At the end of every month, we’ll come together to find gratitude for all He has breathed into our lives through the lens of this month’s blessing. Join me tonight as I find the grace of some of our deepest valleys.

Teen babies are a wonder.

A tear-stained, hormonal, angsty wonder.

I say this not in jest or disdain. I say it because I know it’s true. I say it because just like when they were little, my teen babies take my breath away.

(And no, it is not only because of the lack of deodorant. I also say this not in jest and with relatively minimal disdain.)

Instead, it comes from the depth of my mama heart and says everything I learned all over again in November:

With teen babies, the highest mountain tops come out of the deepest valleys and this month we’ve had mountaintop moments.

Moments where I sobbed in gratitude. Moments where I saw the beauty of redemptive love. Moments where my heart nearly burst with mama pride.

But all those things wouldn’t have been there had it not been for the deep and gutting valley moments.

Moments where I sobbed in anguish. Moments where I held broken pieces I knew I couldn’t put back together. Moments where my mama heart nearly tore in two.

Because the secret is as teen babies grow, so does the depth of their pain and try as we must, we cannot fix it. Instead, we have to lay them at the feet of Jesus and trust He’s got them even when we doubt it.

So for the mama who’s deep in the valley, who sees the other mama’s pictures or mountaintops or magic moments, know that there is something always unspoken in her eyes. The quiet thread that ties every mom of teen babies together whispering softly…

“Don’t give up. We’ve been in the valley too.”

Even though I walk through the valley…

Psalm 23:4

Now it’s your turn: Where has He met you in the valley?