The stamps in my passport stink. 6 from Juarez. 1 from Port-Au-Prince. My wife has only 1 stamp, but it's from Greece. But today (actually tomorrow), I'll get my second one from Amsterdam. Off to Holland, I am. And I enjoy the lack of pressure in packing for Europe. If you forget the typical things you forget when you pack, you can simply buy them there. In Haiti, you just do without it.

Things I like about Holland: A public transportation system that works, an excellent public education system, a populace that accepts others lifestyles and mindsets, and a health care system based on making sure everybody has access (granted, it's highly flawed, but profit should be a by-product, not a motive, in health care/coverage). Oh yeah, I also like July highs of 63 degrees (F). In Texas, we have had 63 days in a row over 100 degrees before. Working windmills.

The thing I dislike about Holland: A series of factors that have caused a population to dismiss God as a failed idea and/or a crutch for the weak. That's why I'm going. In the three weeks I'll be there, I won't see much of that populace...but hopefully, the ones I come in contact with will provide me with the opportunity to talk about high minded ideas like an ordered universe, and absolute truth based in the Person and finished work of Jesus Christ. That's why I'm going. I can't imagine leaving my wife and kids for three weeks for anything less.

So, after a long day of travel, my next post will come from The Netherlands. A public library won't be open until Monday and even then I gotta find out what Internet access rates are so I can keep my posts coming with some degree of frequency. Also, some of you will be interested in our student ministry website to see how the trip is going...and we'll have 14 blogs on it. I'll post the address in my next blog here...Slap Lekker! It's Dutch...look it up.