December 6, 2007

Over Russia en route to Beijing

It has been a very long day, mostly because we are so sleepy and tired. At this moment mom and I feel much , much better. Once we were on board this plane everyone immediately fell asleep. All the young children and babies on this flight are very quiet so we have slept well. For dinner, we just finished eating, I had the choice of chicken or pasta. I went with the chicken which turned out to be a Chinese styled chicken, rice, spinach, and cashew meal. It was probably the best airline meal I have ever had. Having got the best sleep and the best meal of the trip, I feel quite nice now. Once I finish this entry I will try to sleep again. When the plane lands it will be about 9am in Beijing and we are supposed to start touring. We will need our rest and by sleeping and then waking up in the morning, Beijing time, perhaps we will help our biological clocks adjust.



When we arrived in Amsterdam we took our time to get our bearings, brush our teeth, and some of us put on a fresh shirt. Because we had about 7 hours before the flight to Beijing, we decided to try to get in a tour of Amsterdam. We found a bus tour that was based in the airport. That tour lasted 2 1/2 hours and gave us a very nice feel for the city. We saw some "country" outside the city which included farmland, dikes, and a couple traditional Dutch windmills. In the city there were many examples of old architecture in the houses, churches, museums, theatres and a palace or two. We saw a couple of thatched roofs. Some streets were paved and many others were cobblestone. The streets were very, very , I would say extremely, narrow, especially by American standards. Many vehicles travelling quickly, very narrow streets, thousand of bicycles and pedestrians, it was quite surprising that we didn't hit someone or they hit us ... oh yeah, I forgot there were also trains moving quickly in all this as well. Our driver did share that he has had a few collisions while doing tours. I'm not surprised. I am happy it didn't happen while we were here.



As for one of the famous things the Netherlands and Amsterdam are known for is the system of dikes. The city and the country lie below sea level so it is imperative they be able to remove water to prevent flooding. The fact they can do this is very impressive. It also makes for a beautiful city as the old roads, the old buildings, and the many thousands of cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians, don't forget boats as well, exist among a network of rivers and canals.

One other thing we saw was the home of Anne Frank. You will learn about her as you grow up. Your sisters enjoyed learning about her and were excited to see the house even if it was just to drive by and take a few pictures of the outside. At this point I am reminded that you and Anne have much in common. At young ages you found yourselves in extremely difficult circumstances and with little reason to hope for improvement. Although Anne's work, her diary, lives on as an inspiration to millions of people, she was unable to survive her circumstances. I thank God that he has a different plan for you. You will survive. In fact, you will thrive! Again, I marvel at the greatness of God to unite us from opposite sides of the world. Many people would say you are a lucky girl. Since I don't believe in luck anymore, I would have to disagree. I would instead say that we are thankful that in God's sovereignty, he decided to glorify himself in this way. Again, that's not luck, that's God. He loves us. He loves you! Just as I am adopting you, God adopted me. Just as you are a complete member of my family, and thus you are entitled to anything and everything that my other children, your sisters, are entitled to, God has made me a complete member of his family. I have full access, as an heir, to God's kingdom just like his son, Jesus. We have prayed that God would also make you part of his family.

Well I should get some sleep now. See you in just 4 1/2 days. Love, Dad.