Amsterdam in five hours or less...

Amsterdam in five hours or less…
Well, I am on my way to Ghana, haven’t arrived yet, but have already had a mini-adventure. As some of you know I had a five-hour layover in Amsterdam before flying on to Ghana. I was informed by friends that it doesn’t count as “being in” a country unless you actually go somewhere and do something. I had no intention of leaving the terminal, let alone the airport as we began our descent into Schiphol International Airport, but then I found out that this airport had baggage lockers, and a train station in it, and was only a 15-min trip from Central Amsterdam. So, for the first time in my life, I decided to ditch my paranoia about leaving during layovers, and set foot on European soil (also a first for me). I have to say that I loved my 2+ hours that I spent walking around the city. Granted you can’t see that much in such a small amount of time, and the prices were too high to be able to eat most of the places I passed. But I was able to see the canals and old buildings and fun stuff of that nature. I also saw more bicycles than I have ever seen in my life…I really think that if you took the sum total of all bikes I had seen in the past 26 years, that number would pale in comparison to the plethora, the multitude, the whole big mess of bikes I saw today. I had no idea that the Dutch loved the bicycle so much…but now I know and knowing is half the battle. One other thing I did during my time out on the town was to pay an exorbitant amount (18 Euros!) to buy a pass on the Canal Bus system. I almost didn’t do this (because that’s entirely too much for me to be spending on this trip for as little use as I was going to get out of it), but in the end it came down to me REALLY wanting to see Anne Frank’s House (Anne Frank Huis). I’m glad I did, because let’s face it who knows if/when I’ll come through Amsterdam again? I didn’t go in because the line was reeeeeallly long, it even wrapped around the corner, and as I said before I was in a bit of a time crunch.
I think the thing that surprises me the most about this little excursion is the fact that, if the same situation had occurred a year ago, I don’t think that I ever would have made the decision to go out and have a look around. Unless there was someone else with me any fleeting thought of leaving would have been quickly squashed by my practical side—that would be the side of me that sees pretty much every single possible negative outcome, and decides that the risks far outweigh the benefits of deviation from the plan. In fact if I had been with a friend and they had suggested going out, I probably would have been the “Voice of reason” and once again would have given in to timidity and not taken the risk.
So the next question I have to ask myself is where does this confidence come from? Sure I didn’t have much to fear with language barriers due to the fact that almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks English, but still I don’t think that is necessarily what would have made me nervous in the first place. Again I think that it is very much a question of confidence. Ultimately I think it comes down to knowing where I fit in the world around me, to having a knowledge of what God has placed in me and is preparing me for. During my DTS one verse seemed to stand out to me. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” The truth is that timidity doesn’t fit into the plans God has for our lives. God intends for us to be bold, to have confidence in the abilities that He has placed within us. How can we be worried and timid when we know that before He created the foundations of the Earth, he had plans for us? I think that far too often we fail to grasp just how much God cares for us, which leads so many of us to believe that maybe He cares for creation as a whole, but would He ever take a moment to make real plans, and furthermore to instill in us what we need to see those plans come to pass?
I don’t think that it is coincidental that during the commissioning at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday (the very day I left), the beginning verses of the book of Jeremiah came up.
“The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’ ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’ But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.” ~Jeremiah 1:4-7~
If God is for us, who can be against us? I find that simply knowing the truth—that God cares for me personally—has gone very far in changing the way that I view not only myself, but the world around me as well.

~Rachel~
p.s. sorry this is over a week old...sometimes internet connections fluctuate here. will try to get something new up soon :)