SURVIVOR STORIES
About God by Dr. Sandy Murphy
On September 6, 1974,
her then husband
shot this then
18-year-old mother of
two between the eyes at
close range with a
twelve-gauge shotgun.
Even though the
entire right side of her
face was almost
blown completely away,
she miraculously
survived.
Today over 30 years
later, Sandy Murphy
is a living testimony of
God's Miracles,
Mercy & Grace to the
lost and hurting,
especially battered and
abused, women,
men, and children.
Sandy has a Doctorate in
Counseling
Education/Marriage &
Family Therapy for
broken families,
individuals,
ex-offenders; serves in
the chosen and anointed
call as an Evangelist
and moves by the Holy
Spirit in
the gift of
"inner-healing" for
spiritually wounded and
lost souls. Sandy has
been speaking
professionally over 25
years.
By profession and
through the spiritual
mantle of an Apostle,
Sandy is a Consultant
and Mentor to develop
various Churches and
Businesses in
Professional Development
for Church/Ministry
Excellence and Growth.
Sandy is the mother of 2
adult children: a son
Tyrone, daughter,
Shondra,
and the grandmother of 5
beautiful
granddaughters.
Shirley M. Carter
SURVIVING CANCER
All my life I’ve
been a fighter; from birth being
the first girl born into a
family dominated by boys to
fighting male classmates and the
most devastating foe was to
fight a disease that claimed
both of my breasts. This
disease had already claimed
other relatives in my family; so
I knew from the on set that it
would be the fight of my
life.
At the time I did
not know what cost would be
associated with this fight; many
times in the past, my fights
left little or no scars; but
this fight cost more than I
could ever imagine. It took a
toll on my immediate family,
especially my three sons. The
two younger sons, who were 7 and
8 when I was diagnosed in 1995;
was devastated, striping them of
their innocence and basically
forcing them to grow up
overnight. My oldest son is
still feeling the effects of not
being present at the time of my
diagnosis. One never knows the
effect that it has on another
person; when you’re going
through the battle. When you
choose to fight, you become
indulged in the battle of
surviving.
Now 13+ years
later I can say, “that fight
gave me a new prospective on
life and left me with an
understanding that God had
prepared me to be a fighter for
life and survivorship is just a
part of the battle”.
Now, as I prepare
to complete my first book
“Life through the Eye of a
Rose”, a new chapter in
my life begins. I’ve been
fighting all my life; now I am
ready for the loving to begin.
Danita L. Gaymon
DEPRESSION
The year was 1993. I thought all was well until my mother went into
the hospital on my birthday Aug
4, 1993 for what we thought was
a routine cancer treatment.
Mommy never came home as she
passed away on October 6, 1993.
She was just 44 years old. I am
the second oldest of 4 kids. My
sister was the youngest and just
14 when my mother died. She was
a bubbling kid, always happy. My
mother’s death broke her heart
among many. So here I am, 21
years old raising a 14 year old
kid who was angry at the world
because mom died. My sister
became rebellious and even my
grandmother couldn't help with
her behavior. She was into
keeping up mess amongst us
siblings, always starting
something. So my fiancé at the
time & I purchased our first
house with the thought that I
would keep my family together.
That was not to be as this
brought on nothing but more
grief and stress. When my sister
turned 16 she wanted a big sweet
16 party. I gave her the party
and bought the BMW that she
wanted as her birthday gift.
Shortly after, she had a car
accident on the highway. Thank
God she was ok. This experience
was the beginning of change for
her and she demanded that we go
to church with our grandmother.
So we did. During this time I
am trying to be all things to
everyone. I began to pull away
from family, friends and
everything I loved. Depression
had begun to set in. We went to
church and we all got saved and
that is where I met my spiritual
father Pastor Derek L. Calhoun.
We got my sister into counseling
which seemed to help as she was
still having issues. Meanwhile,
I am feeling depressed eating
everything that I could find
which was very unhealthy. I put
on 75 pounds in the span of 6
years. I would mostly stay home,
do nothing, didn't want to talk
much to anyone.
When I found God that is when I realized that there is so much more
to life & that God would not put
more on me than I could bear. I
realized that I was so busy
trying to make sure that my
sister was ok that I was not OK.
I made a promise to myself that
I would get it together. I
joined a gym & hired a
nutritionist, I was on my way. I
started to walk 6 or 7 miles a
day, or going to the gym at 5:00
AM for my workout. This healthy
private time allowed me to heal,
and get myself together. Now I
understand that God has so much
more in store for me. I have
lost the 75 pounds & still
workout to maintain and spend
some proper time for “Me”.
My sister has matured into a smart young lady with 2 college
degrees and is working on a 6
year forensics degree. She has
forgiven herself for the grief
that she put on our family. I
have forgiven her as well,
because I understand that she
was so young she could not
fathom what life was all about
at the time. “To God Be the
Glory”. There is help for
depression, God was my answer.