When Kate Elmore turned 27, she had a baby.

Five months after giving birth, she discovered she had thyroid cancer. And went through surgery. And radiation. And isolation. And more.

Her faith is what carried her through. It was the light in a bad day, the peace that God gave her, the strength she didn’t know she had…

And what brought her to the other side of her pain.

Kate sat down with me recently and told me about her journey. 

-> She talked about the role of her faith through a difficult pregnancy and the discovery and treatment of thyroid cancer,

-> How God creatively provided community during the time she went through radiation, requiring her to live in isolation for days at a time,

-> The way her family supported her in unique ways that spoke to her heart,

-> How she got pregnant 4 months into her radiation treatments after she was told she couldn’t and shouldn’t get pregnant for at least a year,

-> The journey of how the pain she had gone through brought her to become an active encourager and bravely share her story,

-> How she came up with the name of her blog & company, The Word Warrior,

-> And a gripping story about how shooting a wild boar taught her (and can teach us!) that the Word is our strength, and we are more than conquerors!

How to go from pain without purpose to becoming a thriving Word Warrior

EK: When something really hard happens in your life, something that moves it astray from what your thought life was going to look like, you initially go into survival mode. But when you realize that “this is real” and you have to live with something (whatever it is)…that there are limits…that you have limits…it leaves you broken. You sometimes skate around in self-pity for a bit.like I did. But after a while, everything shifted. Through counseling, I was able to identify two fears that had become primary in my life: worrying that some negative attitudes were going to make me a bad mom, and fear that by not taking care of my body, I might die. I started realizing I had to get my act together. 

I had to figure out who I was. I took personality tests and dove into exploring what my calling was. Being an achiever all my life, I learned that, after time, I had allowed my achievements to define my identity.  And I became immersed in the Bible, realizing there was so much in there I didn’t know as I was growing up! But also realizing that nothing else was as important as the fact that I was a child of God.

A final word of encouragement from Kate if you’re struggling today

I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s ok to acknowledge that this is hard, and you don’t need to brush over it. But know that you’re not meant to carry it alone. That God has not left you. That He doesn't want bad things to happen to you or to teach you a lesson, but He will teach you something from this. 95% of the time, however, the lesson is also for someone else. It’s gonna change their life…when they want to quit going. So we have to press on. Jeremiah 29:11 doesn’t mean we’ll prosper financially or have perfect health. It means we’ll grow and be able to move forward. And that is a promise from God. Most likely it won’t be easy and you’ll still have to overcome obstacles. But sometimes there will be people put in your life to help you move forward so that you can help others move forward, too.

Kate is reading…The Divinity Code to Understanding Your Dreams and Visions

Kate is eating… Reese’s Cups in the freezer, or a mini-Coke (but shhhh, don’t tell her kids!)

Kate is loving… building a roaring fire in the fireplace

Listen to our entire interview here.