Update 10/18/25: New Stage of Life

Psalm 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies at the gate.”

If we have learned anything over the last 10 years, we know that life is truly a blessing. We have once again been blessed that Wayne is here to experience the newest stage for us: being grandparents! Abigail and I were talking about it the other day that she is just amazed at how gracious and kind God has been to her. Wayne has been here for her high school and college graduation, was able to walk her down the aisle, and now he got to hold his first grandchild. We would love to introduce you to the newest member of our family: Ruth Anastasia Camacho. She was born 10/16 at 1:33am and weighed in at 7lb 8oz, 19” long. Mom and baby are doing wonderful and it was so special to see Elijah taking care of both of them. He was a great coach and cheerleader for the birth, and now he is taking great care of Abigail as she recovers and it’s so sweet to see him love on Ruth. Wayne and I are sad to leave them behind today. I know I’m already making plans when I can come back and love on the young family. 🩷🩷

Wayne holding Ruth about 7 hours after she was born. 

Joella was “so disappointed” that she had to go with us to see the baby. 🤣 She has already bragged to her siblings that she got to hold their niece first. 

We couldn’t get enough of her!! She’s the best baby. Today, she just opened her eyes and was such a quiet baby…until you change her and she gets cold. 

Growing family. 🩷🩷🩷

Look at her head of hair. I know that comes from Elijah's side since our kids all had fuzz and never a full head of hair.

We snuck in a few more snuggles before we headed home on Saturday.

We were all sad to leave.

The drive to Virginia was beautiful. We saw a lot of colors along the way. On Thursday after we met Ruth, we headed to Shenandoah National Park to give them some time to rest. We drove part of the Skyline Drive. Since the park visitor centers were closed, we chose to cut the drive short. What we saw was beautiful!! It was nice because we could visit the vistas so Wayne could see the beauty without having to hike. 

I will be posting in a couple days another update on some of our kids. I am trying to spread it out since there is so much going on. For now, we are just basking in the wonderful new stage that we have entered. God has been so gracious to us and we are so thankful that God isn't done with either of us. Until our dying breath, we want to point people to Jesus!

Update 10/13/25: One More Day

Acts 17:24-25 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." 

As promised, I am releasing part 2 of Wayne's sermon on 1 Peter...see below. I believe Wayne preached these sermons in 2014. He would fill in for our pastor when he was out of town. I am so thankful for these sermons because they capture Wayne's voice, his personality, and all that I remember pre-cancer Wayne to be.

After sharing the sermon Wayne preached on 1 Peter (part 1), the kids heard Wayne and couldn't recognize his voice. Not only has Wayne's speech been affected from his two surgeries, even his voice has changed a little. I turned the sermon on the computer and Joella, Micaela, and Shan all said, "Who is that?" They had no clue it was Wayne. I am trying not to dwell on it, but it makes me sad that they don't really know the original Wayne. If I'm honest, when I hear his sermons, it makes me sad too. I am so thankful that Wayne is here with us, but there are many days that I mourn the old Wayne and our old life. I know Wayne feels the loss as well. It's walking that fine line of being thankful for each day, but also being sad about what has been loss. 

My sister, Sarah, sent me this song and it ministered to me. The chorus line, "cause you gave me one more day to say I love you - you have brought me all this way to testify of grace," made me think of Wayne. Maybe this song will minister to you as well. 

Prayer Requests:

- Please pray for our kids in Guatemala and the rest of the team as they serve this week.

Part 2 of Wayne's sermon on 1 Peter

Update 10/11/25: Fear

Isaiah 41:10 "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God."

Psalm 34:4 "I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."

Psalm 56: 3-4 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid..."

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind."

Fear is an emotion that many of us experience at times. According to God's Word, fear is not from God and we are to give our fears to God. Recently, I have had quite a few moments of fear rise up in my heart and mind. As I have matured in my walk with the God, I have learned that asking others to pray for and come along side me is the best way to handle difficult times like these. So what has been the cause of fear in my heart and mind? The main issue leading to fear has been concern about Wayne and what is ahead. It is easy to get caught up in the "what ifs" and fear what may be coming our way with his brain cancer. Secondly, my appointment on Tuesday with my oncologist left me feeling uncertain and fearful. I received another immunotherapy treatment, but my doctor informed me that a new study showed that it may not be beneficial to stay on immunotherapy as long. She decided that I will have my immunotherapy in November, a scan in December, and then a final immunotherapy at the end of December. We briefly talked about recurrence, which caused me to internally start to freak out. She said we have done everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen, but we will just have to wait it all out and see what happens since I had a unique cancer. It just felt like a hard and difficult conversation to have just days after Wayne's grand mal seizure. Looking at statistics can be intimidating. I have chosen to think of the glass half full instead of half empty. So if, for example, there is a 30% chance of recurrence, I am choosing to think that is an 70% chance of no recurrence. I don't know what my percent is since I had a unique case, but I'm trying to stay positive through all of this.

My mom shared an interesting thought with me when I shared all of this with her. She said, "God gives us manna for today." God provided daily manna for the Israelites during their time in the desert. He supplied their daily needs with this manna. After she shared that with me, Matthew 6:27, 33-34 came to my mind. "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?...But seem first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I could waste my time and energy worrying about how much time Wayne has left, when his next seizure may be, or if and when my cancer may return, but that would rob today of its joy and it distracts me from my job here on earth.

Our story is for God's glory! It is usually through suffering that we grow closer to God and it gives us the best opportunity to shine brightly to the world that is in desperate need of Jesus. I want to keep my eyes on my Savior and not fear the unknown. God knows my future and Wayne's future, and we will choose to trust Him. Keep praying for us though. Although this is our heart's desire, we are still human and have fears.

Starting this week, I am going to share some of Wayne's sermons that he preached before he had brain cancer. I will try to share one a week. I will start with his series on 1 Peter. It will be at the bottom of the post. Just click the picture and it should open the audio file (if I did it correctly). 

Wayne Update: Wayne has done okay since his grand mal seizure last week. Thankfully, there haven't been any deficits from the seizure. His palliative nurse came this week to check on him. She was concerned about his seizure as well since he hasn't had any and he is on so much medicine. Wayne seems unfazed by it all. He feels like if a seizure is the way he goes, so be it. I have requested Wayne to consider getting an MRI so we can get some information as we move forward, but I know he really doesn't want to. Pray for wisdom for us.

Rebecca Update: Just what I mentioned before. My immunotherapy went well, I am just struggling with some fatigue this time from the treatment. Please pray that as we end my immunotherapy, that the cancer stays away.

Update on Kids: Abigail is now 37+ weeks pregnant. Our little granddaughter could come any time. Grace is finishing up her last few weeks in her surgical assistant program. She already has a job lined up at University of KY hospital. Naomi is moving along in her Biblical Studies program and is learning a lot. Shan and Sophia are halfway through their fall semester at BCTC and are busy applying for college. One more semester and they will be done with high school and their Associates in Science! Time is flying too quickly. Micaela and Joella are loving school. They are both involved in Beta Club, FCA, and are excelling in school. I love seeing all the friends and memories they are making. 

The girls participated in a paint war event last week. They both had a blast and came home dirty.

Prayer Requests:

- Please pray for Naomi, Shan, and Micaela as they will be going with our church on a mission trip to Guatemala this next week. 

- Please pray for no more seizures for Wayne.

- Pray for peace and wisdom as we move forward with my cancer treatments.

Update 10/3/25: Topsy-Turvy…Crazy Days

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” 

I have sat down countless times to write a brief update, but life has been crazy and I just haven’t made the time. 

Life has thrown us some curveballs, especially this week. It seems like things go well until they don’t. I’m sure that is the story for most of our lives. It’s during the times where things don’t go well that is the test. Will we persevere, trust God, and keep our eyes on Him, or do we flounder, fail, and sink beneath the waves like Peter?

Wayne Update:

On Wednesday morning while I was at Bible study, Sophia tried calling me twice. I silenced her call since I was in the middle of leading the discussion. We have learned that if it is an emergency, call me three times. When we started the class video, I picked up my phone and I saw a bunch of texts. I quickly called the kids back and discovered that Wayne had a seizure. 

Sophia described it to me this way. Wayne had gone on his daily walk. Later, she heard someone dragging the garbage can down the driveway. She heard a thud and thought they had shut the garbage can lid. She went on doing her homework and watching a show. She said about 5-6 minutes had passed and then she heard a terrible noise, like the sound of an animal dying. She went outside to see what was going on and found Wayne on the stairs with his eyes rolled back and his tongue was partial blocking his throat, which caused the terrible sound. She elevated him and turned his head. He came to and then the rest of the day denied that he had a seizure. This seizure was as different then ones in the past that gave him warning. From the symptoms and signs Sophia observed, we are pretty sure Wayne had a grand mal seizure.  

The past couple of days we have watched Wayne closely. He doesn’t like all the extra attention, but we all feel it is necessary. By looking at him, you wouldn’t think anything bad had happened. But trauma is real! The kids and I are dealing with all the fears and emotions that days like Wednesday stir up.

Wayne has added weights to his weekly workout. I take him to the gym and help him get his legs up on the equipment. He really enjoys this time together. I love seeing his determination and fortitude to keep going even when things are hard. He’s my hero!

Rebecca Update: 

I had some tests run last week to stay on top of my cancer screenings. Thankfully, nothing was found through either test. I did discover that I have chronic gastritis, most likely caused from my immunotherapy, which was causing my stomach issues. Please pray for wisdom for us as we decide how to proceed with my screenings. Since I technically do not have PMS2, a branch of lynch syndrome that can cause a higher rate of cancer, I could go longer between tests. Mg genetic testing revealed I didn’t have any known lynch positive genes. The doctor did say that since my tumors turned into PMS2 positive, I am probably at a higher risk of cancers than the normal population, but maybe not as high as lynch patients. He recommended me discussing all of this with my genetics team and coming up with a plan.

I have my next round of immunotherapy and doctor appointments this next week. 

We have been making the most of our extended summer by spending time at our pool while the kids are at school. 

Wayne bought me a very early birthday present. He bought these shelves for all my plants and also bought me a couple more plants to fill my shelves. I love all my houseplants!

Wayne requested some homemade sourdough bread. I made a mistake and ended up using a recipe that made two loaves. My plan was to make five loaves of bread, so I ended up with ten!! 

Catch Up Photos: a few weeks ago, my youngest sister, Rachel, got married. It was a whirlwind weekend, but we enjoyed every moment as a family.

We left at 4am to make it to a family luncheon on Friday. That meant a stop for caffeine was necessary!

Family 🩷

JPG Photo and Video did a fabulous job with the photos. I cannot wait to see all the photos once they are done. 

Shan thought he would be funny and “tattooed” himself with made in China. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

Cousin fun: we got to spend the week with two of my sister’s boys while they went away. 3 teenage boys will devour a lot of food!! In two days they ate 5+ pounds of pasta. We had s’mores and an outdoor movie last night. The weather was perfect and we made some awesome memories.

We also celebrated Mid Autumn Festival with some friends. We had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures.

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: please pray that we can figure out answers for Wayne’s health and have a plan going forward.

- Rebecca: for my immunotherapy this next week and wisdom to know how much testing to do.

- Abigail: her due date is quickly approaching. Please pray for a smooth delivery.