Newly Married Couple Shares Testimony Of Grace And Principle Shaping Their Lives

Sara invested in the Hyojeong Youth Academy, then received the Blessing with Connor, detailing her journey of gratitude, challenges, and commitment to God’s guidance.

Over the past year, Sara has invested a lot in the Hyojeong Youth Academy. For example, she created this video summary of the Harp and Young Adult Leaders Retreat 2023.

Now, she received the Blessing with Connor, an American guy who seems friendly and witty. They were one of the 70 newly Blessed couples that made True Parents’ birthday extra special. At the Birthday Pledge Service, True Mother [Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon] said:

“Thank you.

It is through Heavenly Parent’s tremendous love and protection that we have welcomed this day, and we offer our Heavenly Parent infinite gratitude and glory. Through this one day, may the environment for Heavenly Parent be expanded on earth, as is the wish, and the object of devotions, of all members of the Unificationist community throughout the world.“

True Mother, February 15th, 2024

Also, Sara’s story is one of gratitude and glory. But there were also rough patches. Here, you can read her testimony.

Putting God first

By Sara

Staying Connected

After STF [gap-year programme], one main goal was not to return to my old self or lifestyle. I gained much experience and new understanding during the two years in STF, and it was time to test and apply it in a different environment. So, after STF, I made sure to stay involved. My mom, who is a national leader, supported this, very much, making it hard not to be engaged in the community. Besides contributing to community activities, I wanted to find something for myself and remain connected to the broader European activities, given our relatively small community and disconnect from our European region due to distance.

It took me a while to find the right place to contribute. After a while of trying different things, I began supporting a Foundation’s programme that had some people I knew and overall connected to a forward-looking vision. I have been contributing there for three years now. It has kept me accountable in various ways, even when my investment wasn’t the most sincere or motivated. It kept me connected to the vision, people, and the Heavenly Parent.

Riding Highs & Lows

There were numerous moments when I had to decide whether to prioritise school or God. These decisions ranged from small tasks like supporting my community Sunday Service with MCing, cooking, or cleaning to bigger responsibilities such as staffing or organising workshops. It would have been easy to use excuses like being too busy or tired due to exams or projects, but my mom always reminded me of the importance of putting God first.

One such significant moment occurred during the summer when I was under immense pressure to finish a movie for graduation. Simultaneously, I was asked to staff a workshop in Gaflenz. Despite feeling lost with the project and short on time, I decided to staff the workshop. It became necessary because we were supporting two second-gens at the workshop.

During that week of the workshop, my bunny died, and my mom was in a van with some second gens and another parent who was hit by a huge boulder that rolled off a mountain. It was a challenging week, and I wanted to fulfil my role at the workshop and support those two second-gens. After a crazy week, I returned home to a dead pet bunny and the stress of managing somehow to animate something in an extremely short time.

A creative solution came to me to make decent animation for the whole movie. So, despite putting my school on the back burner, I was able to accomplish everything I had to. In the end, I graduated with praise from professors and received a scholarship with that movie a month later. Also, the family’s van that was destroyed could be replaced through the support of the church community.

I could easily think, “I made the movie, I am a genius, so I got a scholarship.” But no, it felt like it was not me; it felt like a blessing from God. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude, realising that I had received it abundantly, seemingly undeservedly, and I felt God wanted to express gratitude for putting Him first. True Father talked about immediately starting new conditions and fishing after a victory celebration; he would run down from the mountain into the valley and immediately start new conditions, praying, fishing, and climbing up again the next mountain. I needed to do the same—acknowledge the blessings, remain humble, and continue contributing. I felt I’ve received a lot, and it’s time to give back.

Matching & Blessing

Various expectations and concepts about matching and blessing have accumulated over the years. As I stepped into matching, I anticipated some changes to those concepts but didn’t expect it to make me face so much of myself. Everything I had built felt tested and everything I had previously resolved was brought up again. It made me re-establish what I learned and tackle unresolved things.

I started on the matching website in May 2020 and was matched at the end of 2022. I didn’t expect it to take so long, and it was not an easy journey either, but he unexpectedly decided to break our match. It was a shock and something I never thought would happen to me. I was sad, embarrassed, and upset that it happened.  It was something I didn’t prepare myself for, so it was hard to deal with. Fortunately, I had the unconditional support of my family and friends, which helped a lot with feeling valued and secure.

It took much longer than I expected to recover from that, and it was hard not to feel like it was impossible to find someone, but I knew that I would not lower my standard or lose hope and settle for someone outside the church or without faith. I kept slowly moving forward. In those moments where you see little hope, it feels like you are at the end of the journey with a sad ending, and it’s hard to know that you are actually at the beginning of it. It was important not to get stuck at this part but to continue riding the wave.

I put aside matching and Blessing and focused on school, church, and everything else. I knew that at this time, as much as I was not happy with the outcomes, I continued to stay connected to God through working for my community and Foundations and that through that small condition, God could hopefully guide and protect me.  After nine months, we received Connor’s profile. Our conversations progressed quickly, and things fell into place. It became clear that we wanted to get matched and blessed, and the journey started to look like a beginning again, and we were excited about what was to come. Connor was everything I had never dared to ask for.

Our whole lives, we have been learning, waiting, and preparing for “The Blessing.” It has often been a faraway goal; even during the matching process, you get too focused on the moment you forget, but finally getting there felt surreal. When it finally started getting real, and we started talking about it, we both felt a sense of gratitude and true blessing.

I am undeserving of such a blessing and want to give back for such a wonderful gift. Once again, I had to remind myself to move my pride and joy aside and continue giving, not forgetting to put God first because once we do, he will be able to protect us, guide us, and help us accomplish our hopes and dreams, too.

What will you do with the Blessing you received?

We both feel very blessed to be a part of this Special ‘Top Gun’ Blessing. Learning about the meaning behind this Blessing and True Mother’s vision for future missionaries helped us understand True Mother’s hearts more. After having done multiple years of full-time mission on GPA, STF, CARP, and in our local communities, we are not being sent to another country to do a mission, but instead are focused on creating a lifestyle of living for the sake of others in all that we do.

We will continue contributing to our local communities and region as a couple and plan to find a shared mission that uses our strengths and passion to invest there. We have big dreams and hopes that we quietly share to each other and God, and hope that one day they may come true.

This article was written and put together by Bogdan Pammer, FFWPU European Vice-President.