This was an email that Susan sent out to a few family and friends on December 6th while we were in Hong Kong. For those who weren’t in the loop, Jason had a series of health complications all throughout 2008. We went to Hong Kong for a few weeks in November/December to see the best specialists and doctors. As mentioned in our December newsletter, we experienced yet another miraculous healing. The email below summed up a prayer made nine months ago. We promised to post the email/story on our blog as another installment of our Blindman’s Faith stories. Sorry for the long delay.

December 6, 2008

Dear Family & Friends,

This week, I (Susan) started reading the book of Luke, coincidentally the time of the year to be reading the Christmas story, but that actually wasn’t my intent. I wanted to start reading something and focus on the relationships and interactions between God and man. I chose Luke for no particular reason. The first divine interaction that took place in the book of Luke was when the angel Gabriel appeared before Zechariah the priest. The angel said to Zechariah:

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John….”  

To which Zechariah responded:

“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted a child badly and they prayed really hard that they would conceive. They never did and at this point in the story, are so old that they are past childbearing age. (I’m guessing in the 50-60s??) So of course when the angel told Zechariah what was going to happen, he scoffed and doubted.

As I was reading this brief passage, the first thing that came to my mind was a similar story that took place nine months ago.

Not that we are unable to conceive or past childbearing age… hee hee…    Nine months ago, Jason had a bad case of eczema/viral outbreak. It was so bad (at the time) that I decided to fast for “as long as it takes.”  On the first day of fasting, I prayed that God would heal Jason of his eczema outbreaks. I don’t really remember the Word that was spoken to me on that first day of fasting, but somehow, I knew God was going to answer my prayer. On that day, I wrote a prayer of thanksgiving on our blog. That was March 5th. Read the blog entry first before continuing this email. You’ll recognize a great significance to why I am writing this email today (which should have been sent yesterday).

The last nine months have been a wild roller coaster ride. Several eczema and viral outbreaks one after another. Insomnia. Erythroderma. Depression. Paralysis. Hospitalization. Things seemed to have gotten worse since March that a week ago, I scoffed and doubted whether God ever heard my prayers. I asked for healing. God must have heard something else. Even when I reread my blog entry from March, I snickered and thought myself too arrogant to have made such a claim. I don’t know what possessed me to write that entry nine months ago, or why I wrote nine months (not one month or one year). Nine seemed like a random number. I would never have guessed or imagined at the time that things were going to get much much worse, only to wake up one day and all seems well again.

Yesterday, December 5th was exactly nine months since the day I wrote that prayer (and publicly too!). Jason seemed to have recovered overnight. He woke up after a full night of rest/sleep! His skin looked good, smooth and shiny like I’ve never seen before. He is back on his feet. He looked well. He felt good too.  We went to the hospital to get some blood work done to make sure everything is normal. The doctor looked at him, the test results, and confirmed us of the good news. We can come home now! Praise the Lord! 

Coming back to the story of Zechariah and what spoke to us. Zechariah prayed really hard for something he wanted badly (a child). God actually sent an angel to confirm that his prayer was heard. He was going to be a father!  But Zechariah doubted because he looked at his current circumstance (his and Elizabeth’s old age) and thought it not possible that his prayer was going to be answered.

That was exactly what I did. I looked at the current circumstance and doubted whether God was going to answer my prayers.  But in both stories, regardless of our doubts and unbelief, God did in fact answer those prayers. Zechariah became a father and Jason is well, physically and emotionally.

We will be flying back to Shanghai tomorrow afternoon. Jason will continue to rest at home for a few weeks. The current treatment plan (Cellcept & Valtrex) will continue for 1-2 years. Cellcept is supposed to prevent any eczema outbreaks. Valtrex is supposed to prevent any viral outbreaks. In theory, his immune system should be stable now and there should be no more outbreaks while he is on the treatment. In theory…

There’s always the possibility of side effects (insomnia, depression) and complications (kidney failure, lymphoma), but despite all the “possibilities” we feel at peace about where things are right now. Tomorrow is another day. But for today, we are grateful and give thanks for today.

Love,

Jason & Susan

• Thanksgiving Nine Months in Advance
• Listening to How Jesus Prays
• The Story of Blindmansfaith
• Sitting at the Lord’s Feet
• A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

S: Hey, guess what! My company is celebrating their 10 years anniversary at the Grand Hyatt!

J: Wow! Mine celebrated at the Shangri-La last year and will be going to Sofitel this year.

S: I know. Finally, my company beat yours!

J: No, but you can’t beat going to Sanya, Hainan and staying at the brand new Hilton!

S: . . .

J: Beat that! You guys had an annual party at some dinky place in Zhang Jiang.

S: At least my company doesn’t have a stingy “no-spouse-allowed” policy.

J: . . .

Despite the married life bickering, we think very fondly of both our companies. We are thankful for the amazing job provision the Lord has blessed us with. We can’t express enough how thankful we are for our jobs. Great company. Great work. Great colleagues. Great benefits. Great commute.

And the cherry on top of the icing: Jason got promoted this week!

• Two Years and a Lifetime to Go
• Perks of Working at Roche
• The Love Languages of God
• Building a Community
• The Story of Blindmansfaith

We’re back from Koh Samui, Thailand! Updates and pics of the wedding and honeymoon will be posted later. Just want to thank everyone for making our special day perfect. A deep appreciation for family support & love, all those who helped out, some at the very last minute (both our wedding coordinator and worship leader fell ill), many who travelled from all parts of the world to attend (New York, New Jersey, Boston, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Cheng Du, Beijing, Guangzhou), and everybody who was there to share in our joy.

Married life is AWESOME!

• Building a Community
• Two Years and a Lifetime to Go
• Taiwan Family Union
• Productive Day
• Eager Anticipation

One of the most commonly asked question of us is when we are planning to start a family. It’s been more than two years since we got married, so naturally people assume it is the time.

Well, bringing a new child into this world is a huge responsibility that we are not ready to partake in yet. We could barely keep a plant alive! We need to start with baby steps. Last year, one of Jason’s colleagues gave us a pot of lily plant. We said if we could Lily alive for 3 months, we’re on our way to starting a family! (some of you are snickering…)

Well, not quite two months and Lily was showing sickish yellow spots. We gave her lots of water to drink but that didn’t seem to help. Then in the middle of moving out of the SMIC Living Quarters to our new home, we kind of forgot Lily and left her sitting on the dining room floor. By the time Susan remembered about Lily, she had already withered to her death. So that didn’t go too well. We mourned Lily, then buried her in the LQ dumpster.

Last August, after we moved into our new place, our contractor gave us two big pots of plants. Actually, they looked more like trees than plants because they both have thick stems/roots. This time we didn’t want to name our plants. There’s something to be said about the act of naming things that stamps inexplicable emotional attachment. We had barely gotten over the loss of Lily, so we weren’t quite ready to commit but since these two just showed up our doorstep unexpectedly, we took them in anyway. We decided it was time to move on and have a new beginning. We set a mark of six months. (As it is said about dog years, one dog year = seven human years. We believe that one plant month = seven human years.)

We took great care of Plant #1 and Plant #2. Both of us took turns watering, feeding, and changing its diapers trimming them. When we went back to the U.S. for six weeks, we had our friend Mary babysit them. They were both happy and doing well for a few months. . . exactly four months. However, in the last few weeks, #1 and #2 started shedding leaves. First the leaves. Then the stems. Now the entire branch would crack and fall off. They are sick and we don’t know what’s wrong with them! Help!

Well, with all that said, there’s a reason why we don’t have any kids yet and aren’t planning to have one for a very very very long time.

• The Wonders of Floor Heating
• Two Years and a Lifetime to Go
• “Zhuang Xiu” Part 5: Moved!
• “Zhuang Xiu” Part 4: Waiting and Waiting
• Pet Peeve #2: Time in China

“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD.” Psalm 128:1-4

Thus is the man who is blessed by the Lord. To bear fruit, to eat the fruit of our labor, to be blessed, to prosper, to be proud of family, wife, and children. These are the blessings for those for fear the Lord and walk in His ways.

What would it be like to begin our marriage in fear of the Lord and to walk in His ways?

• The Story of Blindmansfaith
• Healed!
• More Updates
• The Love Languages of God
• Building a Community

We had our second wedding reception in Boston at the MIT Alumni Club. Jason has many relatives and friends in the Boston area. Many of them could not come out to our wedding in Shanghai, so we had a second reception in the U.S.

Our wedding photo collection is incomplete since we didn’t hire any photographers. We just gathered some pictures from different people, that is why some of the pictures, not everyone is looking at the same direction.

Boston Reception Our wedding reception in Boston.

Huge lobster from Legal Seafood Huge lobster from Legal Seafood	Uncle John and Auntie Christine from San Diego Uncle John and Auntie Christine from San Diego	Digging into the lobster Digging into the lobster
	The Wong sisters The Wong sisters

• Non-Stop from Shanghai to Everywhere
• Eating at Taipei Chu Chu Yuan
• Eating at Ding Tai Fung
• Cleaning Out the Fashion Queen’s Closet
• Inflation!

The video below is taken from a farewell concert last week for our friends Terry and Buffy who are leaving Shanghai to go back to Canada.

We played this duet during our wedding. Most married couples had their “first dance” at their wedding. We don’t know how to dance. We had our “first duet” instead.

• Franck Violin Sonata, 1st movement
• Franck Violin Sonata, 4th movement
• Nutcracker Suite: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy
• The Girl from Ipanema
• When I Get Old

We had some time this weekend to sort through the plethora of candid pictures (over 1000!) our friends took and selected the “highlights” of the wedding ceremony. Click the picture below to view pictures.

Click here to view pictures.

These are only the actual ceremony pictures. We’ve yet to sort through the rest (coming soon!). And by the way, these aren’t even our “professional” pictures but they look great! Thanks to our many candid photographers: Mark, Valerie, Ron, Nicole, Greg, Iris, Deborah, Julie, Antonius, and an extra special thanks to King for coordinating everything.

For those of you music enthusiasts, the background music to the ceremony slideshow is Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, variation 11. This was the music that was played when Susan’s maid of honor, Aimee, walked down the aisle. Our wedding homepage background music is the same trio, but variation 1, which was played when Jason’s parents and Susan’s grandmother walked down the aisle.

Variation 11

Variation 1

More to come later!

• Liszt: Petrarch’s Sonnet 104
• Boston Reception
• Backpacking in Yunnan
• Virgin China
• Listen to Our Hearts

Currently Reading
Covenant Marriage by Gary Chapman

“A loving and growing marriage is the greatest gift any couple can give their children. It is the most important of all parenting skills.” Gary Chapman

• Learning the Disciplines
• The Love Languages of God
• The Most Annoying Question for Married People
• Trip to Amity Printing Press
• Session 1: Your Mate Is Different

39 more days and getting more excited. We are happy to know that all of our immediate family and many of our close friends will be able make it! It’ll be a reunion for everybody! Family reunion! Taro reunion! SMIC School reunion! Small group reunion! Youth group reunion!

What will it be like to have so many special people gathering together to celebrate with us? Part of the anticipation lies in imagining the joys of being able to celebrate this special day with those who have walked with us during different parts of our faith journey. Much praise to be given.

• Two Years and a Lifetime to Go
• Memories of Spiders
• Inflation!
• “Zhuang Xiu” Part 5: Moved!
• Fine Dining!

Susan went back to the U.S. during October holiday to attend her friend Elena’s wedding. She was one of the four bridesmaids. Congratulations, Elena and Steve Liu!

Elena’s Wedding

All the bridesmaids All the bridesmaids	Susan and Elena Susan and Elena		The wedding party. The wedding party.
The married couple The married couple
Inside the limo. Inside the limo.	Toast to the newly wed Toast to the newly wed
			Surprise! Surprise!

• Our Wedding
• Wedding pictures
• Taiwan Family Reunion (2006)
• Non-Stop from Shanghai to Everywhere
• Boston Reception

Sorry it has been a long time since we updated our blog. It’s partly busyness, partly craziness, and partly laziness. 

Well, we’ve finally written and posted our annual newsletter for 2008. You can download it from the Newsletter page. Enjoy!

Those of you interested in hiring Susan to write your family newsletter, you can contact her here.

• Packing Frenzy
• Memories of Spiders
• Non-Stop from Shanghai to Everywhere
• Guilin & Yangshuo (2003)
• Taiwan Trip (January 2010)

Today, November 26, is a very special day. It’s not just Thanksgiving! It’s our wedding anniversary! We were married four years ago, here in Shanghai!

Timeline of the last  four wedding/anniversaries:

2005: We were married at the Portman Ritz-Carlton and honeymooned in Koh Samui, Thailand.
2006: Honeymoon part 2 in Malaysia, then Family reunion and honeymoon part 3 in Taiwan
2007: Dinner at M on the Bund
2008: Honeymoon part 4 in Hong Kong Sanitorium Hospital (sorry, no links—wasn’t exciting enough to blog about it)

This year, we’ll have dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant, then a weekend getaway to the outskirts of Shanghai. It’ll be the last anniversary that’s just the two of us until the year 2028. Yikes!

Here’s something funny we found on Digg.

We make each other very happy… but that’s probably TMI for this blog.

• Two Years and a Lifetime to Go
• Taiwan Family Reunion (2006)
• Honeymoon in Thailand
• Non-Stop from Shanghai to Taipei
• A Deaf Violinist from Thailand

Treasures Found:
* 2 x 20 RMB bills, 6 x 10 RMB bills, 4 x 5 RMB bills, 53 x 1 RMB coins = 173 RMB worth of spare change!!
* Accelergy interview notes

* Oberlin (assistant professor) interview itinerary from 2004

* Sam & Heidi’s wedding program

* 4 packs of half used travel-size tissues

* 8 wads of used tissues (one with gum inside)

* 2 bottles of Purell hand sanitizer

* half a role of Certs mint

* 1 preserved plum

* United Airlines and ANA ticket stubs

* advertisement from Best Buy

* tons of taxi receipts

* some cookie crumbs

* a few business cards

These are just some of the treasures found inside the pockets of our winter jackets. Now if they were found in only one person’s jackets, particular the one with the Y chromosome, then it would have turned into your typical couple’s quarrel.
“Yew, you are horrendously disgusting!”

But instead, it is one of…

“Aww…. we were meant to be together for life!”

• Packing Frenzy
• Pet Peeve #2: Time in China
• New Design

Continuing our recent thoughts on community living and building a community, a new HomeBuilders group just started this weekend. About 7-8 married couples, including ourselves, got together and fellowshipped over a potluck meal and a time of sharing.

We are/will be going through a series of studies developed by FamilyLife to help strengthen our marriage, find accountability with other married folks, and build a stronger community.

We’re pretty excited about this group. When we first got married two and half years ago, it was a difficult transition in terms of finding the right fellowship, maintaining friendships/relationships, and finding a balance between community time and marriage-enhancement time. The relationships and friendships we had before being married naturally shifted toward other married folks. But then, our married friends started disappearing, either because they went back to the U.S. or because they had babies. It’s a pretty transient community and people come, people go. It’s hard to find a consistent group of people to maintain and build relationships.

This new HomeBuilders group consists of several married couples, many of whom have been around for several years and will probably stick around for several more. We are the youngest and only couple without kids! All the other couples have at least two kids. One couple has five! They’ve all been married for at least 5-6 years, so we look forward to learning from and fellowshipping with them.

• Session 1: Your Mate Is Different
• Building a Community
• Food Allergies and Jason-Friendly List
• Our Unique Call
• The Most Annoying Question for Married People