Summit Day!

It's hard to believe that, at this time last year, as a team, we found ourselves at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. I still remember what it felt like to crawl into the tent I shared with my roomy Wendy for 7 days with the unfamiliarity and uncertainty I felt on that first day. I can't help but remember what melted away that unfamiliarity and uncertainty. It was melted away with every step we took toward the top, despite the increasing heaviness in our boots as the elevation numbers grew; with every embrace or word of encouragement from our teammates, including our guides, porters and other groups of climbers sharing that mountain with us; and with every "find-the-monkey" break. They were melted with every tear shed from the exhaustion in our muscles and the cold in our tents as much as they were shed from the eruption of faith in our hearts. I remember the realization and confirmation we came to as a group that God was guiding our every step - from providing for us the attention to our health when required, to insuring the weather behaved in our favor.

And there we were, barely awake, barely fed, headlamps on course to the last leg of our climb in the darkness yet illumination of blind faith. Seeing with our lamps only the next step ahead of us, guided by the heels of our angelic escorts who provided perfectly-timed songs and perfectly-timed Coca Cola breaks as needed. Eventual cheering at the glimmer of hope provided by the sunrise on the horizon, cheering at the sign at Stella Point and the memory of touching, kissing and crying at the sign congratulating us for reaching Uhuru Peak at 19,341' at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. I remember how the exhaustion, lack of oxygen and lack of energy simply melted away when we reached that sign. How for us, that mountain we wanted to conquer became a friend, our Kili and so much a part of each of our legacies now.

Our team summited on Sophie's birthday thanks to God's grace and unwavering faith, strengthened by our mission. We were not there to merely climb and summit a mountain, we were there to change the world! To change the world for 23 amazing, beautiful and faithfilled Maasai children who now have their educational, medical, nutritional and spiritual needs met as a result of this climb. The most amazing part of the summit, the climb and this journey entirely was the realization that, in our attempt to give, we ended up receiving the greatest gift of all. We could have never imagined that these babies would end up changing our world, changing our lives and for that, we will be forever grateful to them, to One Child Matters and to God for this amazing opportunity to make a difference.