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 6th. 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.
