Birthday blessings…..

This is a post I wrote, but never published, in 2023 after I had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. It has some great reminders in it for me and I hope it will bless you too. I thought now was an apt time to share it as I will turn 58 in just 2 weeks!

Birthday blessings….

This year I turned 55 and planned to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with some friends, summiting on the day of my birthday.  I wanted to pray and prophesy over Tanzania and Africa from the highest point in Africa, because I love this country and this continent and believe it will be home for a long time.  

It was a birthday to remember, without a doubt, but it was not the day I planned!  Thankfully, I am learning to be content in every circumstance and I was able to rejoice in who God is and His kindness and goodness to me, even in difficult and, what could have been, frustrating circumstances.

Four days before my birthday, myself and seven friends headed up the mountain, two of my Tanzanian family came with us too, one as a guide and one as a porter.  James, my Tanzanian son, came as a porter, just because he wanted to go with mama up the mountain!  

We had a great team and laughed a lot together as we set off, tuko pamoja.  The first day we walked through the rainforest and my prayer was that my friends, who had travelled to Tanzania to do Kilimanjaro, would see monkeys, as I was unsure if they would get to do a safari while they were here.  I was so blessed when we got to see both Blue and Columbus monkeys in the first 2 days.  Such a gift and a wonderful answer to prayer.  

I loved the first day of hiking because we ended up walking at night with our torches on, and it was beautiful walking through the forest like this.  Eventually we arrived at our first camp, Mandara and settled down for our first evening on the mountain.  I was blown away when the waiters brought us hot water to wash with, I was not expecting this, and it was a real blessing for all of us.  Just to be able to wash your feet after a day’s hiking was a gift indeed.

On day 2 we arrived at Horombo Camp.  It was beautiful to be above the clouds and this was probably one of the most stunning dinner views I have ever had.  We had the blessing of seeing this view twice, as we had an acclimatization day and stayed at Horombo 2 nights.

Our dinner view at Horombo Camp

Day 4 came and we headed to Kibo, that is Base Camp at 4700 metres above sea level.  I found it really hard to catch my breath as we arrived at Kibo and had to stop several times before I was able to get there, but I made it.  

During these days the guides cared so well for me and carried my day pack.  At first I was a little frustrated that they thought I couldn’t carry it, but I realised that they were lending me their strength because they wanted to give me the best chance of summiting the mountain.  After a while I willingly accepted, but it was very humbling to be able to receive help when I was capable.  A good lesson for life, I think!

At 11:30pm on day 4 we got up to get ready to start our ascent, day 5 was summit day and my 55^th birthday!  After eating we headed off, after maybe 10 or 12 steps I knew that I would not be able to make the summit.  I had a decision to make, did I see how far I could go and then turn back or did I just stop right then?  I decided to stop right then because I knew this gave the others the best possible chance of summiting, so that’s what I did.  I encouraged my friends that they could reach the top and I headed back to our room, meaning that they could walk with all their guides.  It was hard, but it was the right thing to do and I had peace with my decision.

So, on my 55^th birthday, instead of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, I spent the day (or at least most of it) sleeping.  Baraka, one of our guides, told me that they would stretcher me down the mountain later and I was adamant that would not happen, but he just smiled and said, we would see.  He then left me in the capable hands of my son, James and our wonderful waiters.  All of them kept coming to check on me, encouraging me to eat and making me ginger tea.  I slept, I prayed and prophesied, I slept, I ate a little, I drank a little, I slept.  Mostly I slept!

Then it happened, I got diarrhoea, one of the symptoms of altitude sickness.  Believe me, one of the last places that you want to experience this is 4700 meters up a mountain, especially with long drop toilets that are about 300 metres from your room, when altitude sickness means that after every 6-7 steps you need to rest.  Add to this that there is no running water at Kibo Camp, and it is a little bit tough to say the least!  I’m thankful to say that James found warm water for me to wash with, this was heaven and one of the highlights of my day.  Blessings can be found even in the unpleasant things of life.

One of the other highlights came later, and was one that I had been adamant wouldn’t happen earlier in the day.  When my friends arrived back, all of whom had summitted, our guide, Amini, asked me about walking down the mountain to Horombo Camp.  By now I knew that there was no way I would be able to walk down and so it was arranged that I would be stretchered down after all.

Little did I know what that would entail but I am so thankful for the experience, because it makes my birthday memorable and because of what God spoke to me through it.  The stretcher was on one wheel and I had 4 of our team running, with me on the stretcher, down the mountain.  They took me 11 kilometres down a 1000 metre descent in under 2 hours. 

Me wrapped and ready to be taken down the mountain!

There were times when I could feel the steepness of our descent by how they were leaning into the stretcher and using their feet to slow our descent.  During all of this, all I could do was lie there and trust that they knew what they were doing.  God used it to speak to me about how this is how He wants us to trust Him, to know that He knows what He is doing, even when we cannot see or do anything about our circumstances.

I thought that our descent in a little under 2 hours was fast, but before we reached the bottom, both Glory and James were there to look after me.  I was so blessed by my Tanzanian family and their love for me.

When the rest of the team arrived at Horombo we were all taken off the mountain in the rescue car, and to be honest, that was probably the worst part, but only because there were too many of us in there. The other people refused to leave their luggage behind and so it was very squashed, not the best experience when feeling very rough.  However, we were all very thankful to get to the bus that was waiting for us and to enjoy some space!

I know for many people it might have been hard to enjoy this birthday, but I choose to look at the things that God is doing and not what He isn’t, to be thankful for the blessings that I find in every day, even in the hardest days.  

A note from now in 2026: I have come to learn that practising gratitude every day is a key to living the abundant life, because it enables us to find joy in every circumstance, knowing that He works all things together for good for us who love Him and are called according to His purposes.  It also enables us to more truly consider it joy when we face all kinds of trials because we know He is maturing us and transforming us more into the image of Jesus.  I’m thankful to say that the more I practice the more it becomes part of who I am and not just something I do. I’ve still got a long way to go but I’m not where I was, and that is something to be very thankful for!