I turned 23 on Sunday. I still don’t feel that old. This was the first birthday that I’ve spent away from my friends and family at home, and to be honest, I was a little bit nervous that I’d be disappointed. I have, without a doubt, been spoiled when it comes to birthdays: always having big parties with friends growing up, a conjoined “Sweet 16” with my best friend Maria, a 21st birthday in Nashville, Tennessee with my mom and some of my dearest friends to see my favorite artist preform at the infamous “Grande Ole Opry”; a 22nd spent in downtown Pittsburgh with my very best friends…
How could those be topped? I am here in Peru. There are no country music concerts. The friends and family I’ve always known are back home. I’d be waking up my birthday morning on a bunk in a concrete compound, not a luxurious, queen-sized mattress in a hotel room in some exciting, big city. How could this birthday beat any of those in the past?
Well, it did. How? Because I am HERE in PERU. I am here with 45 incredible new friends in a dusty, desert village and I could not be more blessed.
I woke up to balloons all over my bed surrounding me that my teammates had placed there in the middle of the night. When I walked downstairs to brush my teeth everyone sang happy birthday to me. Wrapped in a plastic, shopping bag was the BEST gift ever, given to me by my teammates. When we were in Bolivia we had shared with each other our “guilty pleasures”. Mine, being food of course, is what they bought me for a gift. (Still not ready to reveal that to the rest of the world, sorry. It’s called a guilty pleasure for a reason).
My team and I took a taxi into the beautiful town center in Trujillo, the Centro, and had ice cream for breakfast as we walked around the shops. I bought myself a llama fanny pack, my proudest purchase so far on the Race. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant in town where my team treated me to a good old fashion American bacon cheeseburger and fries… YES.
When we got back to the compound, the squad surprised me with chocolate cake, sang happy birthday to me, and then, of course, smeared icing all over my face. They’re just the best.
We had been doing Vacation Bible School each day that week at the church, and my birthday just happened to be the grand finale, “Mega Grande Fiesta”. That afternoon I sang and danced and played games with one hundred Spanish children, laughing and having the best time. We handed out toys at the end to all the kids (trucks for the boys; dolls for the girls) and I got to see the looks on their faces as they ran around to show their friends and their parents their new toys.
I lied before. The gift my team gave me was the second best gift I’ve ever received. The first was from one of my squadmates, Molly Bell.
We had all seen a sweet brother and sister pair that came to VBS every day barefoot, and Molly, being the incredible person she is, had taken the liberty of buying shoes for those children. Her present to me—She asked that I be the one to give them that gift.
Sliding those tiny shoes on the children’s, dirty, scrapped up feet, was the greatest honor I have ever received and the best birthday gift I know that I will ever get.
That night we had youth group at the church with the local teens in the area, and we JAMMED. We sang and danced to their worship songs in Spanish, along with some I was familiar with from my youth group growing up, like “Sing, Sing, Sing” and “I Am Free” by the Newsboys. We had competitions of who could throw and stick the most coco puff to their teammate’s face, which was covered in shaving cream. I have not laughed that hard in a long, long time.
August 9th, 2014, birthday number 23, was the best birthday of my life. And for that I have God to thank.
Thank you Lord for sending me here, to the desert of Peru, to play crazy games and sing silly songs with Peruvian children—big and small, and to stand alongside some of the most amazing people I have ever known. Thank you for dirt coated fingernails and dusty, 8-times worn outfits that make dressing up feel like a privilege. Thank you for budgeted meals, and a lack of snacks, which make chocolate cake taste so much richer. And thank you for a small, impoverished, desolate town (which I love), that gives me a new appreciation for beautiful city architecture and lovely, decorated shops.
Thanks to my team and my squad for the most amazing 23rd a girl could ask for, and for all of you back home whose love and support got me here in this place to celebrate it.
