Throughout my life, there have been many times when I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. However,
my very first recollection was at age 13 when I found myself
struggling to survive as a runaway on the streets of South Central Los
Angeles.I remember that night as if it were yesterday. It had been a long day of walking, hunger, and thirst, when I suddenly found myself standing under a street light and reciting these words, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, your rod, and staff will comfort me, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The strange thing about reciting this verse was that I had never heard it before, and did not know where it came from. The only thing I knew is that it brought me comfort and I was no longer afraid. Now that I am in Christ I understand what it means and why the Holy Spirit had me recite it. He was honoring the prayers of my grandmothers who were vigilantly holding on to me through intercession. It would have been nice to be able to say that night was the beautiful beginning to an unhappy ending but that was not to be the case, my journey into that valley of the shadow of death was just beginning.
