[notice]A fortnightly column on marriage, family and
relationships.[/notice]
What would you do if you were not afraid? What kind of life would you have?
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The majority of us are not living the life of our dreams. We are not living the life we envisioned for ourselves at this time in our lives. Life seems to be an endless cycle of routine with no change in sight. The joy of marriage; being a parent; starting a business; starting a ministry has been overshadowed with the reality of paying the bills; family responsibility and a bleak future. We wonder: “Will life ever get better? Is this all there is? How do I get out of this rut?”
According to Angelique Du Toit Co-Owner and Director of Annique Health & Beauty, a Conference keynote speaker and author of Standing Tall in a Falling World; “You win or Lose by the way you choose”. She says “Everything you need to be successful is already on the inside of you.”
No formal education
Her childhood was tumultuous with a restless father who moved the family from city to city; by the time she was 14 she had been in 13 schools. At this time her father told her to stop going to school. With no formal education, Angelique could have easily succumbed to what her past dictated. She could have easily chosen to take the road most travelled but this courageous woman chose to take the pieces of her life and weave a beautiful story with them. With focused determination and faith in God she chose to dream a better dream than the one her father envisioned for her. She chose to believe what her heavenly Father says of her and to find value not in her level of education; in her circumstances; in what others said of her but to find value only in what God said. “A wonderful woman entered my life and showed me the love and mercy of God that I never knew existed. I learnt I had to forgive. I learnt that in life, “We win or we lose by the way that we choose!’ It was the turning point in my life. When you truly give your life back to God, He does make all things new — He can do what seems impossible for us. However, God is sovereign but we have a responsibility to do our part,” she says.
Life of grace
Angelique’s life is truly one of grace. God has taken the ashes of her life and transformed them into a beautiful story that is impacting countless lives around the country. Through the companies, Woman Arise and Annique Health and Beauty that she co-owns with her husband Ernest Du Toit and her book Standing Tall in a Falling World, Angelique speaks to the lives of individuals who are facing hopeless situations. She encourages and assures them that there is a hope in God. He can turn any situation around.
I was very impacted by the story of Angelique Du Toit and decided to find out more about this woman that God is raising up to be His voice to the hopeless.
This is my interview with her. My prayer is that you also take lessons that you can implement in your life to make the changes that you need to make. This is my interview with Angelique du Toit…..
Neziswa: There are many who did not finish school like you but who are doing jobs that they hate; having lives that they are not proud of; who are absolutely feeling helpless and hopeless. What was it about your circumstances that made you believe that it would get better?
Angelique: With my life at a seeming dead-end, and my experiences having given me the message that I was not worthy and therefore had no self esteem, internal joy or hope for the future, I was somewhere between merely existing and contemplating ending it all. Deep in my heart I believed in God. It was only in going back to the church that we were married in that I met a woman by the name of Jenny Ward who cared enough to intercept my life with the love of God and show me a future and a hope that Jesus died to give us. Once I understood the forgiving power found in Jesus Christ and I learnt experientially that He loved me so much that He gave His life for me, I began the gradual process of learning to love and value myself and seeing my wonderful life as one special enough that He came to redeem. We have no other real identity outside of Christ. The Bible is my ID and it tells me who I am, Who I belong to, and where I live! On Jenny’s lounge floor, I met my Lord and Saviour, and He gave me the chance to choose life. I made a promise to God that I would never overlook a woman in her time of need, just as Jenny had been there for me. God has never allowed me to forget that promise and it is impressed on everything I do every day.
Neziswa: Have you ever doubted yourself Angelique and when you did what did you do?
Angelique: To doubt is more natural sadly than having faith. Of course I have doubted myself but have also often reminded myself that I need to do some things afraid, as Joyce Meyer puts it. What keeps me overcoming the doubt is staying focused on the calling, the purpose and the passion that is deep inside of me. The choice is quite simple really. We doubt and do without or we believe and receive.
Neziswa: Many people have great ideas and grand dreams but they never follow up on them because they simply do not know where to start. What would you say to such a person?
Angelique: Most people stop at the start. Unless a dream is put into action it will remain a good idea that swims around your head. Be relentless in your pursuit of your grand idea. Connect with people who can enable the process. Find some grit and courage and press through. Don’t be deterred, dissuaded or held back by disappointment. Take a step closer each day. Doing it right today means no regrets tomorrow. If you don’t release your gifts and dreams to the world, the world will never be able to receive what God intended for them to receive through your mind, your heart and your hands.
Neziswa: You say “The future is the place YOU get to create”. How does a person do this exactly? Can one really create one’s future?
Angelique: Most definitely. The future starts now – through your thoughts, your words, your actions. What you do today you will most certainly live through tomorrow! You have to start with the transformation of your mind so you can discern what is right and good for your life and take action to walk that out in your life. You can’t hope to soar like an eagle if you are scrubbing with the turkeys. Every decision you make, regardless how big or small is a future creator. God has given us a mind and emotions, wisdom, talents and abilities. He expects us to use them. In fact He tells us we will be giving an account for them. Can you create your future? – for sure!
Neziswa: Why did you start your company Woman Arise?
Angelique: Women Arise was started in 1999 as I had met so many incredible women in my life who showed extraordinary potential but had somehow got stuck between the steps. Not forgetting my promise to God, I started transferring my decades of journaling into keynote speaking engagements and my flagship seminar entitled, Your Life | Your Business | Your Future.
Neziswa: You and your husband own the international beauty and skin company Annique Health and Beauty. What is your role at Annique and how is it to work with your spouse?
Angelique: I am an executive at Annique Health and Beauty and am involved at a strategic level with my passion being fulfilled in inspiring and mobilising a large sales force throughout South Africa by engaging with them at events and conferences. Working together as a couple can be very fulfilling as long as you both know and respect each others’ respective roles.
Neziswa: In 2010 you published a book Standing Tall in a Falling World, please explain the message of your book.
Angelique: I wrote the book, Standing Tall in a Falling World, which is loaded with principles on how to find your purpose, regain your passion and become more productive. We are meant to live in abundance and not redundancy, in every area of our life. Standing Tall in a Falling World opened the way for me to speak to the inmates in some of our South African prisons. One thought is always at the forefront of my mind when I think of those visits: Those inmates might physically be behind bars, yet how many women are walking free, but are in prisons in their own mind, in their bodies, in their relationships — often prisons of their own making. These are the women I want to see truly free, in spirit, soul and body. You have the key. You just have to give yourself permission to be released. JESUS came to set the captives free. I am living proof of that!
Neziswa: With Hay House’s interest in Standing Tall in a Falling World, the book is now available on Amazon.com. It was also launched in the USA in May and will be available in the UK in July. Will it be available in other parts of Africa? Where can our South African readers get the book?
Angelique: The demand always creates the supply and if we have enough interest from Africa we will be sure to make the book available in different parts of Africa.
Neziswa: What habits would you say are habits that will make one succeed and habits that will make one not succeed?
Angelique: Success or failure are a series of habits that are practised every day!
Neziswa: How do you balance your work and home responsibilities?
Angelique: My children are in their 20s now. But I learnt that I needed to keep my priorities straight while I was building a career. Family is exceptionally important to me. My children were given quality time and attention which often required me to work after hours on my career and personal goals. You need to keep in mind that a career can last a lifetime but you only have a certain number of years with your young children before they become adults. Then they need to replicate what you have taught them. We always taught our children to have roots (a secure home, with love and nurturing) and wings (finding their own courage to fly).
Neziswa: Any special message to women seeing it is Women’s Month.
Angelique: Take every opportunity to ARISE & BE EVERYTHING YOU WERE CREATED TO BE.
You need never stand back for anyone. God created you unique, with purpose and with intent. You weren’t your parents’ good idea. You are God’s idea. Live it out in your one life. Women are great influencers, they have wonderful intuition and they are bearers of life. When God made woman – He said she was VERY good. He is the perfect Gentleman. He will open doors for you!
God can indeed open doors for you and me. If He can take Joseph from a pit to a palace; if He can transform the orphaned Esther from an orphan to a Queen; If He can take a shepherd boy named David and make him a King then surely our God who has never changed can still do wonders with a life that is submitted to Him. He is able! Trust Him!
SHALOM!
