DEDICATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have six children and love all of them equally and dearly, but this particular book is about heroes, and one of my children is one of my biggest heroes, so I dedicated this book to her. My oldest daughter was born July 16, 1970, and I came up with her name, Jennifer Brooke Bendell, although now it is Brooke Bendell Stark.

As a child, she was very athletic, loved dancing, all kinds, was very artistic, was an outstanding student, and got headaches anytime she rode in a car. A type-A personality, she was and is a perfectionist. Her mother and I divorced when she was nine years old, and sadly we spent many years apart. Brooke became the substitute mom to her younger sister and brother because her mother worked so hard.

The two biggest things about her that always impressed me the most were her sense of adventure and her love for God. She still possesses both.

After graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in textile design, Brooke ended up as a Christian missionary serving in Central and South America, converting Muslims into Christians in India and Africa. In Africa, she got very ill and almost died. She had already almost died as a girl, when her appendix burst.

Brooke married a wonderful youth minister and missionary himself, Burwell Stark, and they had two daughters. The first, Lindy, is a joy. Avery was in Brooke’s womb and at nine months when Brooke had a driver hit her head-on. Protectively clutching her swollen belly, Brooke slammed her face on the steering wheel. Also, she crushed her heel, and Brooke had been a dancing instructor for years. They had to pry her out of the car with the Jaws of Life and airlift her by Flight for Life to Duke University Medical Center, where Avery was delivered by cesarean section, blind and brain-damaged. Brooke was in ICU for days, and after many prayers, blood transfusions, and several surgeries, she pulled through. Avery was an angel and was given very special care by Burwell, Brooke, and Lindy for four years, but sadly she died one day during a seizure. She just did not come out of it.

After that, Brooke lost another daughter at birth.

Then, after dealing with her younger sister, my other daughter, coming down with multiple sclerosis unexpectedly, Brooke mysteriously came down with MS, too, just when she and Burwell were preparing to leave again for the mission field in Africa.

She turned to God, as she has done so often in her life, and now, despite her setbacks, she has her own business near Raleigh, North Carolina, decorating homes and painting modern murals for homes and businesses. She has even rehabbed so she can now do some dancing. To her, MS is an inconvenience but not a reason to slow down.

The life God gives each of us is a gift to us, but what we do with our lives is the gift we give back to God. Brooke has certainly been preparing a wonderful gift for her Creator. She is truly a survivor, and I cannot put into words the respect, admiration, pride, and love I have for her. Since it is entitled Strongheart, I dedicate this book to you, Brooke.

Love, Dad

“I would give no thought of what the world might say of me,
if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of
an honest man.”

Sam Houston