On Dec 26, 2006, Tonia received a phone call that her daughter, Haley, had been in a car accident. The family rushed to the hospital and found out Haley had a broken leg and was in excruciating pain. Haley ended up needing 13 surgeries on her leg and the doctors told Haley she might lose her leg if her wounds did not heal properly. And to make things worse, while Haley was at the hospital, Tonia’s insurance was canceled and they had to move hospitals.
Eventually, Haley was sent home, but had to be injected with medication every four hours with an I.V. Tonia, being a single mother, was overwhelmed with everything she had to take care of. Tonia had to get up every four hours to make sure Haley was getting her medication, had to take care of her other two teenagers, and had to work a full time job to provide for the family, in addition to the increasing hospital and prescription bills. Tonia wanted to be strong for her family, but on the inside, she was at her breaking point. She couldn’t figure out why all this would happen to her family. But, in the end, the only source of strength she knew to lean on was her faith in God.
Tonia learned that she didn’t have to be strong enough for her family because God is strong enough for every circumstance. Tonia was able to get through her family’s difficult time by praying for God to give her the strength to get through each day. Today, Tonia stands on Philippians 4:13,
