Gene Hendrix writes the words that pour from his heart.
He says, “I just want to write a beautiful melody like a cool drink of water for a parched soul, giving true love, peace, and hope.”
“Some people write all their life to write one word that touches a heart. I just want to write what I see God doing and let that speak for itself.”
His Momma always said, “That boy was born with a sword in his mouth and fire in his eyes. Never in doubt. Never disguised.”
No matter what Gene comes up against, he’s determined to get through. Once he found the backing of God – or he would tell you it’s more like he found how to be the backing to God’s leading – then the world was never going to be the same.
“These minor missives are a complete gift of God. He obviously had more to say to me than I could hear from the top of a tree so He politely sat me down. And, even though I broke my neck at C-1,3,5, my spinal cord severed completely at T-2,3. This left me with numb arms but complete utility …to write. Now, I do not know what His work through me is; however, that’s His business. My business is to abide in Him and produce much fruit.“
On November 19, 2002, as Gene was building a successful tree cutting business, he was working in the top branches of a 50 ft tree. His lines broke, and he fell head first from where he was working.
The medics at the scene thought he was dead, but he kept breathing. The doctors at the hospital thought he was a vegetable, but he started moving. That’s when they realized that Gene wasn’t going to follow the normal and expected.
He lay in a coma in the University of South Alabama’s trauma center for 3 weeks. He then moved to rehab at Healthsouth in Birmingham for 5 weeks.
“I was back in my truck on Tuesday, January 14th, 2003 – exactly 8 weeks after I fell.”
Gene will tell you that day he fell out of a tree and into a notebook. “I came out writing like a man that just came outta the grave. My heart is to be spilled out, and I am using these two dead arms to share life – God’s testament.”
Gene goes on to share these thoughts, “The miracle is God speaking to us and every time it is like a lightning bolt. Be the filler. Reflecting Him in the world and on the world – find our way to fill in for Jesus. I pray that I would trust Him more fully and let it go for His glory. “
“If you wanna be bigger – help others to be bigger. If you wanna be better – help others be better. If you wanna stay little – just belittle.”