Sarah Hackenberg
In 2021, Sarah Hackenberg moved back to her home state of Pennsylvania. Once she was settled in, she started to look for a church to attend. Several friends suggested that she should check out Colonial Park United Church of Christ.
“On my first visit, I was greeted by welcoming faces and beautiful music,” she said. “Both of which kept me coming back.”
She was hooked.
So much so, that she quickly joined the choir and she also rings with the bell choir.
“I love our weekly choir practices!” Sarah said with a smile. “We have so much fun singing together, plus there’s always a lot of joking and laughter.”
Sarah was raised in a small town in Union County called New Berlin. It is located about an hour north of Harrisburg. After she graduated from college, she lived in Salzburg, Austria for two years. The first year was after receiving a Rotary scholarship. However, when the year was over, she just wasn’t quite ready to return, so Sarah extended her stay for another year.
“The experience was life changing as I made friends from multiple countries, realized that my ‘normal’ was not everyone’s ‘normal,’” she explained. “I loved soaking up the incredible art, history, food, and culture of so many European countries.”
Upon returning to the States, Sarah spent most of her adult life in New York – in NYC and the beautiful Catskill Mountains. But she is now happy to share her Harrisburg home with her German Shepherd, Bianca.
After 20 years working as a school librarian, Sarah recently founded her own business, Grace In Cycles. She provides services as a professional organizer.
“My first big decluttering job was when I downsized my own four-bedroom home to just the possessions that would fit in a camper!” she said.
Now she uses her skills to help others declutter, downsize, organize and optimize their space. She understands that everyone’s time and energy flows in cycles, and sometimes a helping hand is needed.
“I work to be intentional, and I fill my home only with things I love,” she said.
Much of the inspiration that motivated Sarah came from her parents. They both chose to change career paths in mid-life. They also taught her by prioritizing the building of a community. Sarahs says that they are both wonderful examples of how the best living involves change and growth.
When she’s not singing in the choir of helping others, Sarah enjoys spending time travelling, reading, gardening, and hunting for treasures in flea markets and antique malls.
Sarah explained that the story of how she became the person she is today is a long one, but she would say that it boils down to remaining curious and open to the world around her, to rejoicing in her friends and family, to spreading love as best she can, and remembering that she has choices in this “one wild and precious life,” to quote American poet Mary Oliver.
That sounds like music to our ears.
February 2025
Meet other members of Colonial Park United Church of Christ by clicking HERE.
