Earlier this week, I wrote about my greatest Valentine ever.
Turns out, this year also happened to be my greatest Valentine’s Day ever. [WHICH, I would have never guessed this would happen since I spent the day in Africa on the World Race]
You see, Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s a day of love. What could be better?
Here’s what happened:
I woke up early as usual. I went outside to spend time with God. We danced. It was beautiful.
Upon returning to my room, I lay in bed reading and praying.
The next voice I heard was my teammate, Jared, knocking on our door asking if we wanted tea or coffee. Perfect.
I followed him to the dining/living room where he proceeded to make coffee and/or tea for all 5 of us women. He then fixed our breakfast plates and served us. What an amazing MOG [Man of God].
After breakfast, we all walked back to our room for our team morning devo time.
Jared entered to tell us something was waiting for us in the living room. Acting like little school girls, we raced into the living room to find a pyramid of chocolate with a note that read:
GOOD MORNING + HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
WAFFLES ARE TASTY.
SPAGHETTI IS TOO.
BUT CHOCOLATE IS BETTER
SO HERE’S SOME FOR YOU!
Amazing. JD & Jared had bought us chocolate. [The only downside? As much as I love chocolate, it always makes me sick… SO, I couldn’t enjoy it. HOWEVER. The other women were able to enjoy!].
After devo, we went to town to use the internet – where we found several members of THE Q hanging out. SO amazing to see some of our fam together + the peanut butter ice cream I ate was delish!
When we got back home, we found in our room a treasure chest full of chocolate and another note that read:
GOOD AFTERNOON + HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
INTERNAL, VERBAL
WE ALL NEED TO PROCESS
SO HERE’S SOME MORE CHOCOLATE
YOU CAN EAT IN EXCESS
Seriously. These men are too good to us.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready because our MOG told us to dress up to go out – BUT they wouldn’t tell us where we were going.
When we arrived for dinner, we found ourselves at an amazing restaurant for dinner + a movie. JD had reserved front row couches for us. The atmosphere was phenomenal. Lanterns were all around, and the ambiance was spectacular.
JD brought us cheese & crackers to enjoy as an appetizer. Dinner – Mexican food + a movie = amazing! 🙂 Again, these men are too good to us.
They had yet another box of chocolates with another note that read:
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY + WE HOPE YOU ENJOY DINNER
FEEDBACK, FREEDOM
LOVE + HONOR
THIS VALENTINE’S DAY
YOU’RE THE ONES WE PREFER
YOU’RE WOMEN OF GOD
FULL OF BEAUTY AND GRACE
WE HOPE YOU FEEL SPECIAL
ON THIS WONDERFUL DAY
AS BROTHERS IN CHRIST
WE’LL SERVE YOUR NEEDS
SO FOR THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS
“JUST FEEL FREE!”
How precious is that? I seriously love these men.
HOWEVER. They weren’t done yet…
We walked to the hotel used during the genocide – you know, in the movie Hotel Rwanda? yeah. the real, original one – where we were able to walk on carpet and use a real bathroom with a real toilet + a real toilet seat. [It’s the little things in life that make us so happy].
When we arrived back home and walked into our room, we realized our MOG were not done yet… upon each of our pillows lay a Kit-Kat and another note. Mine read:
Samantha,
YOU’RE GREAT WITH KIDS
ENERGETIC + FUN
YOUR HEART IS PRECIOUS
AND WE LOVE YOU A TON
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
I’m serious. These men went WAY above and beyond to make this day so special for us. All day long I felt super preferred, honored, and blessed.
Who would have thought Valentine’s Day in Rwanda could be so amazing? I had not expected anything. In fact, a simple hug from each of them would have been the best thing ever. BUT they are phenomenal. I am way blessed to have them both in my life. I do not know what I did to deserve this, but I am way thankful.
What I love most about all of this? These men are like this every single day. JD & Jared prefer and honor us every day. They show us that chivalry is not dead. They are prime examples of MOG and gentlemen. God really loves me.
All I’m saying…my future man has a LOT to live up to. 🙂
