I hate Valentine’s Day.
Why does love need a special day? I think that’s dumb. Today was the best Valentine’s day in all my 23 years.
The ladies of A squad woke up early to decorate and make a hearty breakfast for the men.
All the girls left the ranch to do ministry with the other two ministries. Deanna and I joined the two teams building the cinder block wall. When the day was over we had devotions with Gracie. She was talking to us about hearing from God and pointed at me, thinking I had something on my mind. Yep. She told me how I need to let God love me and that He is not my earthly father. He knows my name and loves me regardless. This was a big deal. Just at debrief I had stood up and told the squad how I have a hard time letting people love me, but this was people, not God. I had never really thought about how I do that same thing with the man who loves me more than I could fathom. It was really cool how this happened on valentine’s day, the day when I think love should have no extra emphasis.
We got home after plotting what the boys were going to do for dinner. “7pm dinner.” “nope, 7:30.” “nope, 8:00.” Alright, these 40 girls are starving now. When 8:30 rolled around any complaint from the hangry girls was silenced. The A-men decorated the kitchen with a ridiculous amount of candles, headlamps in the windows, confetti hearts on the table, lights strung between the fans, music to set the mood, and were decked out in swimsuits and button ups. We were escorted in and announced to the room, “presenting princess sasha.” We were seated at our assigned seat where we had sparkling cider and fresh squeezed lemonade with a strawberry on the cup. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and quite the show. I had to keep myself from crying. No, I’ve never been in a serious Valentine’s day worthy relationship, but I’ve never had any guy do anything remotely like this for me. I was reminded about the extreme love and respect these men have for us. Being a part of this squad has already changed the way I am able to see men. These ten men in my life are the most real men of God I’ve ever met. They would do anything for their sisters. To be able to have a friendship with these men in the context of the race where relationships are a no go, is a huge blessing. I’m able to simply love them as my brothers and be loved as a sister.
I was reminded today of the love my Heavenly Father has for me. Over all else. It shouldn’t take a special day to remember I am loved but it sure was nice.
