George Dennehy was born without arms in a Romanian orphanage. The workers there neglected him and he was severely malnourished. At 16 months old, he weighed just nine pounds. A Romanian doctor hung a death certificate on his crib, telling the nurses to fill in the date when the time came.
But his life changed dramatically when he was adopted at 18 months by a family in Connecticut who believed in giving orphans a chance at a good life. And that family didn’t stop with George. He now has 12 siblings, and nine have been adopted from six different countries.
His parents loved him and nursed him to health. They also challenged him to overcome his disability.
His older siblings were taking music lessons. When George was eight, his parents noticed that George was playing instruments with his toes and seemed to have an ear for music. His parents approached the children’s music teacher, Jennifer Petry, to see if she would try giving George some cello lessons.
Jennifer went above and beyond to make this happen. She actually taught herself to play the cello with her feet so she could give George proper instruction. In later years, George would admit that this put some added incentive for him to learn the cello: “I no longer had an excuse if Jennifer could do it. What a life lesson that she taught herself to do that to help me.”
Learning the cello was extremely difficult. Practices caused a lot of pain to his toes, as he tried to move them freely and smoothly. But his parents and teacher pushed him. George needed that nudge and it caused him to push himself.
Which he did. George got so good playing the cello with his toes that he performed with the church orchestra while still in elementary school.
When he was in middle school, his parents moved from Connecticut to Virginia. He joined the middle school band and found that he was way ahead of the other kids in playing the cello. They were just beginning to learn the instrument, and he had already learned all of the songs the director was going to teach the band that year. So George turned his attention to other instruments, like the piano and electric bass, just to challenge himself.
But middle school was a very difficult and dark time for George, probably the lowest point in his life. The kids at his new school were rough, and called him a lot of names. Since he ate with his feet, kids would make fun of him and his disability. George avoided going to the lunch room whenever possible.
He learned to play the guitar, thinking that was a cool instrument which would help him fit in with this new group of friends.
It was then that he really started to question why a loving God would make him like this. George turned into a sad, angry and depressed young man, feeling sorry for himself.
That dark period lasted four years.
George had to grapple with some hard questions. He asked, “Do I really trust God and believe that He has a plan and a purpose my life with the way He made me?”
His answer at that time: I hope so. His prayer to God: “If you are real and love me, then show me what I can do with my life. And God, if you open a door, I will do my best to walk through it.”
And God did answer. By the middle of high school, he started to see that there might be a different path for his life.
God impressed upon George that He does not make mistakes. That everything that has happened to him, even the bad things, had taken place to give him strength. That He has been in control and always by George’s side.
That taught George a life-long lesson: “When I encounter tough times now, I know I can trust God. I walk in confidence every day in who I am because I am God’s creation.”
The summer after high school, George won a music scholarship. He got to play at a local hometown music festival. He chose to play Iris, one of his favorite songs by the Goo Goo Dolls. Someone in the audience recorded it on their phone and sent it to the group.
They were blown away by George’s talent, and invited him to be their opening act in a concert in Pennsylvania. George got to play several songs to a crowd of 7,000 people. After their set, the Goo Goo Dolls invited him back on stage with them for their encore to play Iris.
That’s when things took off for George. His social media accounts exploded in growth. He was asked to perform on talk shows on nearly every TV network.
George says, “There are things in life that you just can’t control. There are things that happen; you’re born a certain way. The only choice we have is how we’re going to respond to those things that happen to us, or the things that we’re born with. We decide whether we are going to make the best of our situation, or we’re going to groan and complain. That’s on us.”
Now, 12 years later, George has a beautiful wife and two wonderful sons. He works full-time traveling the country, performing his music and giving talks on the goodness of the Lord. He plays music from his heart using his feet. He shares what God has done in his life, and encourages people to never give up on their dreams, no matter what obstacles they may face.
Those difficult middle school years with all the challenges prepared him to deeply trust in the Lord. Now George Dennehy just wants to follow God’s calling and follow through on the plans He has for him.
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