Finding Strength in Surrender by Kendall

Kendall's entry into Varsity Tutor's October 2025 scholarship contest

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Finding Strength in Surrender by Kendall - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

In Heather Buchta's 'Beyond the Break', the main character Lovette displays a powerful lesson about trusting God even when life feels uncertain. Lovette, a devout Christian teenager living in Manhattan Beach, California, is forbidden from two things: surfing and dating. Her love for surfing never died, but after her brother suffered from a severe surfing accident, her mom did not allow her to get back on the board. On top of that, at age twelve, she vowed to God that she would avoid dating until marriage, establishing two firm rules for her life. As the story develops, she begins to reconnect with a friend from her childhood, Jake. Lovette begins to develop feelings for Jake, a guy who challenges both her heart and her faith. He reignites her passion for surfing and brings her first idea of love to life. These struggles leave Lovette feeling torn between her desire for freedom and her desire to stay faithful to her vows to God and her family's rules.
Throughout the story, Lovette’s relationship with Jake tests her beliefs and her patience. She wants to honor her promise to God, but her growing emotions for Jake make that extremely difficult. Their friendship begins innocently, but as they share more memories together, she wrestles with the two ways her heart is pulling her: toward the excitement of love and the security of faith. Jake encourages her to seek the ocean and love she has for it again, bringing back all of the joy she felt before her brother’s accident. For Lovette, surfing is a symbol of identity and freedom, a place where the waves crash and bring peace to her mind, while her promise to God symbolizes discipline and devotion, living in obedience to the Lord. These two parts of her life begin to collide, forcing her to question what truly defines her relationship with God.
As her feelings for Jake deepen, Lovette experiences confusion, guilt, and longing. She knows what her faith, and her parents, expects of her, but she continues to break the rules she and her family set for herself. Jake isn’t just a crush, but someone who understands her, supports her, and helps her rediscover parts of herself that she hasn't seen in years. However, as their relationship heightens, Lovette begins to realize that Jake might not share the same spiritual foundation that she is trying to live by. This realization is one of the most difficult parts of her story, recognizing that a relationship without shared faith can pull her away from her core values. When Jake begins to drift away from her, she starts to question God because of her heartbreak. Why would He let her love someone who would only be in her life temporarily? Why does being obedient come with so much sorrow? Throughout this, Lovette learns that faith often means choosing to trust God over her own choices, even when it means disappointment.
Her experiences with surfing and her relationship with Jake mirror each other in many ways. Just as she wanted to get back in the water and feel the rush of catching a wave, she also knew that the rules her parents made were meant to protect her. For a while, Lovette saw both of her rules with surfing and dating as drawbacks. She eventually realized that they are there not as restrictions, rather opportunities for growth. Lovette begins to experience a sense of peace that she has never felt before as she learns to surrender her desires to God. Through conversations with friends, prayer, and devotion, Lovette discovers that God’s plan for her is about shaping her heart rather than giving her everything she wants.
By the end of the book, Lovette has grown from a girl who questioned her faith and struggled with trusting God’s plan to a young woman who lives out her faith with courage and constant surrender. She learned that her identity cannot be found in one passion alone, and that love is never wasted when you are shining your light on other people. This story showed me that no matter the circumstances, God is walking right beside me, tracing every step of my life out. I must choose to lift my feet from the ground and take those steps. No matter what we want to happen in our lives, God has doors that He has planned for us to walk through, and He has doors that He plans to close for us. When He closes those doors, we must choose to still praise Him in the hallway. Every closed door is an act of mercy, every no is an act of grace. Sometimes when a wave knocks you down, you have to stand back up and trust that God will carry you back to shore.

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