Living Water by Matt Beacham

Years ago God did something incredible with a group of surfers from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We were a bunch of friends who loved the ocean and pushed each other to surf better at a feverish pace. We didn’t have much figured out, but one thing we were all very certain of was that surfing is the best thing this planet has to offer.

Here’s what happened. One day, four of my friends—who never went to church—felt led to step into a church together. They were all pierced in the heart by what Christ had done for them. That day, each of them gave their hearts to the Lord. It began a snowball effect through our community, and eventually through the entire surf culture at the time. The specific details of the how that snowball continues to roll is something that only God could write. It has been a beautiful thing to witness.

So, where are we now? Nearly 25 years have gone by. What happens after God does a move like that? The answer is that we all still love the Lord. In that span of time, life has proven to be all the things: beautiful and difficult; illuminated yet arduous; wonderful, yet tricky and sticky; magnificent, yet heartbreaking; heavy, yet filled with awe. Why am I pointing these polarities out? I want to highlight that life after Christ for our crew—and our families—has been as real as you can picture it. There is a difference now, though. We each have an ever maturing hope that shines light on both this life and the next. We each have seen death around us and felt death in us. We’ve all tried and failed at so many things, and we’ve all experienced some incredible things. Deep inside we all know that physical death has lost its sting, thanks be to God. (See 1 Cor 15:55)

A lot of the old crew just started meeting for a Thursday morning coffee and bible study together in Kitty Hawk. The photo above shows us all last week. It was the first time we have been together like that in while. It was very encouraging to sit with the boys again and chat. My friends, God is always on the move. He’ll never stop writing our stories, and He loves us more than we can imagine.