The Words of the Lee Family |
Eldest daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Yo Han Lee
About a week before Parents' Day, my parents called me from Korea and told me to send my picture to Korea and prepare for a possible matching. For years I had thought a lot about the Blessing. I thought I knew all about it, but when it came time to face the reality of it, I realized there were many things I didn't yet grasp.
A few days after that, my father sent me a letter from Korea by express mail. That was truly a gift. He gave me some advice about the Blessing. He explained that without True Parents, there would be no true love. He said it was such a glorious opportunity to be able to be blessed by Father. Of course I knew all these things, but just hearing them from my father once again, I could feel new faith growing deep in my bones.
The day of the matching in Korea I received a phone call from my parents. My mother said, "Congratulations!" I didn't quite realize what had happened; then she told me, "Father has just matched 14 couples and you were the third. You have been matched to Jin Suk Hong [son of Rev. and Mrs. Chong Bok Hong]."
I didn't feel it was happening to me. I thought, I'm hearing about somebody else. Then my father congratulated me and asked me how I felt. But I didn't know how I felt. I thought I was in a dream. I couldn't believe it, so I didn't say much.
But then when I hung up I realized it was real, that it had indeed happened. I started to cry and I couldn't stop. I was so grateful for Father and Father's Blessing. Then I called my friend Ye Sook Lee in Boston right away to let her know.
When I was on my way to Korea, I tried to remember Jin Suk's face. I knew him, but not well. His older sister and I are good friends, so I just knew him as my friend's younger brother. I couldn't believe he was the one I had been waiting for my whole life. When I arrived in Korea, I didn't think he would be at the airport to meet me, because I thought everybody would be busy. But there he was, waiting for me.
When I was growing up in Korea I was completely under my parents' guidance. My parents took care of me, and I didn't worry about anything. I just went to school and tried to be a good girl and a good student. I had no difficulty with my faith.
But when I came to America four years ago, I moved into an apartment by myself near my school in Philadelphia where I study piano and I had to do everything on my own. In Korea, my parents had always told me what was wrong and what was right, but here in America I had to make every decision without them. I was very afraid, but in a way I was surprised I could do it myself.
There is a whole different atmosphere here. I'd heard so many things about America before I came, so I was aware of the situation, and I didn't want to get involved in anything bad. At school I just go to my classes and come home and practice. I often talk on the phone with other blessed children. Many members envy us, but deep inside we feel very lonely. When my parents write, that really helps me. Whenever I receive a letter from them, I cry. It's difficult living in this kind of world.
I feel that the condition for being included in this Blessing was absolute obedience to Father. Whatever Father says, we should do it, because we are now in the direct dominion.
When I think about my parents, I just cry and feel sorry for them, because all their lives they just did what God wanted. Our parents were the first ones to pioneer the Unification Church. They gave all their blood and sweat and tears. They gave up everything they had in life to follow True Father. Now I realize that our parents sacrificed so much precisely for this moment. We are the living result, the fruits of all their years of sacrifice and love.