I would like to give a testimony about my matching and blessing with Emi Igarashi.

I clearly remember the day when my parents told me I was matched. I had just finished my exams when my parents said they wanted to speak with me. I knew it wasn't just going to be a normal talk. They first congratulated me on my exams, and then they moved on to the real topic. They told me that I was matched! Somehow I wasn't surprised, but my heart still jumped up in my throat. They asked me if I wanted to know to who. "Of course" I said. When they told me that I was matched to Emi I didn't understand. Emi was like a sister to me and I never ever imagined getting matched to her. "...but she is my sister" I said. Her family had lived in the same house as my family for many years and we knew each other really well. In a way I was concerned about losing a really close sister, but the more I thought about it the more I felt right about it. I wasn't losing a sister but receiving a partner for life. My mother told me to take 3 days to think about it, but by the end of the day I was sure. What made me make my decision was that I could clearly see Emi and I creating a really beautiful God centered family. Because I knew Emi so well, when I accepted her, I was accepting every part of her. All the good and all the bad.

After this a really weird time started. Emi didn't know that I knew, and I couldn't get myself to talk to her. Somehow she also managed to keep herself really busy so I barely saw her. Later she told me that she did this on purpose. Soon our parents organized a really embarrassing meeting where we all went to this fancy cafe and made it official. We sat beside each other, not looking at each other, while our parents were looking at us. This was our first experience as a couple.

Because of workshops and eventually STF, we didn't see much of each other for almost a year.

I had never wanted to be matched before STF, but my mother somehow knew what was best for me. Before I was matched my mind had been very troubled with this topic. I wouldn't have been able to focus 100 % on STF. Being matched was actually a motivating factor for me to grow as much as possible on STF. I can clearly see how God prepared me during the year to go to the blessing. Being a first year on STF I wasn't expecting to go to the blessing at all, but when I got the chance I didn't hesitate to grab it. I felt that God wanted me to go.

So I joined the very special blessing preparation team. To make the story a little shorter; we finally went to Korea together with the lovely couple David and Sunwha. I thought that it would be really weird and unnatural to meet Emi again, but that wasn't the case at all. I had worried about how to act and what to say, but it all just came natural.

So the big day finally came. I stayed in a room where many other second generation blessing candidates were staying. The atmosphere amongst us guys was just amazing. Many were really nervous, but also very excited. I was actually really calm, but I knew that Emi was really nervous. Then I finally saw her. She was dressed in a really beautiful Kimono and looked wonderful.

Then the blessing ceremony started. It was very different than the usual blessing ceremonies. Even though I didn't really understand the meaning of this blessing, I could feel that it was very important and felt grateful and privileged to be able to attend it. The whole ceremony was suddenly over. It hit me: "We're -blessed!" God has now given you permission to express your love fully to your partner. Amazing. What was most special for me was when Father was giving the blessing prayer. We were standing holding each others hands. At this moment I could feel so much energy flowing between us and it felt like we were one. I was holding on to her quite strongly because she seemed to have problems with her balance. She later told me that it was the Kimono that almost made her faint. :)

After this a whole new life started. I have always been bad at describing my feelings, so I won't even try. The whole time in Korea was like a dream. A very good dream. However, the best thing is that it isn't a dream but it continues in real life. Thank you so much God.

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