Amsterdam

Jake and I went on a nice quick getaway up to Amsterdam.  We rented bikes for the day and loved seeing and being a part the "city of bikes" After we turned our bikes in at 5:00 walking felt so slow.  We were really able to see and do a lot. 

The train station

Anne Frank house there across the street.  I was kicking myself for not having done my research and reserved a tour.  The wait was 2-3 hours!!  As we were riding by we heard a tour guide say that the line dies down at night.  So we figured we'd swing by after dinner to give it a chance...

Such a cool city

Love the big bike lanes

The Van Gogh museum was neat to see

Stop lights just for bikes!

All those bikers crossing the road.  This is how it is everywhere!

We asked our hotel concierge for a restaurant of local Dutch fare.  It did not disappoint.  The building was so old and so unique, it made for a really fun experience and the food was fantastic.

Blurry, but a fun little eating cove

Also blurry, but I loved how we continued on in the rain

New sweatshirt...because it was cool

And we did go back to the Anne Frank house and it was only a 45 minute wait.  We were just about the last people to go through.

Fascinating to learn more about Anne.  I read her diary years and years ago.

But, the next morning we drove up to Harlem to visit Corrie Ten Boom's house.  I loved this tour 10X more.  We woke up early hoping to catch the first tour and we were anticipating similar lines as Anne Frank.  We showed up with 10 minutes to spare to see no one!  There ended up being about 20 people.  They sat us in their family room and talked 10-20 minutes about Christ's atoning sacrifice.  I also had been reading the Hiding Place which made it all more real and meaningful as well.

A jewelry shop, which once was their watch shop

The place they gathered for scripture study each night

The small space where the 7 Jews were hiding when the Nazi's invaded the house.  They had practiced drills of hiding all their evidence (coats, hats, plates, trash, ashtrays) and getting into the room and they got down to 70 seconds.

Their way in and out

The bag Corrie had packed for prison just in case, but left behind because it was next to the secret door that she did not want to draw attention to.  It had things like aspirin and toothpaste, things she really needed especially with the fever she suffered from for the first few weeks in prison.

The town square just a block away.

The kids got lots of movies and candy with Pop and Grammie, they were happy campers.

I finished The Hiding Place just a couple weeks after we got home.  It has become one of my favorite books.  So many valuable lessons, I was completely inspired.  One particular part of the story that struck me was when Corrie's sister Betsie asked her to thank God for everything, which included the fleas they were sleeping with.  Corrie thought it was silly, but did it anyway.  They later learned that it was the fleas that kept the guards away so that they could have their scripture studies open and freely.

Their open hearts, their faith, their forgiveness...to one of the jailers she saw years after the war...

"His hand was thrust out to shake mine.  And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemnedaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.  Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?  Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand.  I could not.  I felt nothing, not the slightest spark or warmth or charity.  And so again I breathed a silent prayer.  Jesus, I cannot forgive him.  Give me Your forgiveness.
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened.  From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this strayer that almost overwhelmed me.
And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His.  When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself."