Surviving the Shark Attack: Tiffany Johnson’s Miraculous Story

Wendy Bundy talks with Tiffany Johnson, who survived a shark attack in the Bahamas—and shares how, even in the darkest moments, she saw God’s miraculous power and felt His presence every step of the way.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
So on this episode of Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises,
Wendy Bundy, who works here atJoy FM and so beautifully does
what is called communitymatters, was able to sit down
with Tiffany Johnson, whosuffered a shark attack while
she was on vacation in theBahamas.
But what the devil meant tokill, steal, and destroy, God

(00:20):
has taken and shown his glory,his miracles, his hope, peace,
and love.
And that has birthed a testimonythat has been shared across the
nation and the world of thepower of God and what it means
to be an overcomer throughChrist.
So Wendy was able to sit downwith Tiffany and talk about and
through her story and how Godwalked her through one of the

(00:43):
most difficult times of herlife.
Here's that interview now.

SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
Hi, this is Wendy, your host for Community Matters
here on Joy FM, and today we'regoing to be sharing a story with
you about survival, strength,and service.
So I have here with me todayMiss Tiffany Johnson, and she is
here to talk to us about herministry, Be an Overcomer, and
how the ministry has helpedothers become stronger in their
faith.
I want to thank you so much forbeing here today.

(01:08):
I am looking forward to hearingyou tell us about your story.
I've already heard it once, butI'm super excited to hear it
again.
Absolutely.
Well, I'm excited to be here.
So listeners, I just wanted tolet you know that I met Miss
Tiffany at our women'sconference at our church, and
she was just such a powerfulspeaker and an inspiration to me
personally.
I knew that I had to have her oncommunity matters to tell us all

(01:30):
about her ministry because hergoal aligns with mine, and that
is we want to inspire others andwe want to help others keep our
eyes on Jesus no matter what thesituation.
I heard you that day, my eyeswere just focused on you, my
ears were focused on you.
I'ma just stand here for onceand not say a word, which is
really hard for me to do, andjust let you share your story

(01:51):
about how God got you througheverything.

SPEAKER_02 (01:52):
Amen.
Well, thank you for theopportunity to be a blessing and
to share it again.
I just celebrated eight years ofhaving a second chance.
So eight years ago on June 2nd,my husband and I were on
vacation, just the two of uswere very intentional about
getting away with just us twoamidst raising kids.

(02:13):
So we've been doing that yearafter year, and that trip eight
years ago was just that.
The last stop, we were on acruise, so that last stop was
Nassau, Bahamas.
We got off the boat, nohesitation, knew right away we
needed to snorkel because wehadn't done it this vacation
yet.
We love snorkeling and we knewBahamas is good for snorkeling.
We had been snorkeling therebefore.

(02:33):
So when we got off the boat, wejust went and found the local,
you know, vendors to barter forthe good deal.
I love a good deal.
I don't know about you guys, butI heard that's what you do on
cruises.

SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
You barter for good deals.

SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
It is amazing because we can't do that here in
the US.
So I take every opportunity tofind a good deal.
So we went and chatted with thelocals, found a good package
where we could do parasailingand snorkeling.
We did the parasailing first,amazing.
It was an incredible experience,and I'm glad we did that first
because I got to experience it.
So then we went out to thesnorkel site after that, and we

(03:06):
were on a really small boat.
There was only two other peoplewith us, and then the captain.
So four total plus the captain.
We went out to the snorkel site.
It was about five toseven-minute boat ride from
Paradise Island, which is kindof the main hub of the Nassau
tourism.
So laid anchor there, thecaptain kind of gestured to the
waters like this entire area isfull of reef.

(03:27):
And my husband and I wereexcited because we were ready.
You know, we hadn't snorkeledyet, so we were ready.
Jump in, no hesitation.
We start pointing things out toeach other.
And it's incredible because whenyou look at the ocean through
that vantage point, it's likeyou're in a whole different
world.
You know, you get to see thefish interact, the different
species, the colors, the coral,how they move in between.

(03:50):
It's just amazing.
It's like watching God'screation in action.
You know, it's different than anaquarium because you're watching
them in their natural setting.
So we're just enjoying that,pointing things out.
And it was a good 20 minutes orso.
And I remember I kind of gotlost in the world just watching
everything.
And all of a sudden I noticed myhusband was swimming above the
water, headed back to the boat.

(04:11):
You know, I'm like, well, what'sgoing on?
So I popped my head up.
I'm like, hey, is everythingokay?
And I knew he had been dealingwith an upset stomach because
that boat ride out was prettychoppy and he doesn't deal with
good, you know, if it's not goodand huge, if it's a small boat
and he feels those waves, he'she can be a mess.
Already a little seasick.
Yes.
So I already knew that, but whenI yelled out to him, he he

(04:31):
turned to me and he was like,Yeah, I gotta go back to the
boat.
It's not getting any better.
And I knew what that meantbecause he had done that the
year before.
Right.
So I'm like, okay, you go dothat, take care of you.
I'm gonna stay out here becauseit had only been 20 minutes.
Right.
You know, so that wasn't longenough.
So I just put my face back underthe water and just began to
enjoy God's creation again.
We figured it had only been justa couple of minutes, 10 minutes

(04:54):
at most, from the time that myhusband left me to the time I
felt like all of a sudden I hadslammed into something.
Now it should have been a redflag because I wasn't around
anything.
Everything that I was around wasbelow me, but there was no sense
of fear or urgency.
The fish were still interactingthe very same way.
It's not like all of a suddenthey scattered and went

(05:15):
everywhere, you know, and try tohide.
They were all still interactingand looking normal.
And so when I felt like Islammed into something, there
was no cause for concern.
So I was so nonchalant.
I kind of turned to my right tosee what I had bumped into, and
I was face to face with theshark.
And he had my whole arm in hismouth.
That's the bump I felt was himlatching on.

(05:36):
I have a scar.
It's probably what, maybe three,four inches from the top of my
shoulder of where he first bitme.
So if you can think, you know,we are face to face.
And of course, fear just takesover.
Yeah.
My mind just starts reeling ofall of the memories of my life.
Like it's like little movieclips start playing of these

(05:58):
memories.
I s I remember my kids playingin the backyard with my husband,
like pieces of my life wereflashing before my eyes.
And time stood still, but yet itfelt so warped at the same time.
It was just like I was caught inthis weird conundrum.
And I felt a releasing, like mybody felt, I felt like I was
giving up.

(06:19):
Like this was it.
But then I felt the strength ofthe Lord come out from inside of
me and give me the will to fightback.
And I remember pushing thosethoughts aside.
And the new thought that formedwas, no, you will not take my
life.
I'm not gonna die here.
At that, I yanked and I got someof my arm out, but that's when

(06:39):
he bit down and began to fightand thrash, you know.
And I'm just screaming throughmy snorkel tube.
But y'all know snorkel tubes,you know, they're in your mouth,
so you can't really utter words.
So it's just like you know,sound.
Nothing that would alertanybody.
And in fact, I found out laterthat the boat, everybody on the
boat, was distracted because myhusband had gotten sick on the

(07:02):
boat.
The captain's washing that up.
My husband's in the water, youknow, cleaning himself off.
The two that were with us weretrying to get out of the way.
So there was all thisdistraction happening.
Nobody knew that I was fightingfor my life just a few hundred
feet away.

SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
So you literally was between you, a shark, and God.

SPEAKER_02 (07:19):
Yes, yes.
And I remember, you know, tryingto get free from him, but he had
me pinned.
Yeah, you know, so I'mscreaming, yanking, and at one
of the points, you know, I'myanking and my arm kind of comes
flying out, his jaws open, and Iand I look and I am just stunned
because my arm is completelysevered.
It wasn't hanging there.
He had completely taken half ofmy arm.

(07:41):
It was just this mangled stump.
And I remember just in shock fora second, like, my my arm's
gone.
But I was still in the face ofthis thing, and God gave me the
presence of mind to keep moving.
You know, so I was already atthe surface of the water.
So all I had to do was pick myhead up and throw my snorkel
mask off.
And I screamed, help, help me,Jesus.

(08:01):
And I began to make my way backto the boat swimming.
I I lost my not my dominanthand.
So my non-dominant hand, I'musing that quickly, you know, to
get to the sh the boat.
But I remember taking a fewstrokes and I felt the voice of
the Lord say, Get your injuredarm out of the water.
And so I I raised my severed armout of the water, and it is

(08:24):
literally just shooting bloodeverywhere.
And that was the signal to theboat of what had happened.
So my husband, he said he wasgetting up out of the water, you
know, coming up the ladder,disoriented, nauseous.
You know, he had just thrown upthree times in a row.
Right, not feeling good.
You know how that feels.
And he said that's when he heardmy frantic cry, and he turned,

(08:46):
and that's the sight he saw wasme swimming back with my arms
severed, spewing bloodeverywhere.
And I remember locking eyes withhim, and the terror I saw is
like nothing I will ever forget.
It was just sheer terror.
And he screamed out, baby, andhe jumps into the water.
And, you know, I'm just swimmingas quickly as I can, thinking

(09:07):
that shark is right behind me.
He's gonna grab my leg, grab myside, grab my other arm, you
know, and I'm just focused onthe boat, like God get me to
that boat.
And I'm praying in the HolySpirit.
Like I I literally had no otherwords.
It was just pouring out of me.
And I'm just quickly trying toget to the boat.
And I remember my husband kindof met me in the water.

(09:29):
We were only just a few feet offfrom the boat at that point.
So I made it most of the way,and he kind of just guided me
that last few feet.
The captain threw out a rope andI'm using it quickly to get in.
And I could barely grab theladder of the boat, and my
husband just kind of launches mefrom underneath, you know, to
get me out of the water asquickly as possible.
And the captain kind of grabbedmy left arm and I just like hit

(09:50):
the boat seat.
And the minute I hit that boat,oh, the peace of the Lord just
surrounded me like a cloud.
Like I could feel his presence.
It was thick and tangible.
Like it makes me want to weepnow, thinking about his presence
so strong.
And I could feel his peace.
And I I looked at my husband andI was urgent, but I wasn't

(10:12):
losing it.
I wasn't desperate.
Like I just knew the urgency ofthe situation, and I told him,
get me something to stop thebleeding.
He's like frantic, his eyes arelike golf balls.
You know, he is not feeling thepeace that I'm feeling, right?
He's like, How are you so calm?
Yes.
And we when we've recalled it toeach other after the fact, he's
like, I I could see it on you,but I was just a mess.

(10:34):
Like he's thinking, you know,what do we, what do we have to
stop the bleeding?
And I I look at him, I'm like,hey, the beach towel that the
cruise line gives us, you know,these big bulky beach towels,
and I saw it sitting out of ourbag, you know, and so I'm like,
go grab that beach towel.
Because we find out there's notourniquet.
Wow.
There's no med kit.
So, you know, he grabs thisbeach towel and kind of throws
it and it just lands on my arm.
And I'm like, no, no, no, you'vegot to tie it up.

(10:56):
He's he's clueless, just justfor out of it, really.

SPEAKER_01 (10:59):
Yeah, he's trying to figure out what he's probably
trying to figure out whathappened.
Yes.
Like in his mind, he's like, Igotta take care of her.
What happened in this wholething?

SPEAKER_02 (11:06):
Yes, yes.
Like he's just completely out ofit.
And so I walk him through how totourniquet my arm, if you will,
with this bulky beach top.
Did you even know how to do thatfrom the beginning?
Well, I was a phlebotomist backin my college days.
And so I dealt with tourniquetsnot in this way.
I never really had officialfirst aid training of any sort,

(11:27):
but I knew how a tourniquetworked and what it was used for,
and that's about it.
But the but this towel is not atourniquet at all, you know.
And so I remember telling myhusband multiple times, you've
got to get it tighter.
Like, do it as tight as youpossibly can.
You're not gonna hurt me.
Because I could feel the bloodlike gushing down my arm, even
after he had it like cinched, soto speak.

(11:48):
And so he got to the point wherehe was shaking, trying to keep
that thing so tight.
And I had my arm elevated up,and I told him, keep my arm
elevated.
I'm gonna lay my head on yourlap.
And I just remember closing myeyes because honestly, the
entire boat was my blood.
It was everywhere, and it lookedlike a murder scene.
So I just had to close my eyesand focus on Jesus, you know.

(12:12):
And the captain had pulled upthe anchor in the midst of this
and was like wheeling the boataround as quick as possible.
And like I said, we were only afive to seven-minute boat ride
from Paradise Island.
So we just, you know, jetted tothat island, basically beached
the boat, were yelling out forhelp.
It would everybody was verydisoriented on land.
They were so confused.

(12:32):
You know, we were using allthese words like shark attack,
911, ambulance, hospital, youknow, anything to explain we
need something urgently.
And finally, somebody yelledback from the shore and they
said, You're gonna have to takeher to the main port.
There's no hospital on Nassau,because Nassau is where all the
touristy stuff is, you know,it's where the resort is, not
where the locals live.
They live at the main port.

(12:54):
And so we had to back the boatout and go 20 minutes around.
I bet that was the longest 20minutes of your life.
Yes.
I mean, I remember when webacked up, I had this sinking
feeling.
Like, I know, you know, I hadalready made it that, you know,
let's say three, four minutes.
Right.
And I knew, you know, if youlike cut yourself in the wrong
area, you could bleed out in twoand a half minutes.

(13:16):
Oh, most definitely, yes.
And so that knowledge of, youknow, just basic medical
knowledge is like reelingthrough my head, and I'm
thinking, I don't I don't knowhow this is gonna work.
You know?
And so I literally startedpraying some audacious prayers,
you know, God would you sustainme.
And I remember in praying, Iremember praying specific

(13:38):
things.
It was as if he took over mytongue and was praying through
me.
And I remember praying for mykids at the time.
My kids were young.
I had a five-year-old, athree-year-old, and a
one-year-old.
And I remember just praying overtheir minds, God, help them to
understand, protect their minds,God.
You know, I prayed over myhusband that he would have the

(14:00):
wisdom to work through what wasneeded to make the right
decisions medically.
Right.
You know, I was usually thelogistical one.
So, you know, I'm praying thiswisdom over him.
I prayed over the doctors thatthey would have supernatural
wisdom to know how to take careof my arm, that God would use
them.
And then I remember praying,God, would you use this?
Don't make this be in vain.

(14:21):
And so every time I get to shareabout this story, I think about
that prayer in that boat justmoments after it happened
because I see him using it.
And it has been a journey, buthe has used every bit of it.
And it is amazing to see thatprayer being answered now.

SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
That was the first thing that blew my mind
listening to you.
And when you got to that point,I'm like, she's already thinking
about how this is going to beused, and I'd be sitting there
thinking, how am I gonna survivethe 20 minutes?
Oh my goodness, I'm gonna haveto go through this and all the
pain and this and and I would Iwould not even be thinking that
whatever.

(15:00):
And that right there just let meknow that God was truly with you
through that whole entire thing,and then to help you stay strong
in that moment of thinking aheadand how he can use this is just
incredible to me because we getso lost in our circumstances and
so lost in what's going onaround us and and what's going

(15:20):
on to us that sometimes it'shard to pull our head up out of
that and say, Lord, you know,you said Lord help me right off
the bat.
You're you're swimming back tothe boat saying, Lord, help me.
You're not even saying, Hey,husband help me or boat people
help me.
You're already saying, Lord,help me.
Yeah.
And then knowing that you haveto go another 20 minutes and
you're still, you still havethat mindset, that is what

(15:42):
really touched my heart the mostwhen you said that.
It literally jerked my head upout of my circumstances.

SPEAKER_02 (15:49):
It it just proves that the Lord, He is with us
when we need Him, you know.
I know there's so many versesthat talk about that.
And I think we can point ourfinger to things in our life as
we recount, you know, ourcircumstances.
And this is one of thosecircumstances because in the
natural, I am not strong.

(16:09):
I I don't personally know how Iprayed those prayers.
I don't know how my mind wasthat clear to be so specific.
I didn't I don't have theforesight like that, you know.
But with the Lord, he is in us,you know, using those
circumstances.
And it says in his word thathe's he intercedes for us, you

(16:31):
know.
Exactly.
And so I feel like that is justproof right there.
Like, yeah, not nobody in thenatural is gonna be doing that,
you know.
But that is the perfect exampleof that, yes.
But the Lord, he intercedes, andI that's why I feel like the
Lord just took hold of my tongueand did it, you know, because I
am not that person, you know.
But thank goodness that he isfor us and that he is with us.

(16:53):
And I felt that wholeheartedly.
Even as we approached the port,you know, I'm still awake,
alert.
You know, we had that 20-minuteboat ride, but I still knew what
was going on.
I remember the captain having toyell out again because there was
nobody that radioed ahead to letthem know we were coming.
And so it was again a wholeordeal to get people's
attention.
And then I remember hearing thesounds of the ambulance finally

(17:16):
coming, you know, and I'm like,okay, we're we're almost there,
you know.
And just being able to then, youknow, get out of the boat.
They, you know, they get me onthe gurney, they're up into the
ambulance.
And I was so I had such apresence of mind that I was
hearing all the conversationsand even interjecting.
I always like to tell the storybecause my husband's like, this

(17:36):
just proves that it's you, youknow, you're just crazy with all
your details.
But we were I was sitting there,you know, they're they're
unwrapping the beach towel.
That's when I first felt pain.
So, you know, you if you do thecalculation, it had been at
least probably 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
I was gonna say, yeah.
You know, at least 30.

SPEAKER_02 (17:54):
30, we're probably pushing 40 minutes before they
start unwrapping that beachtowel to put a proper tourniquet
on it.
So I hadn't felt pain until thatpoint.
And when they started unwrappingthe beach towel, that's when
every ounce of my being justshook.
Like it was a pain that I can'teven really describe, other than
like it made me involuntaryscream out.

(18:16):
Like I it was radiating throughmy whole body.
And, you know, they're you know,they're trying to work on
getting it situated so that theycould put a proper tourniquet on
it because I was still bleeding.
And and I remember hearing theconversation right outside the
ambulance doors.
My husband's, you know, standingthere.
The ambulance driver's like,hey, we've got two hospitals we
can take her to.
We've got a private hospital ora public hospital.

(18:39):
Which one do you want to takeher to?
And my husband's like, just takeher to the closest one, you
know.
And I removed my oxygen mask andI said, make sure they take our
insurance.

SPEAKER_01 (18:47):
That was the funny.
I was we all laughed at thatbecause that would definitely be
something I would not bethinking about.

SPEAKER_02 (18:55):
My husband's like, of course, of course, you know,
you would say that in the midstof all this, but like my mom
brain doesn't turn off, youknow.
And so he just turns and islike, yeah, whatever she said,
you know?
And so it just goes to show youlike the Lord had taken hold of
me.
Like, I feel like 2 Timothy 1.7was really just coming alive in
me.

(19:15):
I was not operating in a spiritof fear, I was operating in
power, love, and I had a soundmind, you know, like so.
Here we are, you know, and weget to the emergency room.
They had taken me to the traumaunit.
They had the entire trauma unitlined up, waiting for me to come
in.
And every person's facialexpressions was jaw wide open in

(19:39):
shock watching me roll by.
And I was thinking, what do theydo they not know how to deal
with trauma?
Like what this shouldn't be asurprise.
Like it was definitely not theface of confidence.
You know, I I knew I was in mylife was in their hands, right?
You know, and so I'm just like,whoa, I it just stunned me, and
it was chaos in that room.

(20:01):
Like people were bumping intoeach other, they were arguing
over what to do.
It was as if they they reallydidn't know what to do, you
know.
They never experienced thatbefore.
I'm assuming I don't know.
I I just I know that they werenot equipped, they were
beautiful, amazing, kind people,but they just were not equipped,
not like we see here in the US.

(20:22):
Right.
And so it was quite a mess.
And I remember it got so chaoticat one point.
The supervisor of the staff whohad introduced herself to me
earlier had yelled out and said,You guys, settle down.
Do you see her?
She is calm.
You're gonna make her anxious.
And I remember thinking, like,how am I the one setting the
example?

(20:42):
Like, this is craziness, youknow?
And of course, fear tries tocreep in at that moment, you
know, because I'm seeing thischaos in front of me, but yet
I'm feeling his peace.
And so it was just this likewarring right there.
You know, I had a choice tomake, and the fear tried to leak
its way in.
And, you know, I'm I'm thinkingnow they don't know what they're

(21:04):
doing.
I'm gonna get out of the water,but now I'm gonna die on the
operation table, you know, likeand I'm the calm one in this
situation.
And I'm the one setting theexample.
Like it, it was not at all whatyou would picture, like a put
together, you know, emergencyroom staff, you know.
And so there was no confidencethere.
And I remember just starting tohave those thoughts, but it says

(21:26):
in 2 Corinthians to take thethought captive and make it
obedient to Christ.
And that's that's what I did inthat moment.
I like literally pushed thethought back.
And I'm like, God, I know you'rehere because I can feel you.
So I trust you.
I don't trust this because Idon't trust it all.

SPEAKER_01 (21:43):
This is gonna be hard to try.
Yes.
Yes, but I trust you.
I promise you.

SPEAKER_02 (21:46):
I trust you, and I know you you're here with me.
So I'm just gonna focus on you.
And that was what kind of got mein the right frame of mind to
really focus on Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 (21:59):
I'm gonna be honest, I'm at loss for words because I
can only imagine the chaos, andyou you're like, oh, I'm in a
hospital, everything's gonna begood, and it's like, wait, hold
on.
You're in the hospital, chaos isaround you, and you're the only
calm person.
Can you tell us what happenedfrom that point?

SPEAKER_02 (22:16):
Yeah, so at that point, they took me into a five
and a half hour surgery, and thedoctors did the best that they
could do.
In fact, those were their wordsto my husband when we came out
of surgery was, you know, we didwhat we can do, but her arm is
still in rough shape.
We had to put a drain in it, wecouldn't even fully close it
because it's so swollen.

(22:37):
And they said, You're gonna haveto take her to the US
immediately because we'rethere's only so much we can do
here, and we've done all we cando, you know.
Which I was thankful that theymade that call because had they
tried to do what they couldn'tdo, I would have probably lost
more of my arm.
And so they made the right call.
They made the right call.
Of course, that is not the newsyou want coming out of surgery,

(23:00):
you know, that my husbandreceives.

SPEAKER_01 (23:02):
But that goes to show you, like right there, it
literally just dawned on me thateven at the moment that you
weren't conscious, God was stillthere with you because he had
put it in their minds to say,hey, they didn't want to mess it
up any further.

SPEAKER_02 (23:17):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (23:17):
And then that you needed to go somewhere better.
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
And and remember, I prayed for the physicians to
give them wisdom, you know?
And so I that was pure wisdom.
Answered prayer.
It wasn't answered prayerbecause not a lot of doctors are
willing to say, sorry, I did thebest I could do, but this is
beyond my capabilities.
I mean, normally doctors don'twant to admit that, you know.
But that was exactly what he wassaying to my husband.

(23:43):
And I remember when my husbandwas telling me all of this, he
said that he had asked thedoctors in that moment about the
blood transfusion because he wasvery concerned.
Obviously, we're not in the US.
This isn't necessarily thirdworld, you know, but it's darn
close, you know.
And so we he was a bit concernedabout the blood, how much blood
I lost, you know, all of that,what what that would mean, you

(24:05):
know.
His his thoughts were just kindof reeling.
So he asked, you know, how muchblood did she lose?
And the doctor just stood therefor a second and he said, Mr.
Johnson, that's the part wecan't explain.
You see, she didn't lose enoughblood to require a blood
transfusion, so we didn't haveto give her any blood.
That's a God thing.
And my husband literally said hewas just he didn't have words.

(24:27):
And my husband is very, verytalkative, very, you know, like
he's a people person.
So for him to not have words ishuge.
And it was just, he was in uttershock because we had gone, I
mean, think about this what, 30minutes to a proper tourniquet,
you know, to get to actual help.
All I had was a beach towel tosustain me.
And we all know that beachtowels aren't made like

(24:50):
tourniquets, they're not rubber,they don't cinch very well, they
just soak up things, you know.
And so every medical person thatI've talked to that has any kind
of background in medical, theyall say, Tiffany, you don't
understand, like you should havedied on that boat.
You shouldn't have even made itto the hospital.
You might not have even you werelucky to make it even out of the
water.
Right.
Like the amount, I mean, theamount of blood that was gushing

(25:13):
out of my arm, he had severed itcompletely.
And so for me to go a 30-minuteboat ride with not a proper
tourniquet is insane.
But then, like, God took it astep further just to say, you
know, this cannot be explainedany other way.
Like, I am in this, you know.
It was like his littlesignature, you know, and he took
it a step further and sustainedme so much that I didn't even

(25:35):
require a blood transfusion.
Like, it it doesn't make sensein the natural.
And every person, even that thatown physician, just said, like,
we can't explain it.
She she's a miracle, you know.
And in in fact, that physician,that surgeon that performed my
surgery in the Bahamas, heactually came back into my room
the next day to talk with me.

(25:57):
He had told me all night he wasthinking about me.
Like he just he could not shakethe fact that something was
different.
And he actually called me anangel.
He's like, I I think you mightbe an angel.
I'm like, no, what you'reexperiencing is Jesus, you know,
and I got to like tell him aboutthe Lord in the midst of that.
Like he really thought likesomething's something, and he

(26:18):
said, I even told my wife, like,something's different about her.
Like something, you know, hejust couldn't shake it.
And it that to me is just suchan amazing confirmation of what
the Lord can do in the midst ofthings.
Like, you know, I didn't chooseanything, I'm just there, you
know, doing the going throughthe motions, you know, relying
on Jesus, of course, but likeI'm not anything special.

(26:40):
But the Lord's presence was sothick and tangible that he he
didn't know how to put it intowords, but he could recognize
it.
And I mean, isn't that whatGod's called us to be?
Like we're we're supposed to besaturated with him, you know?
And so it's just it brings me tomy knees in just adoration of
who he is because I am soundeserving of that.

(27:01):
But to know that he used me inthat way is just an honor.
And so, you know, we we werefaced with just a crazy decision
after we had gotten out of thesurgery.
We realized, you know, there'sno way for me to get back to the
US immediately.
We were without our passportsbecause we cruised in, and you

(27:21):
don't have to cruise with apassport, you know, you can
cruise with a birth certificateand driver's license.
My passport had expired, so Ijust I had done that, and my
husband never had a passport, sohe's, you know, he's that's all
he has.
And so when that cruise leftthat evening, yeah, we were
stuck there.
You had a lot of obstacles justright off the bat.
Yes.
And it was quite an ordeal tofacilitate this next steps

(27:44):
because we had found out that onthe day the shark attack
happened, it was on a Friday,that was a national holiday for
the Bahamas.
So the US Embassy was closed,the customs was closed, and so
and they're always closed overthe weekend, and then they were
closed for an extended holidayon Monday.
And so I remember the Ministryof Tourism is a department that
they have in in Nassau.

(28:05):
The representative had come tothe hospital midday on Saturday
and was like, listen, we havetried everything, but there's no
way that you're gonna get out ofhere until Tuesday.
Oh, and you know, this isSaturday.
And I remember thinking, I don'tknow if I'm gonna last until
Tuesday, you know, because I wasin so much pain.
They could only give memorphine, which is a great

(28:27):
option for about an hour.
Right.
Then it wears off and there wasnothing in between.
And so I was in pain beyondrecognition, like just it was
awful.
And I remember telling myhusband when she left, I'm like,
that is not good enough.
I cannot go until Tuesday.
So then we began to just try tofigure out what we can do to

(28:49):
help try to facilitate thiswhere we could get out of here
sooner.
And my pastor had called myhusband to check in.
We'd give him this update.
We're like, our our first andforemost prayer request is to
get me back to the US promptly.
They're telling me I can't getback until Tuesday.
And you know, my pastor's like,well, that's not good enough.
I'm like, that's exactly what Isaid, you know?
So he's like, we will come in anagreement and be praying that

(29:10):
the Lord would direct the paththat's needed, you know.
Right.
And so he hung up and I find outlater he has a conversation with
his wife, and he's like, Don'twe know somebody that used to
like charter planes, you know,that could maybe they could
help?
So gets a hold of that person,and that person, all their
pilots had timed out for theday.
You know, he's like, But I canput you in touch with the

(29:32):
MedVAC, which is next door, thehangar next door.
Potentially they, you know, theycould get involved, you know.
And so he puts them in touchwith that.
We start down that train.
We find out, you know, themedvac person, she has a contact
in Nassau because that Nassauguy has a fiance that lives in
Charlotte.
Oh, and he comes up frequentlyto visit his fiance and had made

(29:53):
connections with the Medvacpeople in Charlotte just two
months before this happened.
And so she knows.
Knows exactly who to call.
And so she gets a hold of Nico.
Nico has already been working onit, but kind of just like is at
a loss, you know, just keepshitting Roebok after Robach.
So the two of them start workingtogether, and it's like God
starts opening up the doors, themountains get moved.

(30:16):
They're able to get me on amedvac flight that goes from
Nassau straight to Charlotte,which I heard from Nico that
that is unheard of.
Like in the 15 years in thisbusiness, he had never seen a
medvac flight go anywhere but toMiami because it has to go to
the closest port of entry.
If it's truly a medvac, youknow, that needs a situation

(30:38):
that would require a medvac.
And so he's like, I don't knowwho did what to authorize for
you to go all the way toCharlotte.
But I'm like, God did it.
Of course he did, because I waspraying, get me home.
Not get me to Miami, you know.
Like, what am I gonna do inMiami?
You know, how am I still gonnahave to go home?
I would still have to be home,you know?
And so the Lord was so intricatein the details.
And in all of this craziness oftrying to figure this out, we

(31:01):
come across the fact that wecan't get this pre-approved
through the insurance.
And so Nico tells us, listen,we're talking about a$37,000
flight.
I just want to make sure thatyou guys are prepared.
Like if they come back and denyit, is that gonna be okay?
And my husband's like, I'm notgonna put a price tag on getting
her back, like we'll figure thatout on the back end, you know.
Okay, that's something if God'sgonna take care of this, he's
gonna take care of it.
He's gonna take care of it, youknow, and he wasn't even worried

(31:23):
about it.
Of course,$37,000 is notsomething we just have laying
around, but you know, he was notworried about it in the moment.
And Nico ended up calling back alittle while later, and he said,
Okay, we've got all thepoliceman play, and Mr.
Johnson, I just want you to knowthat I'm gonna foot the bill for
Charlotte to come down and pickyou up.
We'll try to submit it toinsurance, but if they come back

(31:45):
and deny it, you will not owe mea penny.
Wow.
And my husband, like, hecouldn't even he just dropped to
his knees.
He's weeping.
And of course, I'm in the bed,like only hearing one side of
the conversation because he's onthe phone and I'm like, what is
happening?
You know, why are you crying?
And he gets the gets off thephone and he's like, they're
paying for us to get back.
I'm like, who?
And he's like, this guy, Nico.
I'm like, who's Nico?

(32:06):
We hadn't even met him.
Don't even know who he is.
He was willing to put his hislivelihood out there to support
us like close family, and wehadn't even met him.
It was amazing how the Lord hadput all these pieces into play.
And I got back in Charlotte 6a.m.
Sunday morning when they told meit's impossible, you can't get

(32:28):
back till Tuesday.
I was actually discharged fromCharlotte's hospital on Tuesday.

SPEAKER_01 (32:33):
Really?
So you get back on Sunday at sixo'clock in the morning, and then
you get discharged fromCharlotte Hospital on that
Tuesday that you were supposedto leave NASA on.
Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 (32:44):
Even in that, I was discharged without any
antibiotics.
I had never fought infection, sothey're like, You're good.
And that was another hugemiracle that my prosthetist had
asked, How much of our arm arewe gonna lose because of
infection?
He just assumed because of thenature of everything and all of
his experience with traumaticloss like this, it you always
fight infection.
So he asked that question, andmy doctors are like, No, no, she

(33:05):
she never fought infection.

SPEAKER_01 (33:06):
So you never had infection, not one time.

SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
No, never.
And that's another piece to themiracle that I feel like the
Lord just another signature thathe put on there.
Like there's no explanation buthim.

SPEAKER_01 (33:19):
Any animal attack, any bite, a human bite, yeah, an
infection from.

SPEAKER_02 (33:25):
And think about the towel, it was touching the
innermost part of me, this beachtowel, you know, that was laying
on a boat.
Yes.
And I mean, not to mention theNassau hospital, you know, it
was not to the standards that weare used to.
So even that, there were so manyopportunities for me to fight
infection, but that was one onething the Lord sustained me in

(33:45):
again.
And so when I was discharged onTuesday, it was like, well,
you're good, you just gottaheal.
So then I got home, and that'swhen the real journey began.
You know, it was like from thebefore that, it's this whirlwind
of chaos and trying to figureout all the details to get me
home.
And you know, like once I washome, it was like, oh, now what?

(34:07):
I still have three young kidsthat still need me as their mom.
I'm healing, going through thesepain surges that are intense and
they would come out of nowhere.
I'd be just walking, and all ofa sudden it would bring me to my
knees, and I would just have togrit my teeth and just scream
for like, you know, a fewseconds to get through that

(34:27):
surge.
It was crazy.
And I was overwhelmedemotionally, mentally, trying to
figure out like how do I dolife?
You know, I had lost my dominantarm.
So not only am I trying tofigure out things one-handed,
but now I'm almost like fightingagainst myself because I'm
trying to do it left-handed andmy brain isn't wired that way.
You know, so everything seemedso hard.

(34:49):
Even just putting toothpaste ona toothbrush, you know, my
toothbrush would flip over and Ihit the sink when I was trying
to put it on there.
And, you know, I couldn't do myhair, I couldn't tie my shoes, I
couldn't, I felt so helpless.
I couldn't be alone with mychildren because my youngest was
in diapers.
I couldn't change diapers.
I couldn't change a diaper,yeah.
I, you know, I was in so muchpain still, I couldn't use my
arm like I can now just to evenput support on it.

(35:11):
I couldn't put any weight on it,you know.
So I was truly one-handed andtrying to figure out life with
the wrong hand, you know?
Right.
Yeah.
So it was, it was overwhelmingto say the least in every way.
And I would get to points whereI would feel all that rush of
like anxiety and just likefeeling helpless.
And I would just go in my roomand I would shut the door and

(35:32):
I'd put on some worship musicand I would get my Bible out and
I would just start reading theword because I knew I didn't
know how to do this, but I knewwhere the answers were and I
knew what I needed.
Reading about the Lord helpedgive me that confidence.
Like, God knows who he is, andhe knows who I am, and he knew
this this was all gonna happen.
So he's equipped me, you know,and it's like you always have to

(35:54):
give yourself a pep talk throughthe word, you know?
Yes.
And that's what I would do inthose moments every time was
just I would lean in to God'sword and really hone in on what
he says and the truth of hisword.
And so, and there was always,you know, he would always take
me to the scriptures exactlywhat I needed, you know, because
that's what he does.
I remember in those moments, itwas like I understood clearly, I

(36:17):
had a choice every single dayand every moment in those
overwhelming anxiousness when Ifelt like I couldn't do, I had a
choice.
I could either focus on all ofthat and let it overwhelm me and
take me down this road ofdepression and anxiety and PTSD,
which is very real.
And even for people that areChristians, there are there's

(36:38):
struggles in those because it isit is a real struggle every day.
You know, I knew I could go andentertain these thoughts, or I
could choose joy, I couldentertain the thoughts of
depression, or I could choosepeace, I could entertain the
thoughts of helplessness, or Icould choose the hope that I

(36:58):
have in Jesus.
It's like those were momentsthat I had to choose who God
was.
And in choosing that, it helpedme see that like I do have a
choice.
Like I don't have to respondwith depression or anxiety or
stress.
Like, yes, I'm gonna feel thoseemotions, but I don't have to
live there.
And that re- that revelationreally changed everything for

(37:22):
me.
Because when I got a hold ofthat truth, half the battle is
our minds and how we choose tocontinue on, you know?
And and it's not to say thatpeople that struggle with
depression or or anxiety or PTSCthat they're not, you know,
choosing the Lord.
Because the Lord's got differentjourneys for us all.
But what I'm trying to say is wedon't have to live in there.

(37:43):
We don't have to live in thosemoments because he's got
something better for us.
That's the promise of his word.
And so if we continue to remindourselves that God's promises
are true and that he has thosepieces in play for us, when we
start choosing joy instead ofthe thought of depression, every
time it's like it kicks theenemy in the face.
Yes, and it gets easier andeasier.

(38:06):
And pretty soon those thoughtsof depression don't even come
anymore because we've chosen joyevery single time.
So it's just it's a practicethat we have to get involved
with.
And that's what I was learningin this journey.
And so the Lord really has usedthat to help me overcome, but
then also to share it withothers, mean like, hey, this is
the secret sauce, you know, likeit's not even that hard.

(38:28):
Like it seems so simple, butGod's word is just it's there.
Like we just have to open hisword.
Yes, and even if you're out andabout and you don't have your
Bible with you, like we we haveBible apps on our phone, like
Google.
We're looking at our phones allthe time.
Yes, and we have theaccessibility, it's whether or
not we want to put it intopractice.

SPEAKER_01 (38:48):
I could listen to you all day and I can hear you
tell this again, and when I editthis, I'm gonna be like in the
same emotions, but it's it thattakes me back to one, all the
pep talks that you gave yourselfjust made the devil mad.
Yeah, just it just knocked himout of the way.
But it also takes me back tothat moment when you were in the
hospital in that emergency roomand you took your thoughts

(39:11):
captive.
Yes.
We have the power and theauthority in us given to us by
God to take those thoughtscaptive.
Are we perfect at it?
No, no, no.
Do we have moments that we slipevery day, I'm sure?
And that's okay as long as wejust grab it back again.
Yep, yep.
Brush your knees off and getkeep going, keep going.

(39:32):
Keep going.
I had a friend of mine who toldme I was going through some
stuff and not nearly as astraumatic as yours, but
everybody goes through stuff.
Absolutely.
And the one thing that I alwaysbring my mind to, he said, Don't
let the devil steal your joy.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And that when he can do that,he's he's got you just about.

(39:54):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (39:55):
Yep.
And it's that shift inperspective, right?
And so that's what I alwaysshare about.
And every time that I get toshare it, I always make sure
that I talk about that piecebecause it is crucial as
Christians for us to understandthe power that we do have in
Jesus.
Like He's given us thatauthority, He's given us the
tools.

(40:15):
It's just up to us to put theminto practice.
And I've heard pastors before belike, you know, doesn't it make
you wonder why getting intoGod's word seems so hard?
You know, why why is that sohard for us?
Why do we have to fightourselves sometimes to make time
for him?
Or to be like, oh, I just don'tfeel like it.
Even though we know even thoughwe know instinctively that's

(40:37):
what we need, we know it, butyet it's just like so hard.
And the answer is it's becauseSatan doesn't want you to know
God's word.
He doesn't want you to beequipped, he doesn't want you to
figure these pieces out becauseif you do, then you cannot be
stopped.
And so his disarming is to haveyou just kind of forget about

(40:58):
God's word, try to do it in yourown strength, and you're gonna
fail because you aren't God andyou can't, you know, work these
things out in your own strength.
And so he's easily disarms usbecause we're not willing to
just do exactly what we know weshould do.
And so, and I'm speaking, I'mpreaching to the choir.
I go through moments where I'vegotta tell myself again, and I

(41:19):
still to this day have to tellmyself, Tiffany, get in his
words.
I'm not great at it on a dailypractice.
I try, but there are times whenI make excuses or the day goes
on and and by and then all of asudden I'm in bed and I'm like,
shoot.
But so I'm just as guilty, butI'm just I'm saying it for my
own self, even for if it's notfor anybody else.
We've gotta understand the powerthat we have.

(41:40):
And I think now more than ever,God is equipping his people to
stand for righteousness and tobe that light.
And if we don't know his word,we really aren't gonna be
standing on much of anything.
You know, we're gonna bestanding on yes, and we're gonna
be standing on a pastor's sermonthat's not gonna get you
through.
No.
Like you've got to know his wordinside and out, and that's what

(42:02):
will propel you to be effectivefor his kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 (42:05):
People would always say when you start your day, do
you start it off with God'sword, or do you just get up out
of the bed, or you just pick upyour phone and look at what
happened at Facebook last night?
And I would pick up my phone andbe like, What time is it?
But I started before I wouldeven get out of bed, I would go
to the the Bible app that I haveon my phone and at least, if
anything, read the verse of theday.
Yeah, yep.
And I don't have my glasses on,but it's funny how I still see

(42:27):
it.
Yeah.
I can still read it.
Yeah.
That has helped me in so manyways.

SPEAKER_02 (42:32):
Yeah, it's just simple things that we can do.
And once we start utilizingthose tools, I'm telling you,
you're gonna see a difference.
You may not see a difference inyour circumstance, right?
Because in my case, I'm still anamputee.
I still am missing my arm.
I'm still navigating life withone arm.
That situation hasn't changed,but what has is my perspective,

(42:53):
and that's the piece that we getto control.
So we gotta use the tools thatGod's given us.

SPEAKER_01 (42:59):
And He has definitely given you tools,
given you perspective.
I am learning things through youand from you.
I can't even think about wordsright now because I'm just like
learning so much.
You had so much that happened toyou just instantly at one time,
just like bam, bam, bam, thingafter thing after, and God was
with you and you recognize that,and yet through the other side

(43:21):
of the worst part of it, and youstill realize you haven't let
him go.
You still need him, he's stillgetting you through, he's still
getting you through life.
You may have other issues, youhave issues probably.
I'm sure now that's popped up orcome up that you still are
having to go through and dealwith, you're still keeping that
perspective, keeping your eyeand keeping your focus on God.

SPEAKER_02 (43:41):
Yes, yes.
You know, we're gonna facechallenges in our life.
That's what John talked aboutwhen he said, In this world, you
will you will have trouble.
Like he promised it, right?
But everybody has their own typeof trouble.
Yes, but the second part of thatverse is the key, right?
But take heart, for I haveovercome the world.
That's what Jesus said.

(44:01):
And if he's overcome the world,and greater is he that's in us,
then guess what?
We can overcome too.

SPEAKER_01 (44:09):
So that verse, take your thought captive.
Yes.
How are you now, and how arethings going for you and your
family?

SPEAKER_02 (44:16):
We've pretty much established what the new normal
looks like.
You know, that was kind of ourmantra at the very beginning.
Um, I remember telling myhusband, you know, how
overwhelmed I felt.
And one of the things he saidback to me was, we're just gonna
establish what our new normalis.
And that was pre-COVID, andCOVID stole that phrase.
I will just say I should havetrademarked it because it was

(44:38):
mine.
But that's honestly what we did.
We had to establish what the newnormal looked like, and that has
been a challenge in some ways,and in other ways, so beautiful.
It's brought my husband and Ivery close.
You know, he is a rock star,honestly.
He already helped around thehouse and such, but he's taken
it to another level becausethere's things that I either
can't do or it takes me so longto do them that it's

(45:02):
frustrating, and he just takesthat angst out, you know, and
just does it and with nocomplaints, you know, he's just
he's been my rock, honestly.
I I'm like tearing up thinkinghow God made him for me and for
these moments, you know.
We should have had him on heretoday.
He doesn't get interviewedenough, honestly.
Maybe next week.
Part four.

(45:23):
But um honestly, he's he'samazing.
And so just he had to learn alot as a dad with two girls that
I couldn't do their hairanymore, you know.
So even those practical piecesthat you kind of don't think
about, you know, you're facedwith that when you're like the
everyday routines of things whenthey're young, like they are,

(45:43):
they were now they're gettingolder, but like they were, they
can't do their own hair, youknow?
And so just even uh trying toexplain how to do a ponytail.
Have you ever tried to do thatwithout showing somebody?
It's like speaking a foreignlanguage to him.
He had no clue, you know?
I might as well be speakingMandarin, and so he just was
like deer in the headlights, hadno idea.
And so we had to look up YouTubevideos and all these things to

(46:05):
help him, and you know, and I'mhelping him, but I have one hand
and I can't do everything withthis one hand, you know.
So we learned how to even dohairstyles together.
We learned how to braid.
Like I taught him how to braidand I would do one strand and he
would do two, and I would walkhim through and we'd braid
together, you know.
Wow.
So we've just established thoseroutines of things of how to do
things together.
Sometimes he's just doing, youknow, picking up a slack and

(46:27):
doing it.
My kids have jumped in and anddone things, especially as
they've gotten older.
So it's, you know, familydynamic of things has really
it's changed, but it's been agood change, you know.
It's brought us very close.
We talk about my story and whathas happened on the regular.
Honestly, we refer to it a lotbecause it's what propels us.
When there's moments where wefeel frustrated as a family or

(46:50):
say, you know, my daughter'sstruggling with something, we
point back to look what God hasdone.
And so it's always we're veryopen about it.
Now, for the first two years, wedidn't tell our kids exactly
what happened because they wereyoung, you know.
Remember, they were a year old,three, one, you know.
And um, at the time, it was toomuch.
And I really felt like that theLord had given us that wisdom to

(47:12):
protect their minds.
And so we just told them enoughfor them to understand mama had
an accident, lost her arm, butwe kind of just left it at that.
And of course, you know, thereare kids, so they're asking
questions, especially my son.
He's very inquisitive, you know,so his mind was always real in,
especially in the early days.
We never lied, we would justsay, if it got too much in the
weeds, we'd just say, bud, youdon't have to worry about that.

(47:32):
All we need to worry about isthat Jesus saved me and I'm here
and alive.
That's all really that matters.
And it does.
That's all that really matters,you know.
So we would just kind of that'show we would operate for the
first two years, and then rightaround the second year
anniversary, I felt a pieceabout telling them the story.
At that point, I had beensharing it pretty regularly,
speaking at multiple events.

(47:52):
The news and media had a heydayfor quite some time, you know,
especially pillar.
Yeah, the months after, youknow, for almost a solid year, I
was on so many witness.
So many.
I mean, it was it was wild.
I never once did we put our nameout there and contact people and
say, hey, you gotta listen tothis crazy story, even though it

(48:13):
was a crazy story.
The word got out, and I reallybelieve that the reason for that
was because God was using it.
You know, it was just a way forhim to get his name out there.
And with every interview, I madesure I spoke about the Lord in
some way, shape, or form.
And I and I would even tell themgoing into him, like, hey, I'm
you're talking about Jesus andhow he saved me.
And if you can't put that in thestory, then we really don't have

(48:34):
anything to talk about becauseit's his story, you know.
And so I wanted to make sure Godwas honored every single time.
That was definitely a time ofwitnessing and being able to use
the platform that God had openedto speak his name, you know, in
places that wouldn't normally.
Yes.
Yeah, iHeartRadio and, you know,the Today Show and you know, the
Discovery Channel, like allthese crazy places.

(48:56):
And so we watched God kind ofuse all of that.
But at that two year year markis when we kind of decided,
okay, it's time to tell ourkids.
And so we told them about whathad happened.
I just literally just laid itout for them, just like I did
for you all.
And it was like an aha moment,like, oh yeah, that makes sense,
you know.
It wasn't this dramatic, ofcourse, it's it was a little bit
to take in, but it wasn't asdramatic as it could have been.

(49:18):
It wasn't as detrimental becausethey had seen me for two years
live life, go back to a normalof sorts, you know, choose joy,
choose peace, you know, um, workthrough the things, and they,
you know, I'm all right.
So it wasn't as hard to take thenews when they see that, like,
but I'm here.
You're here, you know.
And you're doing life, andyou're good.
Yes.
And so I think that why the Lordhad us kind of do it in that

(49:43):
way, and it really did protecttheir minds.
And so I'm really grateful forhis wisdom in that.
We really had to just keepgoing.
And in all of that, like I said,God was opening up opportunities
for me to speak.
Actually, the very first time Ispoke about it outside of the
news at a church was a littleover a month later.

(50:03):
There was a local church in thekind of outskirts of Raleigh
area, and they got a hold of mebecause they were doing a, you
know, July is like shark monthnow.
Like shark week anymore.
Yeah, I was supposed to say.
So, you know, July's the populartime.
I didn't know they had a wholemonth now.
Oh man, it is, it's ongoing.
You know, they were doing aseries to kind of play off of

(50:23):
that.
They heard my story hit thenews, and so they reached out
and they were like, hey, wedon't know what frame of mind
you're in, if this is evenanything you're interested in,
but we had to ask, like, wouldyou be willing to come and
speak?
And I'm like, yes.
And they're like, Wonderful, youknow, I got to share the story
in a church service for thefirst time, like a little over a
month after.
That really was the unlockingthat happened because I remember

(50:47):
they give an altar call at theend.
Does anybody need the Lord?
You know, you saw what Tiffanyhad gone through.
Do you need him like that?
And there was a a rush of peopleraising their hands.
And I I remember just weeping,thinking, if God can use a shark
attack to give somebody eternityin heaven, then it's all worth

(51:08):
it.
I remember like standing on thatstage just in awe of how he
could use a shark attack andseeing, okay, God, I'm in this.
Like, you do whatever you needto do.
I will do whatever.
You know, like I was yes, yes,yes, you know, and it wasn't for
my glory.
I just saw what he was doing andI was willing to just tell the
story.
And so that's really what it'sbeen about.

(51:29):
And that's kind of how Be anOvercomer Ministry started was
me just telling my story and Godusing it and it just happening
over and over again.
Pretty soon, we're like, maybewe should put a name to this,
you know?
Maybe we should make itofficial.
You know, if people contact me,I really probably should have
something to give to them.
And so we just began to take itto the Lord and be like, okay,
God, is this just for a seasonor do we, is this something you

(51:52):
want us to do?
And we felt Him calling us to,you know, establish it as a
ministry.
And so went through all thelegwork of making it a 501c3 and
all the things, right?
But the heart of why we did itwasn't for me to have all these
speaking events, it was to helppeople shift their perspectives.
And so that's if you look on mywebsite, you'll see my tagline

(52:13):
is Choosing Joy ShiftingPerspectives because that is the
heartbeat of why we're doingwhat we do.
It's not to put me on a platformor a pedestal, but to help
people unlock those pieces inthem that God has called them to
be and to shift theirperspectives from their
circumstance back to Him.
That has evolved into manythings throughout the years.

(52:35):
You know, I still speak a lot,still do women's conferences.
That's how you heard about meand heard me.
I do, you know, Sunday mornings,I do events, I do corporate
stuff.
Most recently, I've been reallygetting into school assemblies,
which has been amazing.
God has opened the door in thatway.
It's incredible because now morethan ever, we need a voice of

(52:57):
reason and hope for these youngkids, you know, teens, and um,
there's just so much depressionand suicide and anxiety, and it
just it really is just it wrecksmy heart.
And so if I can help one kidchoose life, choose joy, choose
joy, you know, choose hope, thenit is 1000% worth it.

(53:20):
It's been amazing being able touse it in that way.
Yeah, and it's not easy gettinginto the schools, honestly.
Most of the schools have a guardup, they don't want, you know,
just anybody coming in andspeaking to the kids, which
totally understand a lot ofschools are have their guard up
from a faith-based ministry.
We've had to be pretty unique inhow we present it because we
can't present the gospel in apublic school.

(53:42):
But even like I don't have tosay God, Jesus.
I think the only thing I reallysay is prayer and faith because
that's you can keep it verybasic, you know, everybody can
kind of relate to that.
And so I can say that, but Ican't really get into the weeds
of deeply my faith.
But even saying that, it plantsseeds.

SPEAKER_01 (53:57):
I was gonna say it put it still plants a seed no
matter how.
If he opens that door to get youin there, a seed's gonna be
planted somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 (54:04):
It's really cool how the Lord has been able to use
even just like the high-levelstuff to really propel
conversations in the students.
And I always do a QA at the end,which is my favorite part,
because that's where really weget into some good stuff, you
know, and sometimes some reallyhard stuff.
And if they ask specificquestions about the Lord or

(54:25):
whatever, I can respond.
That's a great way to So theyopen up the door inadvertently,
yes, a lot of times, and thenthat's how God, you know, uses
it even more, you know.
And I had one kid ask me, What'syour favorite scripture?
And I was like, Praise Jesus! Uhso of course, you know, I'm
gonna take the opportunity.
I'm just answering theirquestion, you know.
So it's really cool how God hasbeen able to use even just the

(54:49):
basics to plant the seeds, andreally they're getting
scripture, they're getting God'sword.
They just don't know.
I'm not saying 2 Timothy 1 7,but I am saying, listen, you
don't have to live in fear.
You can walk in power, love anda sound mind.
You know, like I'm telling them.
They just don't know.
They don't know what they'redoing.

SPEAKER_01 (55:06):
You're watering, you're planting and you're
watering.
Yes.
Because you don't know whoplanted something before.

SPEAKER_02 (55:10):
You're absolutely watering on top of it.
100%.
So yeah, it's really cool.
And there's some people in theassemblies.
I've had kids ask variousquestions, but the one that
really got me was a kid that hewas in front of his whole sixth
grade class.
And this school was so massivethat they had to have an
assembly for each grade becausethe auditorium wouldn't fit more

(55:31):
than that.
So they have two, three hundredkids in one grade.
They had entire sixth gradeclasses there.
And he says, Ma'am, I'm justtelling you that I struggle with
depression.
And listening to you today hastaught me that I can choose joy.
Like, if you can choose it andyou've gone through all that you
can do, like I can choose it.
And that statement right therein front of all of his peers,

(55:52):
like it, it really did wreck mebecause I'm thinking, that's
what we're after.
It's just the slight switchmoment.
That's what I go back to all thetime when I was like, when I
feel, when I need that feel oflike, oh, is this even worth it?
It's frustrating.
I come against walls all thetime trying to get into
different schools or whatever.
But God reminds me, like, that'swhat it's for, right there is
that shift.
It's been really cool.

(56:12):
And I actually have a round ofschool assemblies coming up in
November where I'm going toPennsylvania and hitting a ton.
I'm ready to do that again.
And so if you're listening andyou have some connections in
schools, reach out.
What's the website?
So it's B An OvercomerMinistries.com.
That's my ministry website.
I also have a school assemblywebsite that's completely

(56:33):
separate because it's not asfaith driven, so that it's not
gonna make people put up thewall right away.
And that's TiffanyJohnson.net.
So that one you could blast outto people and it would give them
what I do.
It has a video actually right onthe home page that talks about,
you know, my vision, why I dowhat I do.
I'm a public speaker that goesinto school assemblies, blah,

(56:55):
blah, blah, blah.
You know, so it gives all thatinformation and then there's a
way to connect with me.
And then that be an overcomerministries is the faith-based
side of being able to go intochurches and conferences that
are all faith-based.
So kind of have like twodifferent wings now of the
ministry to be able to beeffective.

SPEAKER_01 (57:12):
God's using you in some amazing ways, and he's
gonna put you where he wantsyou, and he's gonna put you
where he's like, I need herright here.
And she's gonna be at thisschool at this moment when that
kid's gonna be there.
Yes.
That's how it's gonna work.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So let me ask you a questionbecause I know we're all kind of
curious.
What did you do prior to thisministry?
All of a sudden, you're like inthe spotlight.
Were you even used to being inthe spotlight at all?

SPEAKER_02 (57:34):
I was a project manager prior to doing all of
this ministry stuff.
I was used to leading teams, Iwas used to training people.
Being on stage didn't reallyaffect me at all.
I have a lot of experience.
I actually sing on the worshipteam at church and I've since I
was young.
So, you know, stage presence issomething that I has been
natural in me.
So that part really was has beenan equipping process from the

(57:58):
Lord.
However, I have never um doneanything where I've had to
produce my own content, youknow, speak a message or be a
teacher of in any way of likethe word.
It so that part has been anunlocking that's happened since
the attack.
And that's a lot ofresponsibility.
It really is.

(58:18):
And honestly, it's a little bitfrightening because I know what
God's word says about those thatcarry his word to others.
Like there is a scrutiny there,and I have to be very careful
and I I don't take it lightly.
In fact, every time I go tospeak, especially in places of
worship, and I tell the pastors,thank you for trusting me,

(58:38):
because that's a huge piecebeing able to speak into their
congregation.
You know, you've got to havetrust there, and um, and so I
want to honor them for you knowtrusting me in that and I do not
it's weighty um because I don'twant to misspeak and
misrepresent Jesus.
And so I am very, very carefulon and I probably have done it
wrong in many ways because I'mnot perfect.

(58:59):
We're not perfect, but it's myheart.
Yeah, my heart is to honor him.
And so even when I havemisspoke, I've I've tried to
bring correction to myself andbring that to light because I
want to make sure that I'm purein presenting the gospel.

SPEAKER_01 (59:12):
It's a wonderful thing to be because that just
shows right there, even knowingthat you're gonna be held
accountable to that and beresponsible and you are
responsible to that, justknowing that says that you're a
responsible person because it'sweighty.
It's weighty.
Because some people might noteven realize that that's
literally, it does say in theBible, you are going to be held
accountable for what you teachto others.

(59:32):
Yes.
You take that to heart, yeah.
It means a lot.
So I want to ask a question.
I don't know everybody, I canjust see it now.
Mindy, ask this question.
Do you have any idea what typeof shark attacked you?

SPEAKER_02 (59:42):
Yes, I believe 100% that it was a tiger shark.
We had the shark the NationalShark Attack Institute, I think
that's how they say it.
They um got involved with mystory and they I gave them
permission to, you know, get mymedical files and all the
things, and they They narrowedit down to either a Caribbean
reef shark or a tiger shark.

(01:00:03):
They couldn't indefinitely saythere was just not enough
evidence to point to one or theother, but it was it had to have
been one or the other.
And then later I looked uppictures of the eyes, because if
you remember from the firstsegment, we were what, not even
a full twelve inches away fromeach other.
Right into their eyes.
Yeah, I that was the featurethat I remember the most.
And so I remember black, beadyeyes, and that is the

(01:00:24):
characteristic of a tiger shark.
The Caribbean Reef Shark's eyesare more iridescent-y, they're
you know, they're not the same.
So when I saw the eyes of atiger shark, I was like, that's
it.
That's you know, I knew.
I will go to my grave sayingit's it was a tiger shark, but
they just can't pinpoint the inthe research world for legit
reasons.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:44):
Yes.
Do you still get out in theocean?
Do you still go snorkeling?
I'm just kind of curious, andand how did it affect your
family as far as their feargoing into the water?
Yes, I still do.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:53):
It took me a bit.
We went to the beach that summerafter it happened.
We had already had a beach tripplan with my husband's family,
and they were all consideringcanceling, and I'm like, no, we
are not.
I mean, we don't have tonecessarily even I don't have to
go down to the beach, but we canstill hang out.
And so I wanted to make surethat we weren't living in fear,
but we also had to use wisdom.
So it's like that balancing act,right?

(01:01:15):
And even that, this was I thinkit was like late July, so this
happened June 2nd.
So, you know, it's like almosttwo months afterwards.
You're still healing.
I'm still healing, I still gotbandages.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:25):
Physically healing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:26):
Yeah, yeah.
We decided we stayed off thebeach, we weren't right on the
beach, and one of the days myin-laws were gonna go to the
beach, and we had decided myfamily, my immediate family was
just not gonna go, we're justgonna go do putt-putt or
something else.
But then my kids found out theircousins were going to the beach,
and they're like, Well, whycan't we go?
You know, and you remember theydon't know at this time, you
know, what it's true, you know,so they don't know why I'm

(01:01:48):
telling them we can't go to thebeach.
And so then I'm like, how am Igonna work through this?
And I'm like, okay, we can go,but nobody I don't want anybody
swimming.
Like, I just I I can't, I'm notready for that, you know.
And so we agreed to go.
And I remember just sittingthere and watching the waves,
and you know, it was fine.
But then my oldest, who was, youknow, five at the time, you
know, she's starts following mycousin and or her cousin, and

(01:02:10):
they start kind of waiting inthe water, and I just had all
this anxiety just start likeraging in me, and I started like
freaking out.
Yeah.
And I'm like, get her out of thewater now.
Like I, you know, and I lookedat my husband, I'm like, this
was a bad idea, you know, likewe probably shouldn't have done
this, you know.
And they got her and it wasfine, you know.
But I just I realized like Imentally was not ready for all

(01:02:32):
of that, you know.
I was trying to sustainably, Iwas trying to be strong and
trying to be like, you know,okay, it's fine.
It was it was a lot.
And so that just taught me likewe've got to be careful on where
what we do.
We can't just do things just toget a notch in our belt.
We have to do it because we havepeace in it, right?
Right.
And God calls us to overcome,but we have to be careful on
those steps to overcome, right?

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:54):
We can't be still have to rely on him for every
single step.
And that right there shows youyou have to rely for every
single step.
You do.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:02):
And so I was very, very cautious from then on.
Like I knew I didn't want tolive in fear, but I also knew
that God had given me peace.
He had protected my mind.
I honestly, to this day, havenot had consistent nightmares or
issues with PTSD.
I've had a little bit, but notnot anything that has lasted
more than just a few moments.
But that's his protection.

(01:03:24):
Yes.
And it's not not to say that I'mbetter than somebody that does
deal with that, but that's justmy testimony.
Yeah.
You know, that's how God decidedto uh work in my life.
And I didn't want to personallydo something that would take
that away.
Right.
Because I knew I was operatingunder his piece, you know.
He did not want to put an end tothat.

(01:03:45):
And so I was very cautious.
And friends of ours had theyreally wanted to go on a cruise.
We had talked about it foryears.
Then this happens on a cruise,you know, and we had already
tentatively planned to go thenext year with them.
And so they were even like, dowe even talk about it, you know?
And I and I remember liketelling them, like, yes, let's
go.
I we can still go on a cruise,you know.
Right.
So we went and that cruise, weactually did snorkel, but it was

(01:04:08):
in the turtle preserves acrossthe street from the ocean.
So it was like a stepping stoneopportunity for me.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:14):
In the ocean, but you were kind of making a little
small step.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:17):
But even that, it was hard.
I remember the sound of mybreath through the snorkel tube
brought back a ton of thoughts,and but I had to take the
thought captive.
It was, it was not easy, but Iremember telling the Lord, like,
I know this is okay, and I knowyou've given me peace in this,
and I just want to enjoy itagain.
And so we did it, and I rememberwe got done snorkeling, we got

(01:04:38):
to see all the turtles, it wasreally cool.
And I after we were done, I waslike, I did it! You know, yes.
And so that kind of helped setthe stage, and from then on, we
I snorkeled like in a cove,within a cove, in the ocean.
Yeah, it was like stage two, youknow, and then eventually, yes,
eventually at the round thefive-year mark, I ended up doing

(01:05:00):
an open water snorkel for thefirst time.
And I had so much peace in thatI knew that I would do it again
because I'm I'm bullheaded, likeI'm like, I'm gonna do it.
But I was trying to be carefulto do it in his timing.
I honestly didn't know if Iwould enjoy it, but I did, and
that was an amazing blessing.
And I thank God that he's givenme that love back for something

(01:05:21):
that I loved to do before.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:22):
That's awesome because that, you know, you love
to do it before.
Gave me that love back for that.
All good and perfect gifts comefrom the Lord.
And what the devil means forevil, God means for good.
Yes.
So you went through all of thatand you still get to enjoy his
creation.
Yes.
Amen.
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:40):
So it's been a journey, but it says in his word
that we can make the plans, buthe orders our steps, right?
And so that's the piece that Ikeep coming back to.
It's like, okay, God, I'm gonnamake these plans, but please,
please come in and order thesteps because I don't know what
I'm doing.
You know, like I didn't ask forthis, I didn't ask to be an
amputee, I don't know what I'mdoing.
You know, I still feel likethat, and I'm eight years in.

(01:06:02):
I don't I don't know how to livelife sometimes.
You know, there's still thingsthat'll come across that I've I
haven't done before as anamputee, and I'll be like, oh,
okay, let me think for a second.
Can I even do this?
There's still pieces that I'mstill working through, and so I
I'll really have to lean on him,and that's what he wants.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:20):
So did you ever at any point get angry at God?
Did you ever just have a momentof why me?
Why am I having to go throughthis?
You know he's with you the wholeentire time, but we all feel it
every now and then.
Yeah.
Why, why me?
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:36):
At the beginning, I, you know, I was just so wrecked
emotionally.
I had endured such a traumaticevent, and I remember just
frustrated, like, God, I I Iknow that you're with me, but
couldn't you have done it adifferent way?
I remember even telling him,couldn't you have took my leg
instead?
That seems easier.
Like, it's not easier, it's not.

(01:06:58):
But in my mind, I was dealingwith so much, and it felt like
every bit of my life wasimpacted that I was trying to
rationalize something else.
Like, you know, why didn't you?
Could you have done it where Igot bit but still had my arm?
Like, you know, why did it haveto be this way?
You know, I there was a lot ofquestions like that in the
beginning, and um, just layingthem before him, like I would

(01:07:19):
just weep like I don't know whatI'm doing, God.
Like this is this is awful.
Like, I didn't know how to be amom to my young kids.
I, you know, it was I feltdefeated a lot.
But anytime I started to go intothat why me, you know,
mentality, I really just had tolay it down before him in
prayer.
Just lament to him, you know,because he can handle it.

(01:07:42):
He wants us to give him thosefeelings.
Like we're not those feelingsaren't wrong.
It's just what we do with them,right?
And so I just that's what Iwould do.
Every time I would start to getin that cycle of thought where I
would recognize, whew, this isthis is getting heavy.
I need to go in, close the door,and just lament to him.
And that's that's what I woulddo.
And so that honestly is whatkind of helped me get through

(01:08:05):
those cycles of frustratingmoments where I was asking the
why me questions.
And there's still times now thatI, like I said, I didn't ask for
this, you know.
So there's still times that I'mlike, this is really my life.
You know what?
It's just it's hard for me towrap my head around still, you
know.

SPEAKER_01 (01:08:20):
Right.
And after eight years at somepoint, still not have PTSD, it's
just those thought processesthat's like.

SPEAKER_02 (01:08:26):
Yeah, you just yeah, it's it's still foreign to me
because this isn't a life that Ichose.
This is wasn't an action that Idid that caused it.
It was just something thathappened and now I'm having to
deal with it, you know.
And so it's it's stillfrustrating.
But what's been amazing is howGod has continued to use it and
he's given me these littleglimmers of him using it that

(01:08:49):
has helped me in those timeswhere I do get into the cycle of
like, this is so hard.
Why are you you know, like, whyme?
I can go back to, but rememberthat kid at the assembly that
changed his focus.
You know, I had a a guy that gota hold of me through Facebook
Messenger who had heard mytestimony, who had said, I was
about to commit suicide, but Iheard your testimony and it

(01:09:10):
stopped me.
It's those things that help getme back into focus of okay, even
though this is hard and I'm nottaken away from the hard, you're
in it, you're with me and you'reusing it.
It's still hard, but then itmakes it worth it.
You know, so I I would justencourage the listeners if
there's some challenging thingsthat you're going through or
have gone through or will gothrough, in the midst of the

(01:09:32):
challenge, remember what God hasdone for you.
And I promise you, you're gonnasee those little pieces and
nuggets that he'll give you topropel you forward.
Sometimes the circumstancedoesn't change, he helps you see
it from a different perspectiveand he equips us, he gives us
the hope when we need the hope,he gives us the joy when we need
the joy, he gives us the peacewhen we need the peace.

(01:09:52):
Like he's he's good like that,right?
Right.
But it we've got to go to himfor it, and and that's really
how I got through those momentsof why.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:00):
You're an amazing person.
God has definitely been usingyou and is still using you and
is going to use you and to talkmore about him, to give
different perspectives.
Everything he kind of mentallywent through with this whole
ordeal is is human, it's anormal reaction.
Yeah.
So there's times that we'relike, we we don't know how to
pick ourselves back up.

(01:10:21):
But we're not meant to pickourselves back up.
No he does.
Exactly.
Yeah.
God's just got so much for you,so much in store for you.
I'm along for the ride, youknow.
What else are you gonna do now?
That's right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:33):
Like I I really I did.
I laid down my job um back atthe beginning of 2020, before
COVID and before I knew peoplewere gonna be losing their jobs.
I laid down my job because I Ifelt him calling me to do this
full time to to speak and share.
And so I am just I'm here to dowhatever he's asked me to do.
I mean, he saved my life.
He he's the reason I'm here.

(01:10:54):
So I am gonna use every breathin my lungs to honor him and to
not waste a second chance.

SPEAKER_01 (01:11:01):
That was just such a powerful statement.
So, my friends, my listeners,what kind of situation are you
in right now that you have toand you need to choose joy and
you need to choose hope, youneed to look at it from a
different perspective.
I thank Miss Tiffany for beinghere with us and sharing her
remarkable story with us abouthow God can get you through

(01:11:21):
anything.
You just have to turn to him,you just have to read his word,
know his word, reach out to him,and he will get you through
everything.
My listeners, thank you so muchfor listening.
And as always, if it matters toyour community, you matter to
Joy of Him.