Living Slowly

My dear supporters,

I’d love to give all of you an update of where I am not only geographically, but where I am spiritually with the Lord as well. This blog will be a bit of a summary of what life has looked like for me in Nicaragua so far.

My squad and I have now been in Grenada, Nicaragua for about two weeks, and thus far I have seen the Father reveal His simplicity in ways I hadn’t even known to look for previously. There are pieces of this life that are an absolute dream, however, simply and truthfully some pieces are full of heartache and growth that hurts. I see the Lord in small moments, like walking down a dirt road to a tienda with half of my squad and getting giant glass bottles of coke that taste sweet and refreshing in the Nicaraguan heat after two months of only water and coffee. I see Him in moments in which my best friends and I are piled in the back of a pick up truck, holding on for dear life as the wind whips around our grinning faces and wide eyes. 

However, we have the utmost privilege of serving a God who also shows up in moments within small houses made up of scraps of plastic and tin roofs and dirt floors. Homes of people like Lucienda, a woman who has hardly enough to keep her house protected when it storms, but as soon as anyone steps foot past the threshold of her sweet home, she meets them with “mucho gusto” and a mango bigger than my hands. I could see my Creator in the beautiful Spanish words this woman spoke to my squad mates and I when we got to spend the morning with her one day, even before I was told what she was saying. The deep laugh lines etched in her face became more visible, her smile growing wider, as the conversation continued and as we looked even more foolish with ripe mango dripping down our chins, landing in our laps. 

The Lord dwells in every moment. How kind of Him it is to make His presence known to me as often as He does. 

Reap ministries, is the organization we get to work with for the next two months that we’re here in Nicaragua. The ministry here is beautiful. The Father has been so intentionally detailed in the ways He has interceded upon my life, my squad mates’ lives, and upon other people’s lives both missionaries and those we are ministering to alike. Reap ministries maintains a goal of making sure every one of the missionaries working alongside them is serving out of a place of rest and strength in the Lord. This means we choose our ministry, choosing to work alongside the evangelists that are already going out and the farmers that are already farming the farmland here. It’s a simple life full of the Father and His light and it’s a ministry that truly glorifies Him. 

I was working in the garden this morning, pulling weeds and talking to Felix, a man who trains all of the farm dogs on the REAP base, and whose favorite song is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. He would hand me lavender and basil to smell and worms to hold and giggle at. It was a slow morning full of laughter and sunshine and light air and warmth. As I was pulling the weeds, I was reminded of the Father and the ways in which He pulls the weeds out of the garden that is my heart. 

I really love to visualize where I’m at with the Father, whether it’s a tranquil place in my quiet time, or simply what the season of life I’m in with Him can be symbolized by. Right now, in this season, I picture the Lord and I in our own garden. A garden in which we walk and talk and laugh and work. We work in drawing out impurities and putting to death my pride and my flesh, pulling one weed at a time. We admire the lavender, thyme, gorgeous lilies, and orchids that flourish and bloom within this sweet garden He has carefully planted for He and I to admire and for me to even further admire Him. 

The thing about this process of pruning and sanctification, is that it’s slow. It’s never done according to my timeline or my preference, yet I still get to choose it. The Father is a gentleman in that He disciplines me and He corrects me gently because He doesn’t want me to stay broken. However, the Father is also a gentleman in that He invites me into growth and He allows it to happen slowly. (Romans 12:1-2) Because let’s face it, we would never be able to have our hearts truly changed overnight, and the way in which we are called by Christ to live exists in deep contrast to the way in which our human nature desires that we live. (Ephesians 4:1)

So here I am, living slowly with the Father as He continues to sanctify me and refine me to look more like Him. I am so eternally grateful to Him and for Him, not only for everything He has given me, but also merely for who my Lord and Savior is. As my teammate Sydnie says: “I can’t believe we get to do this!” “This” being living a life following the Lord. “This” being bringing Kingdom and living like a daughter of the Highest King. 

– Landry