyone had decided that the most exciting thing to do with Bethany was learn to surf! They didn’t request lessons; they just chose to let you know they were getting lessons! She didn’t have it on her résumé, but even so, she is a most excellent teacher. She had more fun watching than anyone, helping everyone wipe out and eat humble pie. The hosts had no problem learning, but they did have the look of natural athletes. Everyone dressed in his finest black wet suit, as it was freezing cold!

I chose to hang out inside the warm beach restaurant with a front-row view and order something hot to drink. On the walls were photos of hot, sunny beach days taken in the warm months of summer, on location with premier-looking waves ridden by surfers in trunks, not wet suits. It does get warm in Cornwall, but only in the late summer months, along with the
best swells of the year. So if you’re planning any surf expeditions, do your research!

The show aired on European TV, and Bethany was presented with a Blue Peter Badge for courage. The badge provides the wearer with free entry to many British attractions, particularly museums and exhibitions that are featured on the show.