Amsterdam Daze

Amsterdam Daze, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

And now for a slight change of pace.

Yesterday, while I was walking from one coffee shop to another in Morgantown for a meeting, I had this strange feeling like I wasn't in Morgantown exactly. I wouldn't call it déja vu, but it was like the weather, the air, the light, and the people were vaguely familiar.

As I was walking, I thought to myself, this feels like the city of Amsterdam has felt every time I've been there with a team for a mission trip. The skies were grey and overcast, and yet at the same time it was bright. The air had a crisp maritime winter bite to it, but Morgantown is not a maritime area. It looked and felt like it could rain or snow at any moment, but if it did either, it wouldn't be a downpour.

And then the people. People were bundled, and busy. Everyone was walking with a purpose. The street looked somehow a little taller and more narrow. I half-expected to see people whizz by me on bicycles. But, it didn't happen. I was in Morgantown and not Amsterdam. None-the-less, I took a snapshot of one of the main drags of Morgantown just a few moments after the feeling hit me, but like most photos, it doesn't fully convey what I was experiencing.

The time prompted me to pray for my friends in Amsterdam who have started a church right in the heart of the city. At least four of those friends, Eric, Todd, Sander, and a href="http://naomithoughts.blogspot.com/">Naomi keep blogs and help keep the rest of the world connected to their efforts.

I took the time God gave me yesterday, along with some time as I was writing this blog, to pray for my friends across the big water. Maybe you could do some of the same.

In the meantime, have you ever had an experience like that. You know you are in one place, but everything about the place feels like somewhere else you have been. Sometimes I think God uses little promptings like that to remind us just how small our world really is.