Aloha! We are here to celebrate life, the God-given beauty of children and life and the next generation.
My life has had many turns that I couldn’t have foreseen or planned myself. I think all of us have that at one moment or another, but at just 13 years old when I lost my arm, I thought, I can’t surf with one arm.
My life felt upside down, confusing, I felt like everything was chaotic, I didn’t know what my future held. I needed hope.
Someone came alongside of me and gave me hope that I could surf with one arm.
They gave me a hint of inspiration that I could do it. That gave me the courage and bravery to do what I hadn’t seen anyone else do, surf with one arm.
It ignited a desire in me to try, try something that I hadn’t seen anyone else do.
Fast forward, let me share something deeply personal with you. I remember the moment when I first had my very first pregnancy test. I had a similar fear, I didn’t think I could do it.
I don’t know where that came from. I came from a great family, a Christian household. I was married to a wonderful man, and all of a sudden I was rejecting this God-given gift and beauty that was only a blessing.
What made me think that I wasn’t ready?
I was at the height of my career. We so often put our career before our children, our family, our loved ones.
But still, just like the woman struggling to want to keep her baby, I had similar struggles.
And it’s humbling now when I look back on that.
But the society and culture is so strong, filled with so many lies, and we’re all hearing it.
I believe that even though everyone here is pro-life, some of you may even struggle with this at some point. None of us are above that.
These people aren’t inherently evil, they’re just being fed lies, and the more they hear these lies, the more they believe them.
Now imagine, you know, I had all the support in the world to bring this life, but imagine the woman who doesn’t have all the support in the world.
She’s struggling to have hope that she can do it. She’s being fed these lies that she can’t do it, and that that life has no value. She’s scared, she’s alone, she’s overwhelmed, she feels like her life is upside down. She’s being told that death is better than life.
But who are we to choose death on behalf of someone else?
So here’s what I’ve discovered, and I hope that you here today can help spread this message of hope to all the young women who need to hear this. And maybe even more important, to raise up a generation of young men who can come alongside and do the right thing to serve that woman in the way that she needs.
We need strong men, come on boys, let’s hear it!
Now, being a mother of four, they are my greatest joy, the most beautiful blessing. They are the high of my every single day.
Yes, there’s challenges, and yes, it’s difficult at times, but the beauty sure outweighs the challenge, and I look forward to every single day serving my beautiful children and sharing life with them.
Children are true wealth, and they are truly the greatest blessing that God has to offer us alongside of his grace.
And so today, as we rally around a cause that God has called us to, to protect life and to love our neighbor, to come alongside of that young man and woman who are choosing, thinking of choosing death, to be that person to bring them hope.
You know, when I lost my arm, someone came alongside of me and gave me hope. They reminded me of God’s love, and that maybe there was more to my life, and who knew what was possible?
And so these women, they need hope. They need encouragement. They need light in their life, and we as a society need to combat the lies that are being fed to them each and every day.
Get strong on social media, because the truth is, this is where everyone is being fed these lies.
And so to all the women who feel like they’re not ready for this, let’s be a reminder to them to be willing to try, to put themselves out there, to do what seems impossible.
Children are heritage from the Lord. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. So as we march, march for life, the greatest gift of all, let us send a message of hope and love to the moms and mothers-to-be, and to the fathers, that they too can say to themselves: I don’t need easy, I just need possible.
Thank you, and aloha.
*Bethany Hamilton is known for one of surfing’s most spectacular comebacks after having her life put in danger. At the age of 13, when she was on the rise, Bethany lost her left arm to a shark bite, and it looked like it would end her career. However, just a month after the shark attack, Bethany returned to surfing and in just two years won her first national surfing victory. Her ability to face challenges was given by faith. Bethany’s greatest joy comes from the roles of wife and mother.
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