Kathy Rogers is a business owner, speaker, author and podcaster whose life was forever changed by two breast cancer diagnosis—first her own, then her daughter's. Despite a fierce battle, Kathy's daughter passed away at 29 years old. This loss transformed Kathy's lens in life, allowing her to find faith, joy and peace in all circumstances. Kathy uses her honest, compassionate voice to share one encouraging message: the God who created the universe cares about our lives! Her story can provide a lifeline for anyone navigating life's challenges.

Her best-selling book, Look for Good: Discovering God in Grief, Celebration and the Every Days, is available on her website, amazon and other online retailers.

Website and Email address

www.thekathyrogers.com

[email protected]

Links to Podcast:

The Kathy Rogers Podcast: Your Best Friend's Mom

https://youtube.com/@thekathyrogers-tkr?si=FOVfSCUdj2P9gG7-

https://open.spotify.com/show/223SN7hrASd7wlgqqcWGbQ?si=c975e9017f044371

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-best-friends-mom/id1809192365

Social Media Accounts:

www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-rogers-53441312

https://www.instagram.com/thekathyrogers

https://www.facebook.com/kathy.g.rogers.37

Hi, I'm Angel.

This mission starts right in our home.

So for my wife and three sons, thank you for standing with us.

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God chose us to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you.

It's such a great pleasure to connect with you.

For those listening, what part of the world are you in today?

I am in Dallas, Texas in the United States.

Were you always from Dallas Kathy?

No, I was originally from Mississippi.

What was the reason for the move west?

I grew up in a small town that was very nurturing and wonderful, but I needed a bigger place.

So I moved to Dallas after I graduated from university, and then I married a Texan, and I've been here 40 years.

So I think I'm Texan now.

Yeah, I think you're definitely Texan.

So how did you come to meet Jesus?

Oh, at a youth camp through church when I was 12 years old, I just remembering having that conviction of we really cannot perform to earn God's love, and we don't need to because of his grace and mercy.

And I accepted Jesus as my Savior then, and I have been grateful for that salvation for the last 50 years.

That's amazing.

How has the journey been?

It has been rocky, and man, I have not made great choices.

I would say that in college, I really strayed for about five years.

I just tried to ignore who God was and try to do things the way I wanted to.

Just a little spoiler, it didn't work, but he faithfully called me back to him, and then I married a godly man, which has been amazing.

And then in 2018, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, and through that breast cancer journey, I learned the difference in just having Jesus as my Savior and having him as my Lord and truly trusting that he loves me so much that no matter what the circumstances are, I can wholly praise him.

And I went from being what I would call a checklist performance Christian to truly living every single day in faith, believing that he will guide my path and that I can honor him in all that I do.

Yeah, I mean, the diagnosis, take me back to that.

What was that like?

It was kind of scary.

I knew, you know, when I go in for the process and everything and I have the biopsy, I was what I call delusionally optimistic in that it's going to be okay.

I really always had the, it's going to be okay.

Although everyone around me didn't feel that way, I really believed it was going to be fine.

And my mother had been diagnosed just six months before.

So my first phone call when I got that call, oh boy, so vivid, just remembering taking that call.

And I called my mother and I said, mom, it is cancer and it's not the good kind.

And I said, but I'm okay with it because I'm fine to go home to be with Jesus right now.

I mean, that's the ultimate goal is I want to spend eternity with him.

So I was okay with that.

And my mother calmed me and said, yes, honey, but those around us, that's hard for them because they will miss you on this earth.

So yes, we're ready to go, but God may not be ready for us.

He may be walking us through something that's bigger than just going straight home to be with him.

And that was the beginning of, okay, so what does God want me to learn from this?

That's an amazing posture to have, to be able to reflect in the midst of, I mean, it's easy to see, right?

It's another thing to walk the journey.

And was it painful going through what I would imagine is chemotherapy and yes, we're attempting to summarize in minutes, in years.

So yeah, take us through that journey, please.

Yes.

And I think sometimes I like to forget how hard it was, but it was very hard.

I had six months of very intense chemo, this one chemo that they call red devil, but my friend would said that Satan gets no credit for healing me.

So she wouldn't let us call it that.

So she called it God juice.

And I lost all of my hair, really fought with God about that one.

I did not want to lose all my hair.

I had this long, dark hair that I just was my crown.

I would just loved it, but God gave me a blonde.

He told me to trust him.

In those moments, that was the argument that I felt a peace where God was saying, trust me, trust me.

And I feel kind of foolish that I didn't appreciate that more in the moment, but his faithfulness in, I got this blonde white hair that came back that to me is a daily reminder of his faithfulness to do more than we could ever ask or think as he tells us in Ephesians 3.20. But I mean, it was painful.

I had probably six surgeries.

I had infections at times.

I gained so much weight that I was discouraged and just didn't feel good, but I did it.

I did it.

And now I use that as a growth mechanism.

I can do hard things through the strength of God in me.

And so that just prepared me for more that happens in life.

You're a walking, living miracle.

Yes.

Aren't we all?

Yeah.

I think some stories, I think some stories are a bit more than the others.

Yeah.

I mean, I can say, yeah, it's a miracle to walk, but yet most definitely I've heard the other side of people having cancer and what has happened, but what you've experienced, it's a miracle and you get to speak about it.

What was the trigger for getting on the platform that you're on right now?

I listened to your podcast.

Yeah.

Well, my mom lost her battle, her cancer was metastatic.

So it was already in various parts of her body.

So she fought for five years.

And then in February of 23, went home to be with Jesus.

And then six months later, our 29 year old daughter, Elena was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

She was a wife, a mother of a three-year-old and a two-year-old.

And then in February of 2024, she went home to be with Jesus.

And that was hard.

It still is hard, but I can see God's hand in all of it.

I watched him strengthen her faith through her journey so that fear did not take over.

She trusted that Jesus was with her from the day she was diagnosed until the day she was home with him.

And there were so many glimpses of God let us be intentional in those six months.

We didn't know we only had six months, but he let us be intentional there.

And I saw God work in our family and he walked with us in and still continues to in those sad, I really, really miss her days.

But then I know I'm going to see her again and I can focus on the fact that eternity is our home and we will be together for eternity with Jesus.

I still want to offer condolences.

Yeah, I can't imagine.

I have three sons.

Yeah.

In Trinidad, it's always said it's better for the parent to go first, right?

Just not to have to experience the trauma of that.

So I think that's a universal thought.

Yeah, I think so.

But what a journey in terms of, again, what was the trigger for you to say, okay, I'm going to turn this around, right?

And I'm going to share this.

I'm going to have other people understand that in the midst of storms, God is still present.

Well, God in, God touched my heart to speak at a celebration of life service that we had for Elena.

And I stood there in front of seven, 800 people, many of whom were very young, young friends of hers and of my, all of my children.

I have three total and I could just feel the fear.

You know, Satan wanted to use that to divide people from, from knowing the truth of God.

And I, God empowered me to stand up on that day and say there, don't fear.

God is not fearful.

He does not want you to be fearful.

This is a tool of Satan.

And God loves you so much that even in these hardest circumstances, He is with you.

And that was the beginning.

That resonated with so many people.

I felt empowered by God to share his truth.

And I really believe it is a gift from God that my faith has strengthened through this and not wavered.

And I believe that that's part of my purpose in life is to share that joy and grief can coexist.

And God loves you so much.

He wants to walk with you through the hard times of life.

What is the remedy in the midst of your journey?

Is it writing?

Is it meditating?

Is it praying?

I spend so much time reading God's word, listening to him in prayer.

What do you want me to hear you say, Lord?

And also I practice gratitude.

I think that gratitude is the quickest way to flip our poor thinking.

When we are feeling sorry for ourselves, when we start being stressed over the things and the obligations of life that we have to do, I believe that when we flip it to, no, I get to do this.

I get to be alive.

I get to see my grandchildren grow up.

I get to stand on platforms and share that the creator of the universe loves every single human on the planet.

That perspective of gratitude keeps me humble and it keeps me enthusiastic about whatever the day holds.

You're absolutely amazing.

It's an honor to have a conversation with you.

I'm intrigued five years from today you're listening to this conversation.

What's the message you'd leave for future you?

Keep doing what you're doing.

As long as God is empowering you and you're doing his work, do not be discouraged by anything because his purpose will be fulfilled and I just pray he allows me to keep being that vessel five years from now.

For the person who's listening who's resonated with your voice and wants to get to know you better, what's the best next step for them?

I have a website, thekathyrogers.com or you can connect with me on Instagram at thekathyrogers.

Kathy, this has been a pleasure.

I treasure.

In closing, is there anything else you'd like to share?

I want every single person to hear this, that the God who created the universe loves you so much and if you will accept his gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will serve God's purpose through your life.