2021 – Trusting God through Change
It’s the end of January and I realize I’m a bit late in writing about last year… but I figure this is better than not writing at all!
2021 was a year where I continued learning to trust God in the middle of a lot of change. I’m sure this is a lesson we are all learning as everything in our world continues to be so uncertain!
Last spring, my parents were finally able to come visit for the first time, which was a blast! I had so much fun showing them around Southern California.
Throughout the past year, my housing situation was a bit uncertain. For the first several months, we were trying to find another roommate to join the 5 of us girls in order to help pay for rent. We finally found someone who moved in early summer, and then a month later we got a notice that our landlord was selling the house! So the second half of the year was spent scrambling to find a new place to live. Three of the girls found an apartment together, and the other three of us split up and found individual rooms to rent. In October, I moved in with a family with three young kids.
This was all God’s faithfulness. When we found out we had to move, I was pretty worried about it. It seemed like I had no options, but I was praying for God to provide a room to rent with a family from church. I even considered if I was supposed to stay here in Simi Valley, CA, or move somewhere else. But God answered my prayer for a room with a family, and I knew He still wanted me here. At first it looked like I couldn’t afford to rent the room from them - but then they offered to lower the rent in exchange for babysitting! I have my own room and I enjoy hanging out with the kids a couple times a week!
The transition to living here has been challenging, mainly because I don’t like change and it always takes me a long time to adjust! I miss my old roommates and living with other girls my age/season of life. But I am so thankful that God provided this new house for me.
Another exciting thing that happened in the past year is that my sister got engaged! Over the summer I went back to Michigan for my cousin’s wedding, and got to meet my sister's fiancé and spend time with both of them. Now I have another wedding to look forward to in the coming year!
Besides these highlights, my year was mostly spent doing school and work/ministry. During the summer I took a missions class called Perspectives, which I really enjoyed. As far as work, I quit my office job so I can focus more on ministry opportunities at church. So now my main job is as an intern at my church, focusing on global missions and international students. I’m learning a lot about being on staff at a church. This year we had 2 pastors and many other staff/friends leave for various reasons (all good!). It was a lot of change, which again I had to learn how to navigate and trust God through the change of saying goodbye to friends.
Looking forward, there is a lot to be excited about! I have 3 more semesters of school, and plan to graduate with a Bachelors degree in Biblical Studies in the Spring of 2023. This summer (2022), I have a possible opportunity to go to Osaka, Japan for an internship with Encompass World Partners! The trip would be a vision trip to see if that’s where I want to move after school, as well as my cultural requirement for school. I’m super excited!! Nothing is certain yet, specifically because Japan’s borders are still closed and we don’t know if they will open by this summer or not. But I am continuing to move forward, holding it with open hands and trusting that I will be wherever God wants me to be this summer.
Please pray with me about this opportunity to go back to Japan. Pray that the borders will open so I can go, for financial provision, and for all the logistical details that would need to be worked out in order for me to go. And I pray I will continue trusting God even if I don’t get to go this summer.
This is my verse going into 2022:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
God’s perspective is so different than ours. I want to learn to see myself the way he sees me, completely loved and accepted by him. And I want to see the world from his perspective, trusting that he is in complete control. I pray we can all do the same.
-Allana
