Inspirations

When I was a kid growing up there was a professional surfer named Joey Buran. Buran was one of the top athletes in the sport and photos of him filled the surfing magazines of the day. As a teenager, I had a poster of him at the famous Pipeline wave in Hawaii hanging on my wall. He was the first Californian to win the prestigious Pipeline Masters in that same locale.

A number of years later, there was a picture of him in one of the magazines with a surfboard in one hand and an open Bible in the other. Buran wrote the caption for that photo which said something along the lines of this: These are two of the most important aspects of my life.  

I’ve never forgotten that image or those words.

Decades later, those are two of the most important aspects of my life as well. As for the surfboard, when I am out on the water surfing, I feel the presence of God and I regain perspective. And of course, I have spent much of my life studying, praying, and teaching the Bible. It is my compass and where I turn to draw closer to God.

Friend of Dial Hope, I am sure that there have been people in your own life whose witness to you has affected your life’s direction. Today, may you give thanks to God for them. And may you ever be mindful of those who may be looking up to you.

Let us pray: I thank you, O God, for people like Joey Buran whose witness to us changes us for the better. Thank you also for those activities in life that draw us closer to you. And, thank you for your Word, a source of inspiration, guidance, and hope. Amen.