Update 12/31/24: Trials-Year

James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those whose love Him.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Despite all that we have gone through in 2024, God has been so gracious and kind to us. When the year started, we did not know if Wayne would be with us another Christmas. Not only was he here for Christmas, he was able to walk Abigail down the aisle! 

God’s mercies sustained me through six week of radiation and subsequent immunotherapy visits every six weeks. Although there is this unknown nodule in my lung that looms like a dark cloud over my head, I trust the one who has determined the number of my days before I was born. I know that even though it came as a surprise to me, it didn’t surprise Him and He is still reigning on His throne.

2024 saw changes with our kids. 

- Abigail graduated, found a job at Bluegrass orthopedics, got engaged, and is now married. 

- Grace came home from Life Action to spend time with her dad. She is now getting ready to start her surgical assistant program at BCTC. 

- Naomi graduated from high school with her associates degree and took a gap year. She has been working and volunteering with different ministries. She is going to Ireland this summer for two months to serve with missionaries there. She is contemplating attending a mission school in WI with Ethnos360.

- Shan started his junior year in high school by starting the same program Naomi completed. He started driving this year and purchased his first car just the other day. His long term goal is to be a neurosurgeon! 

- Sophia is also in the same BCTC program, started to drive, became cadet commander at her CAP squadron, promoted to Captain, and wants to be a Physicians Assistant so she can use that on the mission field. 

- Micaela is growing like a week. She’s now in 8th grade and she has beautifully navigated the change from being homeschooled to attending a traditional school. She volunteers at church with the younger kids, attends CAP, and joined the FCA club at school.

- Joella, although the baby, is no longer a baby. She is almost as tall as me and is maturing before our very eyes. Joella also has made the transition to school. The first few weeks were rough, but she is catching on. I always found even homeschooling that the transition from elementary to middle school can be rough. Joella has made many friends and joined the BETA club on campus. She is our last kid to join the youth group at church…so we no longer have little kids!

Although there are plenty of hard days and lots of tears/emotions, God continues to give us strength to persevere. We do not know all that 2025 had in store, but we have a few ideas. Please continue to pray for our family, we need all the prayers we can get!

Speaking of prayers, please pray for my Papa. Remember how I asked prayers for his biopsy, well we just heard yesterday that it is suspicious for squamous cell cancer. He sees a specialist at UK on Thursday. Please pray over that appointment and that they are able to schedule surgery quickly. Pray for him and my mom as they navigate all of this. 

A happy memory that someone shared with me. Abigail and Elijah are in Charlotte, NC with his parents until school starts back up. They are enjoying being married. 

Micaela hanging out with her friend Grace at her party. I’m so thankful that both of my girls have made some good friends at school.

Naomi may kill me for sharing this, but I love this picture of her. She loves Jesus and loves serving Him any way she can. When she sings, she worships!

Our Chinese New Year tree is up. I just need someone to help me take down the monstrously large tree Wayne picked out a few years ago. A 12 foot tall tree is HUGE!

Sophia and Shan had their wisdom teeth removed before Christmas. That was an experience! Sophia said some crazy, wild things. Shan decided that he liked sleeping and he didn’t want to wake up. We actually sent him back upstairs when he just wasn’t responding or waking up enough for me to feel safe driving him home. Thankfully, they both have made a great recovery. 

Update: Wayne

Wayne continues to thrive. He is making progress on walking and strengthening his right arm. They gave him this device to try to activate the nerves in his arm to see if that will help his movement and strength. 

Update: Rebecca 

I have my biopsy scheduled for 1/16. Sadly, on our anniversary, I have all my pre-surgical appointments (blood work, EKG, and another more detailed ct scan for the biopsy). Although I keep giving my fears to Jesus, I can tell that in my subconscious, there are fears and thoughts lurking. I have to trust God with the results, no matter what, but some days and moments, it’s hard. It’s a battle to take those thoughts captive!

Joella talked me in to caroling with our church the other night. Some sweet memories were made, including singing to Wayne. I remember being laid up from chemo last year when they came and sang to us. You never know what an impact you can have on someone’s life, even just singing carols to them!

The girls and I made sugar cookies. They were pretty amazing! We also have been doing puzzles and playing games all Christmas break.

For Christmas Eve this year, we were able to enjoy Lou Malnati’s pizza while watching Red One. We had a great evening together as a family after church.

Sophia met the Grinch at church.

Hot cocoa and Christmas movies were part of Christmas Day.

On December 26th, we said goodbye to Naomi as she headed to Chicago for her mission trip to SE Asia. She safely arrived in WI on Friday night. Unfortunately, during the night, she came down with a fever, chills, cough, and vomiting. The day she was supposed to leave, she was too weak to get out of bed, so she had to stay behind. She was so sick that she knew it was the right decision, although she really wanted to go. Thankfully, she had already been approved for the trip for next year and her funds have been applied to that trip! She is feeling much better and should be coming home tomorrow night.

Prayer Requests:

- Rebecca: appointments and for my biopsy to show nothing of importance. Please pray that I stay healthy the next few weeks so there is no delay in getting the tests done. Please pray with me for a complete healing and for God to cover me in peace. 

- Glen, my dad: for his appointment this Thursday, that surgery can be quickly scheduled, and for his complete healing.

- Roy, Wayne’s dad: starts radiation in January. Please pray for his healing!

- Wayne: for his therapy to continue to work and see improvements 

- Naomi: travel safety home. Praise-that she is feeling better!

Update 12/18/24: Highs and Lows

Psalm 6:6 “I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.”

Psalm 13:1-2 “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day?”

A lot has transpired since I last posted two weeks ago. There have been some amazing moments, like seeing Wayne walk Abigail down the aisle, and then there have been some really hard days. 

On Thursday, December 5th, I had my follow up CT scan. Never a fun way to start your day drinking readi-cat. Unfortunately, after my test, my body succumbed to a cold the family had. Thankfully, I was able to kick it quickly since we had a lot to do for the wedding.  

With the wedding coming up, we knew Shan’s birthday would be overlooked, so we decided to throw him a surprise party. We managed to keep it a surprise! He loved eating Chinese food and spending time with his friends. I cannot believe my sweet boy is 18!!!

Monday I spent the day tying silverware and finishing some projects for the wedding. 

Shan and the other kids were a huge help with setting up for the wedding. We spent many hours at the church last week preparing for the big day. 

On Monday night, December 9th, I received my CT scan results. Unfortunately, they found a 12x11mm nodule in my right lung. When I read the news, it felt like my world was falling in around me. I initially started googling things it could be, but as I was searching, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to trust and have faith. I reached out to a few trusted friends to pray for me, because I knew this was going to be difficult. 

I spent the next day, which happened to be rainy, moping on the couch. I felt defeated and let down by God at the thought that my cancer could be back. Finally, around 3, I decided that I needed to pour out my heart to God and give it all to Him. I spent some time lamenting before God. It didn’t make all the fears go away, but it was a good reset for my heart and mind. It was time to refocus on Abigail’s wedding. Wayne and I decided that we would not tell the kids until after I met with the pulmonologist so that there would be no distractions from the wedding. 

That morning I had shared what was going on with a sweet friend from church while we were at the gym. She invited Wayne and I to dinner that night. She was having some other friends over from church. The evening was such an encouragement because our friends prayed over us. It was nice to have a distraction from the news that weighed heavy on my mind. 

On Wednesday, we went to work on setting up the church. We were blessed to have quite a few people help us with the wedding (decorating, serving food, preparing food, cleaning). Thank you to all of you who helped make all of this possible. 

Elijah’s family was a huge help with the final wedding decorations. We couldn’t have done it without them. We love our growing family.

We were blessed to have so many family and friends come to town for the wedding. Wayne’s sister and niece flew in from CA. Gloria, who has known us before we had kids, flew in from Chicago. A bus load of friends from Chicago headed south to come to the wedding as well. 

Gloria was a huge blessing. She helped me prepare potato soup for the wedding. 

Wedding rehearsal:

Friends reunited!

Full house! We loved every moment of fellowship with these amazing friends. 

Wedding Day Preparations:

Shan was a HUGE blessing. At 8:30am the day of the wedding, I discovered that Wayne had thrown his white button down shirt away dying the summer. 👀 Shan drove Wayne to the store to get a shirt and then helped dress him for the wedding since I was already at the church. Thankfully, that was the only “emergency” we had for the wedding.

Wedding: Just a few pictures before we get them all. We will also post the video when I receive it. 

St Paul’s Bible Church family from Chicago

All the guys!

Elijah’s family🩷

Praying over the groom!

Post-wedding fellowship. 

Gloria is a super special lady. We loved having  her here with us. We need more people in this world like her. 

These two are two of my bonus daughters!!

My favorite infusion nurse attended the wedding too!

Update Wayne: We are all so thankful that Wayne was here for Abigail’s wedding. He did a great job walking her up the aisle…all that walking around the track has helped him. He is still working hard at his therapy each week. 

Update Rebecca: I had my pulmonologist appointment yesterday, Tuesday. We are scheduling a biopsy sometime after Christmas. He did mention that it could be an infection or something else, which we are praying for. Because of my cancer last year, we have to rule that out. That is why I chose to go ahead and proceed with the biopsy. Please pray with us that it isn't anything serious. Please also pray for our kids as they process all of this.

PFT test yesterday at the pulmonologist. I’m still exhausted from the wedding prep the past few weeks. I think it will take a few more days to recuperate.

** Prayer Requests **

- Rebecca’s biopsy. Please storm Heaven with us that this is nothing serious and that God will continue to surround us with His peace.

- Rebecca’s dad’s biopsy on Friday (spot on his face)

- Travel safety for Elijah and Abigail on their trip home from Florida this weekend.

- Naomi’s upcoming trip overseas 

- Our kids

**Thank you for praying for all of us. We are so thankful for each one of you!