5 Year Anniversary

                    Tomorrow, Thursday, June 9th, will be my 5 year anniversary living in Idaho. A lot has happened over the last five years, and a part of me feels that this milestone has taken way too long to achieve, with many stressful nights and amazing opportunities, and the other part of me cannot believe how fast the time has gone. 

                    As I am writing this, I am watching the rain fall from my apartment window, vaguely watching and listening to Sherlock Holmes, I am overcome with gratefulness for following God's call to move here. In was Thanksgiving week in 2006 (almost 9 years ago), the first time I had come to Idaho to visit my grandmother who had moved to the area in the fall of 2002. Entering into Nampa, Idaho and taking a wrong turn off the freeway, we ended up at a gas station to get directions. I had stepped out of the van to stretch my legs. It was lightly raining and a place I had never been, never thought about going, felt like home and I had this overwhelming sense that I would not only return to visit my grandmother, but to eventually call this place home. I was in my senior year of high school, getting ready for high school graduation, looking at colleges and trying to find a part time job. 

                    Since my first visit to Idaho, I started looking at Northwest Nazarene, which I was accepted to, and when I moved here, I majored in Communication Science and minored in Bible. At the time I started school and moved to Idaho, I was still trying to figure out how my life would be as a full-time missionary. 

                    

                    During the last five years not only did I start and finish my bachelor's degree, but I worked with an amazing organization, CB Deaf Ministry, to help find orphaned children from around the world forever families, as well as help organize missionary trips to Haiti for teams to help build homes and minister to the Deaf population in Leveque. I also began working at Euclid Community Church of the Nazarene, first as a volunteer on the worship team, playing flute, then I also became church secretary, assisting several pastors and church leaders with their tasks, as well as writing the church bulletins and helping keep the church informed about upcoming events. God also clarified His calling in my life. When He had first called me back on August 9th 2002, He told me, "Cody, I want you to minister to those who cannot hear." Coming from a denomination that didn't allow women to preach, plus my own fears of public speaking, I had interpreted that as becoming a missionary. And wholeheartedly worked toward that goal, until it was clarified in April of 2012, not quite a decade later. 

                    After the clarification, I began to really think about my life as a Pastor, rather than a missionary. In December, a friend of mine, through my church had suggested to go before the church board to get my local pastoral’s license to work within the church to begin on the path that which God had called me to. I continued my studies and really learned how to speak in front of groups and really honed on skills that I know will be and have been a great asset on this journey.

                    In the beginning of 2014, I began to volunteer with the children’s ministry of my church to eventually take over as children’s minister, and I have been doing it ever since. It has been so great to watch the few children at my small church really grow and learn in what it means to not only be a Christian, but what love means and how they can become more like Jesus, even as little children. Some of the highlights of doing this ministry with the kiddos (as I like to call them), 3 were baptized, 5 memorized the Lord’s Prayer and recite it with the rest of the church during our prayer time, as well as each one now have their own bibles and read them on their own.

                    Now, as this pivotal date comes to pass tomorrow, I am just filled with such awe and gratitude with the opportunities, including having classes with Dr. Thomas Jay Oord, having Dr. Diane Cunningham Leclerc as an interim pastor for 6 months and as well as all the more recent opportunities, like my first full-time job at a call center, as well as being able to get into my first apartment, and truly, finally, living on my own. It has been a long time coming, but the families and my family that I lived with have been so ever kind to me for helping when I couldn’t afford a place to stay. I’m so ever grateful for the church family that I have and words cannot describe just how many blessings God has given to me.

                    This journey has not been an easy one, medical issues and problems have been difficult to bear some days, especially with the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia on January 6^th. But even with those nights of hardly any sleep, with crying and the serious thought about giving up, the blessings have far outweighed all the bad things that have happened, and I am so grateful for this opportunity and the people that I attend church and serve with, their friendship is invaluable.

                    So, here is to another 5 years of following God’s call. Where will I be in another 5 years?  Have no idea. But I do know that as God leads the way, I am sure to follow.  

                    

2015

Another year has drawn to a close and another year is beginning.
2014 was a crazy year, emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally. But, there were major milestones and accomplishments that kept me going.

I started my first year of pastoral ministry to several wonderful elementary aged children. Although children's ministry is not my ultimate pastoral goal, adapting to ministering to children, watching them grow, getting to know them as people, inside and outside the church, has just warmed my soul in ways that I have never felt before.

As I continue this role in 2015, I am just anxious to see how they continue to grow, especially now that each of them have their own Bibles to call their own. When I discovered that they didn't have their own Bibles, the Lead Pastor of my church and I decided that they each needed their own.


Although sign language has been minimal in my Kid's Ministry lessons, they have been picking it up quickly and remembering it. Something that also brings a smile to my face.
This Christmas, the kids were a part of our church's annual Christmas Cantata. They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and they performed parts of the song 'Noel' in American Sign Language. I had hoped to teach them the entire song, but each time they came into the chorus with the rest of the choir, it was really beautiful to watch them step out of their comfort zones to share something they had learned. (I am hoping to teach them another song in sign language to be able to sign with the church's band.)


As 2015 begins, I am struggling with the realization that I probably now have Fibromyalgia. (Although I have not gotten an official diagnosis yet.) Living with severe pain all over my body since the beginning of December has me trying to understand what is going on with my body and how it is going to shape my ministry from here.

2015 will be a year of changes (so was 2014), but I can either look at it and just go back to bed and sleep the year away, or I can accept this as something that I can live with and learn how to redo a few things to be able to still effectively minister to those around me. I am quickly learning that perception is very important (although for me much harder to keep positive, since I also suffer from chronic depression.)

Adjusting to signing thus far has been one of the most frustrating challenges, but I know that in this new reality that God is still by my side, and is bringing me people to come along side me and encourage me.

I pray that as this new year starts for you, that it is filled with hope, love, peace, joy, grace, blessings and adventure.

Much love,
Cody Marie Bolton

First Mini-Sermon

It seems that I do not get nearly as much time blogging as I would like to. With online classes, work, Children's Ministry, often times at the end of the day I collapse in my bed and start another long, busy day again. 

However, recently, I was asked by my Church's Women's Ministry to put together a 10 minute sermon/lesson for our After Work Women's Fellowship. 

At first, I was not sure what I wanted to write about, but it seems that when I was in the right state of mind, the Holy Spirit directed me to talk about Advent, and what the Advent/Christmas season is all about. 

Here is the message I shared with the ladies there:

12/4/14

“Hope, Love, Joy and Peace”

The Advent season is filled with many things, and it is during this time of year we can easily get distracted with the busyness and things that we feel like we “need” to do.

Obviously, there are things that we need to do for our basic necessities, such as work and taking care of our families.

But it is often during this time of year, we pick up extra activities: plan for the “big dinner”, go shopping for all our family and friends and get caught up in that moment of commercialism that we can forget what this time of year is really about. Not to mention all that decorating, wrapping and writing.

So what is this season about? Advent, as Pastor Benjamin explained on Sunday means, “to prepare,” or as I found, studying for Kids lessons, it can also be interpreted as “coming.”

Essentially, during the Advent season we are preparing for the coming of Christ.

Hope, Love, Joy and Peace make up this season of preparation.

Hope and Love represent the first two weeks of Advent.

Joy and Peace represent the last two weeks of Advent.

All over in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments we find Hope and Love, intertwined together: Here a just a couple of them:

Psalm 33:22: Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. (NLT)

Romans 5:3-5: Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (World English Bible)

There are other Bible verses that may talk about either hope or love explicitly, but hints at the other.  

For example:

Psalm 25:5: Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

We hope in the Lord, but it is by God’s love that we are saved. (Romans 5:8 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.)

And we also see throughout the Old and New Testaments Bible verses about Joy and Peace.

A great example of this comes from Luke 2:10-14: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

                                             

And again, we can find verses that explicitly talk about one and hint at the others.

1^st Thessalonians 5:13b, 16-18, 21, 23-24,

….Live in peace with one another. Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus….May God himself, the God of Peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Peace and Joy. But as I read this passage, I am also filled with immense hope and reminded of the Love that God has for us, through Jesus Christ.

Every year I am one of many who get overwhelmed during this season, yes, it is a joyous time of the year, but life doesn’t stop and wait for this season to be over. Things come up at work, or we lose work, have car repairs, medical bills, other unexpected expenses, heaters going out, death, or even the weather. And we can really easily lose focus.

Right now, a dear friend of mine is in the hospital. Essentially, she is dying, and when I took on the job of being her caregiver, I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be for me to watch her suffer with all the things she is currently going through. She’s only 53; has young grandkids and I am old enough to be her daughter.  

But she has really just shown me what this time of year means. She has been able to live out hope, love, joy and peace in her life as she trusts in the Lord. She has been classified as terminally ill, her COPD will take her life, but she still places her hope in the Lord. She still loves the Lord. The Lord has brought her a sense of peace, something she has never had before. And she still lives life with a smile on her face. She still has reasons to get up every day and she is just a joy to be around.

She cannot get enough of studying the Bible. She cannot get enough of her church and the family of believers that she is a part of. Through her long list of illnesses, almost one dozen different doctors monitoring her every move, she isn’t focused on that stuff. She has placed her complete hope in the Lord that He will provide for her needs. And that has been good enough for her. She loves the Lord her God, with all her heart, soul, mind and strength and has been able to place her hope in the only One who can deliver her. And He has given her peace and joy in the hardest time of her life.  

As I was putting together this lesson, I was reminded that hope, love, joy and peace are there to comfort us, no matter where we are at in life. Whether life is good, or as my friend says, “peaches and cream” we still look toward Christ and what happened the day He was born.

Hebrews 11:1 and 1^st Corinthians 13:6-8a have great reminders for us, during this Advent season, and for the rest of the year.

Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

1^st Corinthians 13:6-8a: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

And Love was born at Christmas.

Hope, Love, Peace, Joy, the four elements of Advent are not independent. They intertwine, branching from the One who came to this world to save us from ourselves.  

As we go through the rest of Advent, may we prepare for Christ’s birth, in our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. May we continuously look to Him for comfort, guidance, hope, love, peace and joy.

In closing I wanted to leave you with a few words from the Apostle Paul:

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and work.  

As I continue to learn and grow and understand what it means to be a 'Minister of the Gospel', it was a great confirmation of my call into ministry that the women not only accepted the message, but it really hit home for them. 

I pray that during this season of Advent and Christmas, that we never forget what is actually important during this time of year.

Peace and Blessings,

Cody Marie

Mission Trip Bay Area 2014

                   On a last minute opportunity, I was able to go with a few teens from my church (along with another local church) to go on a mission trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. Last year I was on a mission trip to San Francisco with one of my college classes. This opportunity was a longer trip. And we were able to work with more organizations that are making a huge impact on an area where homelessness isn't taken very seriously.
                   In Oakland we got to work with the Bay Area Rescue Mission on Monday and Tuesday. They have programs for the working poor and homeless and have a children's program to feed and educate children in a Christian environment while their parents are getting help for food or while they are at work. While there for two days, we played games with the kids, watched movies, played video games, helped them with their homework and reading and were able to bond with them. This part of the trip instilled in me the importance of my current ministry to children and how important it is for children to see the love of God, especially when their lives are tough.
                  On Monday evening we did a prayer tour of San Francisco and we got to see some pretty sad realities of people who are homeless and those who are classified as the "working poor."
                  Tuesday night we did a prayer tour of Oakland. Although I grew up only 2.5 hours from the Bay Area, I had actually never really seen Oakland. It was a place where you just didn't go. And as it turns out there are a lot of really great homeless people in Oakland (and San Francisco.)
                 On Wednesday morning we went around San Francisco and just talked with the homeless to get a feel for the area, to know what it was like to live there and to understand a bit about the things that they go through on a regular basis. My group met a woman named Barbara, she is a Christian and reminded us all of the importance of calling upon our Savior in every situation we are faced with.
                 On Wednesday afternoon we went to Saint Vincent's Day Home, which is a similar program to the Bay Are Rescue Mission, but it is state-run. And although we couldn't directly tell the children about God, we could still show the kids God's love by playing with them and helping their teachers teach them. My class was the 4-5 year olds. We spent 2 hours on the playground. One little four year old girl was nervous about the playground equipment. There was something that she wanted to do, that the other children were able to do, but she was scared. I was able to talk her through it, and she was able to successfully able to complete it! And then she did it again, and again, and again! (She must have done it 20+ times.) And each time she got faster and faster and was really excited that she was able to accomplish something she didn't think she was able to do.
                 On Thursday morning we went to Saint Anthony's which is an organization that has been helping to feed the homeless and the working poor since 1950. I was in the dining room the entire time, giving people their food and cleaning up the tables so those who walked in could have a clean place to sit and eat their food. I was proposed to by a very nice older black gentleman with a white afro. He had first asked me if I was married, when I said no, he asked if I could be his wife. We talked for a little while. And joked around. On my lunch break, I sat down and talked with a man who was homeless, but could speak 5 different languages and was part Middle-east and part Spanish. He could speak Arabic, English, Spanish, French and Italian. When it was time to leave I almost started to cry. I held back tears. Working with the homeless and the working poor has been a real treat for me and I know that God has also called me to work with these people as well and to show them how much God loves them.
                On Thursday afternoon we went to POH (Project Open Hand). Last year I also volunteered at POH. This organization is similar to Meals on Wheels, but they help those that Meals on Wheels doesn't help: the homeless, those who are bed ridden or those who cannot leave their homes, those with HIV/AIDS. They also have a grocery store/pantry for those who are well enough to buy their own food. We packaged hundreds of bags of oatmeal and granola. I still wonder who all received that food.....
                Also on Thursday, the group that we partnered with CSM (Center for Student Missions), we were given $10 per group to be able to help a homeless person or two with something that they really needed. We came across a few different people, but the one who sticks most in my mind is Paul (he also went by Buck). His wife was in and out of the hospital with MERSA and couldn't see her as much as he wanted to. He needed a new pair of shoes and something to keep him warmer at night. Our group went on a hunt for the closest thrift store. Couldn't find anything there, so they gave us directions for another. We must have walked almost 2 miles total looking for things for this man. We took a long time and we worried he might not have been back when we arrive back at the area we talked in, but we found him. We were able to find an almost new pair of shoes for him, plus a fleece jacket so we could wear it under his 49ers one. They were both in his favorite color blue. And he was tickled at that the shoes not only were in his color, but that they fit well and that the brand name "Beast" was the nickname his wife had for him. <3 a="" man.="" nbsp="" p="" such="" sweet="" very="">                Friday was our group's free day. I took that to go see some family I hadn't seen in a while and it was great to do a little catch up. (Although traveling, we got stuck in bad traffic, so my visit with my grandma was very short.)

               This trip reminded me of the importance of helping others and that although I do not have a lot either, I am still much richer than those that I was able to help this last week. I am going to look at volunteering at the Boise Food Bank and the Boise Rescue Mission. This trip also reminded me that we don't need to travel very far to be able to greatly impact an area that has a large homeless and poor population. And it doesn't take much to be able to help another person. 

Children's Minister

In just a little under two weeks (12 days), I will be introduced as the new Children's Minister at my church. This is my first real shot at leading ministry. I have been a part of several ministries since high school (Youth Group; Worship team at three churches; volunteering and helping teach kids ministry; church secretary), but this will be the first time that I will be the teacher, leader and mentor to a small, but great group of kids.

Since January, I have been getting to know the children better and I have been helping lead and leading some of the time in Children's Church. After some trial and error, I have come to discover that Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber and all their friends (from VeggieTales) have really helped engage their attention to how to live and be more Christlike. And it has been great to see them grow just in the time that I have been teaching. I am very excited for this new transition and blessed that this is how I start working in pastoral ministry. And after the children realized I was going to be their new teacher, they slowly became excited and now look forward to coming to Children's Church.

It will be exciting too to have three pastors at my church again. It has been great to work with our Youth/Associate Pastor and our Lead Pastor.