Valley of the Shadow....

Ive been doing Beth Moore's The Patriarchs bible study and of course it is phenomenal! I read something today that she wrote that touched my mommy heart and I wanted to share it, but first here is the background: Im studying Jacob, now Israel, and Rachel his wife just died giving birth to Benjamin. Beth says "I remember the words my own mother said to me after my firstborn's birth turned into an emergency delivery. 'A mother walks through the valley of the shadow of death for her baby.'" Of course for us today, modern medicine is great and super useful. But it wasnt that long ago that mothers died to give birth way to often. And even now, childbirth still hurts! I had an epidural with Haven but I still had plenty of pain. We wont even mention the pain I had with Justus via natural. And I know that with children comes the long hours of intercessory prayer. Neil and I pray every night (almost) together for our children, interceding for their salvation, their spouses and their children among other things. So that Valley, I do feel like I walk it - even if it is not in the literal sense. And as I would assume all mothers, I will continue to walk it bravely to keep my little ones from harm!