Let this February 14, 2013 go down in the books as the best Valentine's Day thus far. When you're living with 14 men lovely surprises bestow you on this day. The ladies awoke to a "spirit tunnel" of hugs leading into the kitchen. Our team table was decorated with lovely notes from Eric and Kyle, chocolate and gummy bears (those two know the Doulos ladies so well!). We were waited on with coffee and breakfast.
Sweet notes, coffee and candy were my favorite way to start my day! Our day continued on like normal, hot days doing ministry in the Peruvian desert. However, little did we know what our evening would hold. We were told to get showered and dressed as fancy or not fancy as we would like for our date at 7pm. We were greeted with roses at the door and sat down to a fantastic Italian meal consisting of bread and balsamic appetizer, salad (salad is valuable in Peru when you've been lacking veggies!!), stuffed pesto and mozzarella chicken breast, pasta and a grand finale of s'mores brownie and ice cream!
Yep. Be jealous. To end the night the men put on a complete improv comedy show, Who's Line is it Anyway-like. Richard Simmons, Steve Erkel, stories about America Kelly the horse, Tiffany the hairy mermaid…so much laughter until our sides hurt!
After an hour and a half of laughs, our 14 men wanted to give us one last gift for the day. They came up with an "N Men Oath" to us. I'd try to explain it all, but I couldn't do it justice, so I'll give you the video. These men we've been blessed with blow me away, and not just on Valentine's Day. They are strong, confident, understanding, hilarious and thoughtful among many other things. I've been raised with a strong and thoughtful father and brother my whole life, but not all of the N Squad women have had the same. Last week when we spent the week sharing with the squad I came to realize that so many of the women around me have been broken and bruised, many times by the men in their lives. This oath we received from our men meant the world to me as well as those broken women. So, thank you, men of N Squad. Thank you for warming our hearts. Thank you for making Valentine's Day special in the desert in Peru. Thank you for making us incredibly proud of each and every one of you. Not to brag, but you are most definitely the BEST World Race men! (I lied, I meant to brag)
