Day Two. Breda
I awake to the gentle crinkling on my tent’s peak as leaves and early morning breezes entice my eyes to open. Dawn has come since last I closed my eyes. I did not expect such a deep sleep as this.
There is a hush over the land, a softness to the air, a peaceful lull, a delicious sweetness not found at any other time of day. I linger within it eager to be infused with its freshness. I am reminded how God’s Spirit hovered over the waters of creation speaking life and I realize this longing is God hovering over His new creation of a day even within me. It is how He speaks life into the me I will become today.
The sounds of early morning farm life have replaced the cockledoodledoos of my Tanzanian sunrises. The horses neigh and snort, the smell of hay and the richness of dirt and land fill my deep breathing.
My friends have invited me on their vacation. They are traveling the southern Netherlands exploring the diverse history of it. We have come to Middlerode where we are camping at the end of a charming dead end lane. The campground is in the lovely secluded center of this working farm. There are families all around sharing the beauty of living out loud in the outdoors.
Horses and farms nestled in neighborhoods of quaint brick houses with living fences and wooden gates. One way cobblestoned streets that accommodate two way traffic and require good manners to rule the day. We pass the bright yellow of the growing sunflower border that marks a boundary for the corn. The breezes bear the sweetness of the country’s allure.
We are off to Breda today to the STDLK museum.. There is more history to be learned in one of the oldest cities in The Netherlands. It is a modern museum filled with long ago treasures. My curiosity is piqued by the towers and turrets of the castle and church, circa 1400, but my heart belongs to the paintings of light and shadow.
The Master’s Light
You call to me from the light of these paintings but I don’t recognize the message. My heart is set afire with an almost visceral desire to create this way. In the layers of light and color and, like a tractor beam, I am pulled into the texturing and miracle of clarity and shadow, depth and grandeur. The longing to internalize and make real the elusive mystery of such skill makes me ache with my perceived lack.
I must sit in it awhile and listen to understand.
You are calling me into the beauty of the light. You, through it, push back the shadowy crowdedness and boundaries of my inward self. It is Your process within me that makes room for the beauty of Yourself. Little by little expanding my capacity until I will no longer ache with longing because Your beauty will have made room to live fully at home in me. This is the message of The Master’s Light.
You, as always, give meaning and rest to my wandering soul when I sit within Your leading. What a marvelous day!
NetherAnne
August, 2026
😘
Tripping with God: Stories of Faith and Inspiration 