Not Once Did His Promises Fail

After leaving work one Friday evening on October 7, 2011, a holiday weekend, Marvella's life was soon to be upended by a near fatal brain aneurysm that would eventually change her life forever. The narrative begins in a church, then to hospitalization, rehabilitation center and finally home. Up until returning home from rehabilitation, she had no clue about what had transpired. Life after rehabilitation was extremely challenging for her and weighed heavily on her mental, physical and social well-being.

This book Not Once Did His Promises Fail was conceived due to the overwhelming encouragement from family, friends and acquaintances, who believed that Marvella had a story to share. A narrative that is deemed a miracle in everyone's eyes, medical professionals and the ordinary person. She wanted to encourage her readers that facing challenges, they were not alone. And giving them solace and hope to see that with much resiliency they can overcome adversity.

The story is centered on adversity, love, trust, faith and total dependency on God through the mediums of personal prayer, communal prayer, scriptures and biblical characters. Included also is having a strong supportive base which include family, friends and a community of faith. The read also gives an insight into Marvella's losses-mobility, co-ordination, balancing, hearing, speech, memory, health coverage, therapy, employment, career and remuneration. She was also forced into retirement due to ongoing medical issues, battled Vertigo, Tinnitus, faced despair, discouragement and just hanging over the edge to plunge deep into the abyss of depression. Disappointment is real! Despair is real! Depression is real! But God through His love and mercy keep showing up in miraculous ways making the impossible possible.

Today, Marvella continues to live with the long term effects, but she continues by the grace of God to trust and be dependent on Him, never asking Why? But thanking Him for His goodness and love for her. Marvella L. Murray, graduated from the City University of New York, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Special Education (magna cum laude) 1995, concentration on the Emotionally Disturbed. In 2000, she pursued a Master of Science in Special Education, focusing on Learning Disability.

After completing her studies, Marvella worked in the New York Public School System for several years, as a Resource Room/Special Education Teacher Support Provider, serving the Learning Disabled, Early Intervention and At-Risk populations and as the liaison between the school and the School District Office. However, due to a cerebral aneurysm, Marvella retired from teaching on June 14, 2013.


Presently, from her home Marvella spends her time sharing Jesus through various mediums and finding creative ways to make what seems impossible, possible for herself and others. Using her sphere of influence, she has worked on several successful projects, two of which are Shoes for Men and Glasses for Jesus.


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