Hope: A Journey to Freedom

By Angela Toney D.C.

Beaten down by life? Do you feel like you are drowning? You are not alone. Life does not have to be this way. A healthy life and healthy relationships are within your reach. Determination and perseverance can keep you moving forward while facing the difficult truths that have held you back from achieving your true potential.

Hope is one womans journey to health and wholeness. The book is filled with true stories, happy and sad, that allow you to walk along with the author as she faces her past and develops her future. The stories provide a roadmap for anyone brave enough to start the journey. The journey is different for everyone, but the destination is the same: becoming the person God created you to be. Only then will you find true health and happiness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512720433

Angela Toney D.C.

Dr. Toney is founder of Mobile Health Solutions, an organization that provides quality healthcare to busy families in the comfort of their own home. Dr. Toney provides chiropractic care, alternative medicine, and infertility treatments to patients in the greater Des Moines area.

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Copyright © 2015 Angela Toney D.C..

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-2044-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2045-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2043-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015918988

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/16/2015

Contents

Dedication

Preface

1. Hope Is Born

2. Hope for the Future

3. Unexpected Events

4. Unresolved Emotions

5. Overcoming Obstacles

6. Hope for Restoration

7. Created to Serve

8. Perseverance

9. Healing from Fear

10. Healing from Shame

11. Getting Rid of Misconceptions

12. Your Dream

13. Looking to the Future

14. Knowing God

15. Rededicating your life to God

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the people who have helped me along my journey to health and wholeness. There have been so many people who have given me hope, encouragement and prayer. I love you all so much and am forever grateful.

I thank my family for their love and support throughout my life. You stuck by me through the good and the bad. You never held anything against me and for that I am thankful. Mom, you have always loved me unconditionally and been a wonderful example of God’s love. Thank you for never giving up on me.

Angie Grijalva, you walked with me every step of the way for many years. You helped me work through all the issues detailed in this book. You are a dedicated prayer warrior. You always treated Ron and me like your own children. Thank you for being with me through all the ups and downs. Thank you for seeing me through God’s eyes. Thank you for all the delicious food!

To my husband, your love and support has allowed me to become the woman God created me to be. I know it has been a rough ride for you too. Thank you for your perseverance and determination. You have all of my love and respect.

Preface

Twenty four hours was all that was left of life as I knew it. I was on a life changing journey to the unknown. My life had spiraled out of control for the past ten years. My life became unrecognizable. Gripped by constant fear that wouldn’t relent. Trapped with no hope of escape. I never knew life could be like this. What did I do to deserve this kind of life? What did I do wrong? Who did I offend?

I had strayed so far from the Christian life I was raised with that I didn’t know if I could ever be part of it again. Not because I didn’t believe in God, but because He seemed so far away. Somehow I felt out of His reach. I tried to maintain a healthy Christian life, but it seemed impossible. Everywhere I looked there was anger, violence, and destruction. There always seemed to be someone right there telling me that I was useless, worthless, and insignificant. I ignored these comments for a while, but could ignore them no longer. I began to believe the lies as if they were truth. Eventually I believed them enough to just give up. There was no hope for me; there was no hope that I would be rescued from my wretched life. I had lost all hope.

What else could go wrong? Nothing else could possibly go wrong. I was at the bottom and there was nowhere to go but up. I was desperate. I had to leave. I had to do something for myself. I didn’t know how I could ever be free from the torment, but I knew that I needed to leave. I packed my car and drove across country. It took twenty-four hours. I drove as fast as I could and drove straight through. I ate and slept very little. I finally stopped at a rest stop in Flagstaff, Arizona at midnight. It was dark and all I could see was mountains and pine trees. At that moment, I knew I was safe. It was freezing cold, but I wrapped up in my sleeping bag and finally got some sleep. That twenty-four hour cross country drive was life changing—and it was the first day on my journey to freedom.

1

Hope Is Born

My journey out of a prison of pain and darkness and into freedom and light began with this verse:

For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

It was 1998 and I was living by myself in Phoenix, Arizona. My sister Rebecca had just moved to Phoenix from the Midwest. I remember sitting in her apartment not long after she arrived. She was still unpacking and I brought over a few things she needed. She was sitting on the couch and her Bible was beside her. I grabbed the Bible and thrust it toward her. How does this still apply to me?

For more than twelve years my life had consisted of a series of nightmare events that had left me without hope. I had made many poor choices and strayed from the beliefs that I was raised with. I knew the laws of God, and in my mind I had broken them. I had just been trying to survive. God seemed so far away. I didn’t know if He could love me anymore. That night my sister made it clear to me that God still loved me.

She read that verse from Jeremiah and told me that those words were a promise to me. God had a plan for me—a plan to give me hope and a future.

I left her apartment that day with the first stirrings of hope. Even though I couldn’t imagine a future for myself that was full of hope, I knew that God meant what He said. God said it and therefore it was true. I just decided to stand on that promise. I had no clue what the end result would be or what the journey would be like. I knew for sure, however, that I would not be alone on the journey.

Part of that journey was a painful look back at the past experiences that had so crippled me. However, this time I knew