Imagine spending a weekend learning how to be successful in the most important aspects of your life and future. Now imagine doing this in the beautiful subtropical weather of southern Florida, in a gorgeous lecture hall with huge windows looking out into the tree tops of a pristine and primordial forest. Then imagine doing all this with 65 of your best friends, who have gathered from afar as one big family!

That is a good description of exactly what happened this past weekend (March 31-April 1) at the Blessing Workshop for Second Generation held at the Fern Forest Nature Park in Pompano Beach, Florida!

There were 67 young people, aged 14 – 22, who came to the workshop from as far as North Carolina, Georgia, and even Canada and the Bahamas! They were joined by 34 parents, who enthusiastically participated in the workshop, including the lectures, Dads’ discussion groups, and Moms’ group sharings.

One of the key factors that made this workshop special was the presence of the national level leaders of the Family Fed Education Department and Second Generation Department. They spearheaded the lectures and leadership of the overall event. Our Florida young people were thrilled to hear that Rev. Philip Schanker would be presenting the lectures. He exceeded their expectations with sincere heartfelt presentations. The participants were moved by his honesty and concern for them.

One of the most meaningful lectures was from Rev. Inguk Seo, the Director of Second Generation Blessing, on the identity and role of the 2G. We also heard two very relevant (and very different) testimonies from David Hunter and Naokimi Ushiroda, as elder members of the Second Generation. Naokimi also was the MC and leader of the workshop, meeting and asking questions of the ten 2G group leaders.

As a central theme to the workshop, Rev. Schanker encouraged each young person to focus on becoming the right person for the blessing, rather than looking for the right person to be blessed to. He emphasized that if I’m looking for someone who’s the perfect fit for me; my chances of success are very low, because no one will fit all the criteria I set. If we commit to become the right person to serve God, True Parents, and True Family, and make the world a better place, then we learn the culture of heart and the way of true love. With this approach, our chance of success in the matching and blessing is extremely high, because we have learned to put others before ourselves, and live for the greater good.

Each second generation participant over 16 years of age received a graduation certificate that fulfills the workshop requirement for matching and blessing. The parents who attended received certificates of gratitude that read, "You are hereby thanked thousands of times for your heart, your dedication, and your assistance to the Second Generation during the 2 Day Blessing Workshop for matching candidates."

Every person who invested their weekend into this Blessing preparation was able to experience a little heaven, reconnect with core values, and feel a great surge of hope and excitement about the very special mission of being a couple Blessed by True Parents.

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