GPA Raises Funds for National Victory

Fundraising is an effective way to shape one’s character, whether it be confidence, mindset or faith.

I was out on a blitz with a partner, Emiri. In the beginning it seemed like any other blitz, but them something about this blitz seemed off. It was like my mind had just walked onto a frozen lake and I was slowly sliding my way across with my partner.

The spirit we felt was covered in darkness. It was like Satan had the people wrapped around his finger. Emiri and I were like bright torches in the darkness, but we were slowly fading out. We were affected by the environment, and that’s where I discovered our flaw: our attitude.

We must act as if we were drops of water in a raging river, getting ready to fall at any moment and continue going. This was the mindset I had and shared it with Emiri. The ice beneath us began to crack so many times, however, with our change of attitude we slowly and cautiously kept going, and that’s what made the difference. We cannot control the environment around us but we can control the environment within us.

Emiri and I realized that the most dangerous Satan is ourselves. Satan can’t stop you himself. His objective is to get you to stop you, to get inside your mind and attack you with temptation and accusation. We didn’t let this happen, and when we realized this, it gave us an even stronger motivation. We were the ones stopping ourselves from doing better.

The uncomfortable feeling one gets while fundraising comes from knowing that we’re not being or doing the best that we can. If we can use this feeling wisely, we can use it to push us from where we are to where we need to be. What I learned from this and what everyone needs to learn is to stop running from our pain. Our pain is going to be a part of our prize and our victory. God is not going to give us what we want, but He will give us what we need.

I was able to hit a personal record from making a determination to think of True Mother during my runs. No matter how much my legs hurt from running I could keep on running because True Mother and God were my energy and motivation. It was such a crazy experience.

The next day, however, I couldn’t feel True Mother or God. I wasn’t in tune with their frequency like I was the day before. I couldn’t connect with them, and because of that my heart was sorrowful and repentful. Even though I couldn’t connect with them, I kept on running and moving my body.

So, the rest of that day and the next day I thought of what I could do. I called my Mama the next day and told her my entire experience about tuning into True Parents’ frequency. She gave me some great advice. She said, “When you have a good external/internal day, repent with deep gratitude. When you have a bad external/internal day, be joyful for God and comfort Him. Because God is always with you, all day and all night. A lot of the time we feel immense joy when we hit a high external goal, of course God is happy too, but what about the low external days? You have to feel joyful even when you are at rock bottom. And on days we receive God’s blessing, repent with gratitude, saying ‘Thank you, God for loving me.’”

Through this advice from my Mama I was able to learn a deeper form of repentance and mindset as I fundraise. No matter how amazing or difficult the days were, I had this mindset that made me more connected to Heavenly Parent and True Parents. In conclusion, keep comforting and making God joyful no matter how you may feel or how good/bad the day is. God needs us, and as His soldiers on the front line we need to comfort Him. God’s motivation is in every single one of us, so our motivation should be God and True Parents.

I felt so tired spiritually and physically this morning. I felt like my body just wanted to rest and wondered how I could push myself forward. Where can I get the energy? What am I doing? I went back to a prayer point about True Mother pushing her body so much for the providence, and how difficult it can be for her to even walk. Thinking back to Sun Jin nim’s testimony in Hawaii, True Mother had to train herself to walk. Even if True Mother is in pain, she walks every day and is probably so tired. If True Mother can walk then I can run! For her walking is like running, so I began to run with her! Suddenly I wasn’t so tired! I didn’t even think about it.

I thought of True Mother and how she always expects so much from us, from every audience she speaks to, each leader she meets, she asks for the world to change. She asks that not for herself, but because she knows God deserves so much more! That’s why she asks for so much from people and doesn’t ask for anything less than what she feels God deserves.

I can ask for $100 sales, but I think True Mother deserves so much more. I talked to the people’s ancestors. I said, “You would sell your house for True Mother if you knew!” After that I made two big sales. At the end of my run I thought I made about $400, but as I counted it, it totaled to $508 and it was all from True Mother being there with me.

This run showed me that miracles actually do happen when you are united with True Mother. I never felt that as much before this moment. I don’t think I fully understood what that meant. She is marching forward, running forward. So, let’s learn from her and not sit still! Let’s push forward!