I don't know what constitutes a miracle. I feel as though this entire trip has been one long miracle. I can't even go back and trace the steps that led me to this place. How did I become friends with a pastor in Tanzania? How did we end up with a German son and his parents who have become good friends? How did a group of people who've never met me think that it would be a good idea to send me to see these German and Tanzanian friends, and go on a safari just for kicks? I know that there were little decisions I made along the way - to answer the first email from Tanzania, to agree to host an exchange student, to fill out the grant application - but the sum total of those little decisions should not add up to what I've seen and done in the past three and a half weeks.
So in the middle of this giant miracle filled with other big miracles, a little miracle happened that surprised even me. You see, when we found out about the grant, when this fantasy trip became a reality trip, we began to figure out what we would see and do while in Tanzania. My husband Clif realized that we would be very near to Mt Kilimanjaro, but our safari tour wouldn't actually take us close enough to see it. He LOVES mountains, and has climbed many of them in Colorado, so he really wanted to see Kilimanjaro - the tallest mountain in Africa. We called the safari company, and they said, "Well, I guess the guide could take you to Moshi on your last day. If you had any chance of seeing the mountain, it would be from that area. Of course, it's very difficult to see it because it's usually covered with clouds." But we went ahead with the itinerary change so that we would have the possibility of seeing the mountain.
When we met our guide Alex, he asked us about the trip to Moshi because it wasn't a usual request. Clif explained how much he loved mountains and how much he really wanted to see Kilimanjaro because he didn't know if he'd ever get back to Tanzania. Clif acknowledged, however, that the likelihood of seeing it was low. Alex laughed and said, "I am thinking you will see it." But we all knew it wasn't likely.
Throughout the week, we laughed about it - offering to buy Clif a postcard with Kili so he could say he saw it; telling him to take a photo of where the mountain should be if the clouds weren't there and then Photoshopping in someone else's photo of the mountain. Alex laughed along with us, telling Clif he really hoped he could see it.
Anyway, we drove all the way to Moshi yesterday only to discover that the mountain was completely covered in clouds. Clif was disappointed, and Alex was disappointed, and I felt bad for both of them. We'd had a lot of fun teasing Clif, but we all knew how much he wanted to see that mountain. Clif said, "That's ok. We'll do a little shopping in Moshi and see the mountain on the way back to the airport." We found one little shop in Moshi, bought some last-minute souvenirs, and climbed back into the jeep. As we drove, we scanned the clouds for any encouraging sign. And then I saw some hope - a little patch of blue sky. "Look! I see blue sky! If there's blue sky then the clouds are parting a little bit." With each mile we drove, Clif and I would say, "maybe.." "I think I see...oh no, it's just another cloud." Finally I said, "Wait, I think I see something."
Alex said, "Should I pull over?" We said, "Yes!" Clif jumped out of the jeep and started shouting, "I see it! I see it!" Alex ran over to him, and Clif hugged him. Clif was shouting, Alex was laughing, all of us were celebrating and marveling at this gorgeous mountain. We saw the very top of it - the snow-covered peaks - but the middle remained covered in clouds. Still, when you're talking about mountains, it is the peak that matters :-)
Of all the moments I've had on this trip - too many to even mention - it may be that moment that I'll remember most. It was a small thing, seeing a mountain peak. But it mattered to Clif, so it mattered to me, and it even mattered to our guide who wanted us to see everything we wanted to see in Tanzania. When Clif and Alex jumped out of the jeep and realized they could see the mountain, they hugged each other. And Alex laughed with joy because Clif's joy was contagious. And I laughed at both of them. Maybe it doesn't strike anyone else as a miracle, but it was unexpected and unearned and a gracious and beautiful gift - just the kind of thing God loves to do. If we hadn't found that little shop in Moshi and spent 15 minutes there, we wouldn't have been in the right place to see the mountain top for the few brief minutes it was visible. As I explained the idiom to Alex, it was "the icing on the cake." All month long we've had the cake, a sweet, lovely cake. But seeing that mountain, seeing my husband hug our Tanzanian guide as they both laughed with delight, that was the icing.
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“Then they began to climb and they were going to the East it seemed, and then it darkened and they were in a storm, the rain so thick it seemed like flying through a waterfall, and then they were out and Compie turned his head and grinned and pointed and there, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro. And then he knew that there was where he was going.”
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