Year-in-Review/Christmas Newsletter - 2008

Thank you for visiting our blogspot to read about our family's trials and blessings for 2008. This is the first time we've written a newsletter or even a blog. The events of this past year has been life-changing, filled with trials and blessings. We just had to share. BTW, we did it online, not because we were trying to be eco-friendly, but because we were too lazy to print them all out.

Two major events marked this year. The first is the passing away of my mother, Ruth Ting. She died after struggling with a disease called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a disease of the stem cell in the bone marrow. Her body was unable to produce health red blood cells. In April this year, after 5-6 months of blood transfusions from friends and family, we decided to undergo chemotherapy through the Angeles Clinic at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. Unfortunately, she never recovered from the initial chemotherapy treatment and her body eventually weakened. Her bone marrow could no longer produce any healthy white blood cells and platelets. She developed complications from the disease, like shingles and constant fevers from infections. Her white blood count level was down to 200 (extremely low) on same days.

On Monday, August 11th, and Tuesday, August 12th, she gathered all her strength to tell us, the doctors, nurses and our family, that she wanted to "go home." We honored her wishes and she was home on Tuesday late afternoon. That night, we extended family members, pastors and her cell group/fellowship brethren all gathered to have a short worship service, pray for her and say goodbye (for now.) I could see in my mom's expression, though she didn't have the strength to speak nor open her eyes, that she could hear and worship God too. She passed away peacefully in her sleep that night. "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; " 1 Timothy 4:6,7. My mom has gone to be with the Lord. She is at peace. She is no longer suffering. She has fought the good fight. She has kept the faith.

I posted a few photos on my facebook profile.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30570&l=79387&id=586684673

The second major event was Henry's surfing accident on Sept. 30th. The accident happened on Tuesday, September 30th. I took Ryan and his 2 other friends to Santa Monica Beach to go boogie boarding. It was a beautiful day. I planned to take the day off because I had not spent much time with Ryan all summer due to my late mom's illness.

I had been in the water about 20-30 minutes enjoying the warm waters. I caught a nice 4-5' wave which picked me up and slammed me into the sand. It happened so fast - I was slammed face down. I heard a crunch and found myself floating face down underwater, fully conscious, and paralyzed from the neck down. I came to the grim realization that I had broken my neck and was going to drown if no one pulls me up soon. Many thoughts flashed before me: Alice, Erin & Ryan; do I have enough life insurance; the pain of drowning. I prayed to God in this deepest, darkest moment that He would spare me and not take me yet. I held my breath and prayed that Ryan or someone would find me soon. I worried that Ryan would not see me because he was with his friends trying to catch another wave, but thankfully, he looked back and saw me face down in the water. I could hear him calling me while I was underwater. As he approached he saw that I was face down with blood in the water all around my face. He must've been scared but he quickly pulled me up at the moment when I thought I couldn't hold my breath any longer. He lifted my head just high enough for me to gasp my first breath of air and cry "help" to him. I was able to tell them that I couldn't move and needed them help. Ryan, Conner and Fidel helped pull me to the shore where lifeguards quickly accessed my condition and secured my neck.

I broke my nose (3 stitches), bruised my face, had a small black eye and broke my neck (stable fracture of cervical spine C5 with minor cracks in the C6 & C7.) My neck took the brunt of the blow, either by over-extending his neck or the weight of the body compressing into his neck. I bruised my spinal cord. Because the fracture was stable, I thank God that I did not require surgery. But there is still swelling/edema between C5 and C6 that affected the nervous system.

After 3 nights at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center and 4 nights at Kaiser Sunset, I finally go to go home. The doctors were very pleased that I was recovering quite fast and well. By the first week of October, I still had some loss of mobility of his left side due to the edema in my spinal cord. According to my Kaiser surgeons, and western medicine, it was pretty much a waiting game at that point. We could only hope and pray that I did not suffer any permanent damage, and that we must wait till the swelling goes down. However, we consulted with the eastern medicine practitioners about acupuncture treatments. We were strongly encouraged to see a particular acupuncturist named Dr. Qineng Tan, from the Art of Wellness Center in Santa Monica. We called him to start acupuncture treatment right away. He made house calls at an additional charge. Dr. Tan, who is a 9th generation acupuncturist and a spinal surgeon/specialist in China, said acupuncture should help my edema to go down faster and to keep the blood flow to the right places. It's all about "chi" and "flow."

Today, I am nearly 75% recovered. Combining outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, acupuncture treatments twice a week, and prayers from everyone, I plan to be healed 110%. God is making me, molding me, better than before. I still have to wear that big neck brace for at least 2 weeks, but I am glad to be alive and in considerable good spirits. God really answered my prayer. Yes, our family thanks God for His blessings; for Ryan's quick thinking and acting; and also for His protection. For spinal cord injuries, a few millimeters can mean the difference between recovery or permanent damage. Praise God. Thank you for all your prayers and concerns.

More gruesome pictures on my Facebook link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35387&l=5ab5c&id=586684673

Erin's Navajo Missions Trip - Aug.'08

I don’t even know how to put my feelings of this trip into words. It was amazing and totally not what I had expected. Our team was very young compared to previous missions, plus it was almost everybody’s first. We were expecting some crazy Indian kids coming in on horses and holding bows and arrows not speaking English and all that jazz, but we were very far off.

After driving nine hours, we finally arrived at the Le Chee Chapter Church around ten o’ clock at night. We unloaded and slept pretty early. So the next morning, we got up prepared for our very first day! YAY! The kids started filling in around four in the afternoon. They weren’t carrying bows and arrows, they weren’t riding horses and they spoke English….wow not what we had expected! They were mainly elementary school ages with some teens and preschoolers. The theme for our VBS was “Power Lab” and how Jesus gives us the power to do so many things, like be thankful, live forever, be helpful, be brave, and tell others about God.

The first day had about fifteen kids all not knowing what to expect, just like us. We started our program with a very active worship and skit. As we began, the children gave us weird looks, but stood up and half way did the hand motions. Then they had a bible lesson which they listened to, but were a little hesitant about the praying part, and lastly went to the arts and crafts room where afterward they would be fed dinner. They finished their crafts, ate their dinner, and then had us play tag and run around with them outside. Afterward we were exhausted…..yet had the best time!

The second day came around and we knew now what to expect. We had our devotions in the morning and then they started piling in. They had school this time so we also helped them with their homework. They did their worship, skits, bible study and crafts once again, but we sensed a little more enthusiasm this time and participation. Just after one day, God was really working through those kids and our team.

By the third day, we got up and were told that the pastor of the church was going to take us to his grandparents’ abandoned home from the 1940’s and we were to do our devo’s there. When we hiked over to the giant sandstone we were going to meditate on, I felt so overwhelmed with the beauty of the landscape and how God made this on the third day and it was GOOD. Afterward, the pastor and his wife took us to the only Chinese restaurant in Page, Arizona. It was like Panda Express with some sort of Indian stuff in there. [= When we got back to the church, we did our usual VBS with more encouraging growth and fed them once more.

The fourth day was a very nice day. Our devos were done back at church, but right afterward, we went swimming in the reservoir behind the Glenn Dam. It was our only “shower” during the whole trip, so we attempted to scrub ourselves down as much as possible. After about an hour or so, we went back and the kids began to come in. During worship, I stood next to this one girl named Talia and encouraged her to do the hand motions during worship. She looked at me at first and hesitated, but after seeing me do it and everyone around her do it also, she lifted her hands a little and began swaying to the music. It made me so happy to see that I was helping others get excited about God and Jesus’ power!!! What really opened up my eyes during this whole trip, was that one time, this little girl named Eleanor began crying and holding her stomach. We were worried that she was sick or she ate something bad, but no it was the opposite; she was hungry and she hadn’t eaten that whole day. How fortunate are we to be able to have so much food at home, and have caring parents. But here are these young kids who don’t have much to eat, live in trailers, and stay with their grandparents all the time because their parents are out somewhere.

Our last day of VBS was so happy and sad at the same time. I was so proud that our team with the power of God’s will and grace, were able to excite and open the minds of the kids to Jesus. As much as we didn’t want to leave, we had to finish our program, so when we were done, we all went outside and ran around. Several children came to us and asked us, “When are you guys coming back?” We promised them next year we’ll be back and they said, “Next year?” I was about to cry. It was so sad leaving them, so we made them promise that they would keep coming to church.

The morning of our leave, we woke to find some kids poking their heads in the room. They were here to see us off. We were so touched that we just had to play with them one last time. As we piled into the van, I reflected on how much the kids had grown, how much our team had bonded, and how much I’ve changed. I felt so much more mature and more alive in some ways. This new spark in my life might be my calling who knows, but I just know that what we accomplished so much at the church and I’m looking forward to going back next year.

So thank you all for spending a few minutes of your time to read this and that you so much for your donations, prayers, and support. Also for those who came to the funeral, thank you again. On Wednesday night, the church had a prayer meeting and I had a prayer request not knowing it was a little late, but one of the grandmothers gave me a necklace to give to my grandma and it was so amazing of how they didn’t know her at all or know me, but yet they had so much compassion. Half of the necklace is the casket, and the other half I keep in rememberence of her. Well, anyway thank you so much for everything. Till next year! =)

Yours truly,
Erin Ting

Ryan's TKD Tournament - Sept.'08

Ryan Ting participated in the 14th Annual Martial Arts Championship Tournament on September 28, 2008 and won a gold medal for his age and belt category for board breaking.

He also entered the sparring contest and received a nice trophy (3rd place) for his participation. Too bad it was Ryan's naptime, otherwise he could've placed much higher. Good job, buddy.

Ryan attends Ben Howland Basketball Camp- July '08

Ryan's favorite sport is basketball. This summer, he was privileged to attend both the UCLA Basketball Camp and Ben Howland's Basketball Camp. At the beginning of this year he was playing Division 2 as the veterans of the group. Yet, he turned 10 and need to start playing Division 3 (ages 10-12) with the bigger kids in the Westside YMCA basketball league. One 12 year old was 5'-8" and needed to shave. It was going to be a challenge. Ryan can no longer drive to hoop as he easily as he did in Div.2.

In July, he first attended the UCLA Basketball Camp for a week. He met Ben Howland, some current men's varsity players and a few of the freshman star recruits for this season. He also met some of the best local basketball players around. He had to play scrimmage games against these top atheletes. It was tough, but he had a good attitude. He got to play on the Nell & John Wooden Court.

Next, he attended Ben Howland's basketball camp at Pacific Palisades H.S. for a week. I was more impressed with Ben Howland's camp than UCLA's because the assistant coaches offered more teaching/coaching than UCLA. UCLA's camp was good to meet and play against the top players in the area, but not much teaching or instruction. I guess this is where the future OJ Mayo and Kevin Love's meet and play against each other. I was impressed by Coach Howland's charisma. He made sure the kids (ages 5 to 13) were listening to him through steady eye contact. His coaching staff were very good. The mornings were spent learning and teaching and the afternoons were spent playing scrimmage games against other teams. The last day or two were the playoffs.

Ryan learned a lot about defense, his best skill, and playing against much bigger and taller boys. Because he and the other 10 yr olds were the youngest/smallest, they had to really push themselves to compete. In one game he scored over 10 pts when the opponents' defense double-team Ryan's team's best players, leaving Ryan open many times for the open layup or jump shot. This was good training for Ryan to move up from Div.2 to Div.3 at the Westside YMCA.

I'm not sure how much he improved, but he sure did have a lot of fun with his friends. I guess that's what counts for now.