Puzzle Pieces - Happy 8th Birthday Faith!

On this day eight years ago...
at 12:01 a.m. in the morning...
in The Dalles, Oregon...
my daughter,
Faith Louise Dendy...
took her very first breath of life!
Happy Birthday Faith!

My iWitness...The Lord God Almighty is the master at putting together jigsaw puzzle pieces to make an incredible picture. The story of how Faith Louise Dendy came into our arms and into our lives is nothing short of a miracle.

The Monday before Thanksgiving in 2004 I was looking to have my friend Rev. Jim Hazlett, from the Gateway Presbyterian Church in The Dalles, Oregon assist in my installation service as the new pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Klamath Falls, Oregon. I called the church and Joan Ahier, the secretary answered the phone...
"Hey Joan, it's David Dendy. How's it going?"
"Hey David! Well, we are a little stressed these days. Brian's 17 year old daughter Barbara from Hawaii is living with us... and she's... pregnant."
"Wow! How about that! What is she going to do with the baby?"
"Well.... we don't know."
"If she wants to give up the baby for adoption, let us know. We'll adopt the baby."
"Are you serious?"
"Uh.... uh.... uh.... Yes!" (Thinking to myself... I better talk to Julie!!)
"I'll have Brian call you tomorrow."

On Tuesday, Brian called. This is what he said...
"David... you are not going to believe this. On Sunday night, Barbara was praying with the youth group and this is what she prayed out loud. 'Lord, I want to give this baby up for adoption. But I don't want to go find the people. You will have to bring the people to me.'"

I called the next day!

After three years of trying to get pregnant, after three rounds of in vitro fertilization and after three face to face weekend visits with Barbara, Faith Louise Dendy came into this world, and into our lives and into our hearts!

Happy Birthday Faith!!
We love you more than you will ever know!!
Thank you Barbara for giving Faith breath! Thank you Brian and Joan Ahier! Thank you to my dear brother in Christ the Reverend Jim Hazlett and thank you to the congregation of Gateway Presbyterian Church in The Dalles, Oregon for nurturing and loving Barbara through those uncharted waters. Thank you to the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church, Klamath Falls, Oregon for accepting Faith from day one and loving her in a way that no other church could have!!

Thank you to all the other aunties, uncles, grandmas and grandpas that have shown the love of Jesus to Faith for these first eight years. You have shaped her life in more ways than you will ever know.

Thank you Julie for loving, teaching, shaping, caring and praying for Faith like no other Mom could have...

Thank you to all of you for being a piece of the puzzle for Faith's life.. Her puzzle wouldn't look the same without you!!

And last but certainly not least...
Thank you dear Lord for knitting together Faith in a most spectacular way! She has the biggest and bluest eyes of anyone I have ever met. May those "baby blues" always keep their focus on you throughout her life! Thank you for the gift of a lifetime!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." (Psalm 139. 13)

Hole Punchers

My daughter Faith loves to be creative and crafty. On Saturday she retrieved some paper from the printer and started drawing large hearts on them. Carefully she cut around the lines of the heart on the paper. In seconds she secured a paper heart. She eventually wrote on the heart, "I love you Mom!, Love Faith." She also thought it would be nice to allow the heart to have the ability to put a piece of yarn through it so it could be hung. With heart in outstretched hand, Faith's question to Julie startled my mind, "Can you punch a hole in my heart?"

My iWitness...

Has anyone ever punched a hole in your heart?

Perhaps the better question is, "How many holes do you have in your heart?"

Do you remember the first time someone punched a hole in your heart?

I bet you remember the last time?

We talk of people suffering from "broken hearts." I have a perfect picture in my mind on what that looks like... a Valentine's shaped heart ripped in half with jagged edges right down the middle on both halves.

I have run into a few people with that kind of "broken heart" from divorce, disease and death.

I have run into thousands of people who suffer severely from holes that have been punched in their hearts. I've witnessed their vitality, their creativity, their zest, their manhood, their womanhood, their love, their very life slowly but surely leak right out of them.

The result being a crippled, compromised mess...

It's hard to run on all cylinders when the very fuel of our life is seeping or gushing out of our hearts.

It really is a vivid image with horrific consequences.

King David on several occasions suffered from self-inflicted "hole punching." After one such hole punching binge here is what he wrote...

"Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51. 10)

Jesus knows something about "hole punching."

For us, He had three holes punched in Him on the cross so that the holes in our hearts could stop leaking. His Holy Spirit fills our heart and plugs up the holes. Doesn't stop my heart from being punched... but the Spirit does keep my heart from leaking...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and fear not!
David!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

My iWitness...

My random thoughts on Mother's Day...

I have a mom that gave me life - Thank you Judy Dendy!!
I have a mom that gave me breath - Thank you Betty Jean Padgett!!
I hope the two of you get to meet each other some day...

I have a daughter, Morgan Goodson Cox who is a mom to twins - Parker and Peyton-Leigh
I hope I get to meet them some day...

During our trials of in vitro fertilization Julie had a miscarriage...
I look forward to meeting them some day...

To all the moms that suffered a miscarriage through nature or on purpose
You and your children will meet again some day...

To the moms to be that never turned out to be,
Thank you for being a mom to my kids and to so many others

To the moms that nurture, care, offer prayers, love and kiss boo boo's,
What would our world be without you...

For the word "MOM",
which is spelled the same whether you're coming or going, forward or backward,
Thank you for always being there!

For the mom in my house, Julie
who loves Faith and Joshua with a furious and passionate love that is so deep and so tender
that it brings tears to my eyes as I type...

For my grandmothers, Nana and Momma Jerry...
They always made me feel like the most special grandson in the whole wide world
I look forward to the day we hold each other again...

To the Cleveland mom Amanda Berry and her six year old daughter, Jocelyn
Happy first Mother's Day in total freedom!!

For the moms that struggle, succeed and sometimes fail
Thank you for doing and being the best mom you know and knew how to be.

For Mary, the mother of Jesus.
What was it like to care for the one who created you to begin with?

For all the silly Mother's Day cards we made as kids,
Thank you for keeping them...

Solomon, in the book of Proverbs wrote about an incredible woman.
I love this one verse from Proverbs 31...
"Her children rise up, and call her blessed."

So, on this day, in the year of our Lord 2013,
the 12th day of May...
So do I...
I rise this day and say to all the Moms,
"Blessed are you... and blessed are we!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and fear not!
David!

The Odd Couple

There they sat... together.
They are a rather "odd couple."
It appears the only thing they have in common are the first letter of their first names.
His name starts with the letter "D".
Her name starts with the letter "D".
That is where the similarities seem to end.
As they sit together...
He leans into her like a reed being blown by the wind,
She sits straight up like a tall redwood tree,
His eyes are soft, warm and loving,
Her eyes have lost that sparkle they once held,
His arm wraps around the back of her chair as if to keep him from falling,
Her arms are crisscrossed in front of her as if she is declining the taking of communion at the rail,
He talks and smiles with affable animation,
She rarely seems to say a word and when she does, it's just that... "a word."
They are a rather "odd couple."

And then...
Someone whispers in your ear...
"She has Alzheimer's."

My iWitness..

In the moment that your ears have heard that last sentence to the time it hits your mind what has just been said, your whole view on the situation has forever changed. Whatever judgments you have made on their relationship has just been thrown into the garbage heap.

What you have interpreted as coldness and distance is quickly recalibrated into a display of unconditional love that has grown out of a lifetime together of committed love that knows no bounds and barrels through every obstacle thrown in its path, even that son of a b***** disease called Alzheimer's.

I wonder if anyone has ever noticed God sitting next to me and has made the same observations as above. That God leans into me as I sit erect... That God's arm is around me as I sit with my arms crisscrossed... That God speaks while I mutter...
I wonder if anyone has ever noticed God sitting next to me and thought to themselves, "They are a rather "odd couple"."
I wonder if anyone has ever noticed God sitting next to me and said to themselves, "David must suffer from spiritual Alzheimer's".

Once again, God's unconditional love knows no bounds, knows no obstacles, stops at nothing to wrap His loving arms around me and whisper into my ear, "Fear not, I have bought you with a price, I have called you by name, You are mine, I love you with a furious love, I will not let go, nothing will separate me from you, I am with you always..."

And then my eyes start to twinkle, my heart starts to beat again, my posture starts to lean, my ears begin to hear, my voice begins to proclaim...

And I wonder, and I wonder and I wonder... "when will the spiritual Alzheimer's disease strike and turn us into an "Odd Couple" again...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

Snooze Alarm

The early morning hours are the only time adults love to do math... in their heads.
Let's say it takes you an hour and fifteen minutes to get up, showered, dressed and fed before you head out the door for work.
The alarms goes off at 6:00 o'clock in the morning...
Let the Math begin!
We hit the Snooze Alarm button with great flailing force and our mind begins to race. "I can still get everything done in one hour and six minutes..." And off we doze again to enjoy more slumber and sleep.
And then all of a sudden - BAM! The alarm goes off again. We think, "There is no way 9 minutes just passed!" But our mathematical minds make more mental calculations - "Let's see... 75 minutes to get up and out and now I only have 66 but if I hit this snooze alarm one more time, I am positive I can get it all done in 57 minutes..." And once again with great force the Snooze Alarm is set in motion as our minds and bodies drift off into dreamland.
What's really amazing about this is that all of these thoughts take place in less than five seconds.
My personal record for hitting the Snooze Alarm was 13 times in a row!
How about you?

My iWitness...

I wonder how many times God has sent me a "wake-up call" and in less than five seconds I have decided to hit the Snooze Alarm.

How many minutes, days, weeks, months and even years of life have I missed out on God's call because I decided to hit the Snooze Alarm?

Yes, we are tired. Yes, we need more rest. Yes, we are masters at rationalizing the need for a few extra minutes of slumber.

But the question still nags at me like a dripping faucet... How much have I missed out on?

Isaiah had a vision of God that is simply mind-blowing! The Cherubim and Seraphim (Angels with six wings - two to cover their eyes, two to cover their feet and two to fly) are flying around singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts...!" The train of God's robe fills the temple. The columns of the Temple are shaking at the presence of God. And God sends out the alarm and the wake-up call, "Whom shall I send?"

Isaiah's response is immediate and clear - "Here I am! Send me."

This morning, the Lord's wake-up call just might be saying, "Where are you?"

Perhaps today we won't hit the Snooze Alarm and instead simply say, "Here I Am Lord!"

Let's hit "Send" today... not "Snooze."

Oh no, look at the time... Forgive me for stopping short today...
I only have 53 minutes left to get up and out the door!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said "Here I am! Send me." And he said, "Go..." (Isaiah 6. 8-9)

Go ahead... Make my day!

It's one of the most classic four minute scenes in a Hollywood movie.
Detective Harry Callahan, played by Clint Eastwood walks into a coffee shop that is being held hostage by four armed robbers.
Harry reads the paper at the counter while Loretta pours a coffee into a large Styrofoam cup. In addition to the coffee, Loretta pours about a pound of sugar into the stationary cup. Harry presents his folded dollar bill onto the counter and without looking up walks out the door, takes three steps, takes one sip and spews the coffee out onto the sidewalk. Upon turning around he sees two suspects turning the "We're Open" sign around to say, "We're Closed". Harry continues down the sidewalk.
In the next 90 seconds or so three great quotes from the movie "Sudden Impact" emerge...

1. Harry walks back into the coffee shop while bedlam is taking place and is confronted by one of the armed robbers. The armed robber quizzically looks at him and says, "What are you doing here." In the classic "Dirty Harry" voice, Detective Callahan says, "For the last ten years, Loretta there has been giving me a large black coffee. Today she gives me a large black coffee, only it's got sugar in it... Lots of sugar... I just came back to complain."

2. Detective Callahan goes on to say to the four armed robbers, "We are not going to let you just walk out of here." The robber laughs as he says, "Who is we, sucker?" Callahan's response doesn't disappoint..."Smith... Wesson... and Me."

3. Five shots later three of the suspects are shot dead and one injured. The injured one grabs Loretta and hold a gun to her head with his left arm holding a headlock on the waitress. Callahan calmly and coolly raises his 44 Magnum (the largest handgun in the world) with his straightened right arm and with eyes squinted utters the famous phrase, "Go ahead... make my day!"

My iWitness...

I had the joy of "making someone's day" yesterday. (I didn't shoot anybody!!)

All of us have the power to make someone's day... every day.

You've probably noticed in our world these days it doesn't take much to "make someone's day."

That's the challenge of the day...

"Go ahead... Make someone's day!"

Send an email, write a text, pick up the phone, buy some flowers, offer a hug, compliment someone's traits that make them extra special, tell your children how proud you are of them, tell your parents "thank you!", let the ears of the ones you love hear those precious words escape from your heart through your lips, "I love you..."

I have a sneaking suspicion that when you "make someone's day..."

Your day will be made too...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (Ephesians 4. 29)

Freedom Cry in Cleveland

Amanda, Gina, and Michelle... Welcome Home!!!

All three were just young girls when they were abducted a decade ago against their will and placed into captivity in a home in a densely populated area just two miles from their own homes in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ten years...
Where were you ten years ago?
Think about all that has happened to you in the last 10 years...
That's a long, long, long time... to be held captive.

Somehow and some way Amanda was able to make her way to the front door of the house of horror she had been surviving in and was able to scream, kick and get a hand out the door for a neighbor to see.

With the neigbor's help she ran across the street and said, "I'm Amanda Berry!!!"
The neighbor's response sounds like it came right out of a mystery novel, "You can't be Amanda Berry. Amanda Berry is dead!"

When you have gone missing for 10 years people believe you to be dead. And why not? What else are you going to believe?

The neighbor gave her a phone to call 911.
Here's Amanda's freedom cry in Cleveland...

"Help me, I'm Amanda Berry.... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here, I'm free now!"

My iWitness...

Have you ever been abducted?
Have you ever been held captive?
I cannot begin to count the number of people I have met, myself included who have been held captive by an assortment of people and things....

I've seen beautiful young people get abucted into a bad relationship. Within months they're self-esteem, their self respect and their whole personhood is lost and they become almost unrecognizable.

I've seen successful people become addicted to their job, their work, their success and their power and ten years later they have gained the world, but they have lost their soul, their family and their standing.

I could go on and on...

What's strange and similar to our story above is that most of us get abducted and are held captive in densely populated areas. There are family members close by. There are neighbors across the street that we see almost daily. There are friends that we interact with regularly.

Here's what is extra sad. We live with and amongst these people and sometimes they never know that we are being held captive. On the other side, the equally sad part is that these same people sometimes see with great clarity how imprisoned we are and yet for the light of day we cannot see how imprisoned we are...

I've been abducted.
I've been held captive.
There are still some chains that dangle around my ankles and wrists...

"For freedom, Christ has set us free." (Galatians 5. 1)

Amanda's words beome my words and my prayer...

"Dear Lord, Help me! I'm David Dendy... I've been kidnapped  and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here! And through Jesus... I'm free now!!!"

And God's words have never sounded so sweet...
"Welcome home David!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!