Women Behind the Words

Date: August 11, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Amy Loflin

 

Story Highlights:

In this deeply moving episode of The Women Behind the Words, Debbie Dufek welcomes author, coach, and speaker Amy Loflin for a tender and honest conversation about forgiveness, healing from trauma, and the freedom Jesus offers when we let Him meet us in our darkest places. Amy is the co-founder of Echo Joy Collective, a ministry that guides Christian women into a deeper, more intimate walk with God, and that heart is present in every moment of this exchange.

Amy opens by sharing the pilgrimage that gave birth to her book. After years of doing all the right things, serving on church staff, tithing, praying, and studying Scripture, she still felt a holy hunger she could not satisfy. Sensing the Holy Spirit inviting her to go deeper, she set aside six to seven months to immerse herself in seven New Testament stories of people who encountered Jesus and were transformed. Each month she paired one story with a fast, releasing something in her life to stay tender to what God was revealing. She describes fasting from food, from comfort, even sleeping on the floor, and fasting from vanity during the month she sat with the woman with the issue of blood, identifying with that woman's sense of betrayal by her own body.

Debbie and Amy linger on that woman's story, tracing it in three movements: who she was before, isolated and living from shame and rejection, who she became when she reached out and touched the hem of His garment, and who she was after Jesus called her out of the crowd. They reflect on the beauty of Jesus stopping, asking who touched Him, and drawing her voice into the open so her story could be told rather than hidden. Most tender of all is the moment He calls her daughter, claiming her, pronouncing her clean, and welcoming her back into community.

From there the conversation moves into Amy's own long journey of forgiveness. With gentleness and courage she shares the childhood sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of someone her parents trusted, and the layers of healing God walked her through over decades. She recounts the first assurance she needed, that God was present with her in that room, and the later season when her abuser reappeared in her life and God asked her a question that changed everything: what made her so sure it was the enemy, and not His grace, placing that man in her path. In one unforgettable moment, God reminded her that she was not the only one in that room He was there for, turning her healing from a story about one man's sin into a story about the magnitude of God's mercy.

Debbie shares from her own life as well, including the sudden loss of her father when she was fifteen and the wall of self protection she did not know she had built until God broke it open years later. Together they name anticipatory grief, the quiet habit of grieving loved ones before they are gone in an attempt to guard against future pain, and how that self protection can shut out the very love we long for. Their conversation is a reminder that forgiveness and healing come in seasons and layers, that God is patient with the process, and that there is always more of Him to discover.

 

About Our Guest:

Amy Loflin is an author, coach, and seasoned speaker known for connecting deeply with women through authentic, heartfelt storytelling grounded in biblical truth. She is the co-founder and CEO of Echo Joy Collective, a ministry created to help women encounter God more intimately and step into the extraordinary story He is writing with their lives. With a background in counseling and more than a decade of church leadership, Amy equips women to move out of striving and self-doubt and into wholeness, clarity, and freedom. Warm, compassionate, and quick to laughter, she brings practical insight to the questions women carry about faith, identity, and purpose.

 

Book Spotlight:

A Story Worth Living: Reclaim Your Confidence, Purpose, and Peace is Amy Loflin's invitation to move past a surface-level faith and into a genuine encounter with Jesus. Written out of her own pilgrimage, the book weaves familiar Scripture with the raw and personal stories of her life, showing that the same God who met men and women in the Gospels is still pursuing each of us today. Readers walk alongside characters like the woman with the issue of blood and discover fresh depth in stories they thought they knew, learning to slow down, immerse themselves fully, and imagine their way into the scene until Scripture becomes personal. More than a study, it is a gentle guide toward healing, forgiveness, and identity, helping women trade shame and self-doubt for the confidence, peace, and purpose of a beloved daughter of God. Whether read on your own or with a group of friends, it offers small, faithful steps toward a vibrant and enduring faith. You can learn more or begin your own journey through the book at echojoycollective.com.

 

Connect with Amy:

Website: www.echojoycollective.com
Email: amyloflin@echojoycollective.com
Instagram: instagram.com/echojoycollective
Facebook: facebook.com/echojoycollective

 

Closing Thought:

Amy's story reminds us that healing is rarely a single event and forgiveness is rarely finished in one season. God meets us in the dark rooms of our lives, reminds us we were never alone, and then, when we are ready, invites us to peel back one more layer. His grace is big enough to hold both our pain and our healing, and He is patient enough to keep working until we see Him face to face. If you have ever believed your story was too broken to matter, Amy's life is proof that the same God who pursued a suffering woman two thousand years ago is still pursuing you.

Date: August 4, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Esther Camealy

 

Story Highlights:

In this deeply moving episode of The Women Behind the Words, host Debbie Dufek welcomes author, speaker, and bereaved mother Esther Camealy for an honest conversation about faith, grief, and finding God in the darkest valleys of loss. Esther shares the story at the heart of her award-winning debut memoir, My Song in the Night: Worshiping When the World Goes Dark, walking listeners through the journey that began at a routine twelve-week ultrasound when she and her husband, Clint, learned their fourth baby had trisomy 13, a genetic condition the medical community considers incompatible with life.

Rather than asking why this was happening to her, Esther chose a posture of why not me, trusting that God's strength is made perfect in weakness. She and Clint carried their son Isaac to full term, welcomed him into a family that had already learned to love him, and cherished the forty-three precious hours of his life. At his graveside they released forty-three butterflies, one for every hour he lived, the tender image that gives Esther's ministry its name.

Throughout the conversation, Esther and Debbie explore what it means to grieve well as an act of love, to encounter Jesus as the man of sorrows, and to wrestle honestly with God without letting go of Him. Esther speaks candidly about journaling her rawest prayers, leaning on her study of Job and Revelation, and discovering that God draws uniquely near to the brokenhearted. She and Debbie, who has walked her own road of pregnancy loss, reflect on how grief can become a sacred resource God uses to bring comfort, connection, and unexpected beauty from ashes.

This episode also offers gentle wisdom for families in the thick of loss. Esther shares how she and Clint modeled faith for their children in the hardest season, why grieving fathers are so often overlooked, and how a husband and wife can give one another the grace and space to mourn differently. Whether you have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss yourself, or you love someone who has, Esther's story is a companion for the journey and a reminder that God can be trusted with our very lives, even when the world goes dark.

 

About Our Guest:

Esther Camealy is an author, speaker, and bereaved mother devoted to walking alongside families navigating loss and helping others find honest faith through suffering. She is the author of the award-winning debut memoir My Song in the Night: Worshiping When the World Goes Dark, in which she offers vulnerable, hard-won spiritual insights on surrender and the discovery of God's sustaining presence in the deepest valleys.

Esther lives with her family in Huntsville, Alabama, where she writes at the dining table her husband, Clint, lovingly built, balancing daily life with school drop-offs and a relentless mountain of laundry. Through her website at 43butterflies.com she offers curated resources for families experiencing prenatal diagnosis, pregnancy, or infant loss, including bereavement support for the often overlooked siblings, fathers, grandparents, and medical professionals who serve them.

 

Book Spotlight:

My Song in the Night: Worshiping When the World Goes Dark

When Esther and Clint Camealy learned that their unborn son would not survive, they faced a choice no expectant parent imagines: how to love, welcome, and release a child in the same breath. My Song in the Night is Esther's unflinching account of that journey, from the diagnosis of trisomy 13 through Isaac's birth, his forty-three hours of life, and the long, uneven road toward healing that followed.

What sets this memoir apart is its refusal to offer easy answers. Esther does not tie grief up with a bow or rush past the sorrow to reach the redemption. Instead she invites readers into the questions themselves, the wrestling, the doubt, and the honesty of praying when God feels silent, and she shows how worship in the middle of that darkness became the most costly and genuine gift she could give. Drawing on Scripture, the support of her community, and her daily practice of prayer journaling, she traces how sorrow and faith can be held together rather than forced apart.

For any parent walking through pregnancy or infant loss, for anyone caring for a grieving friend, or for readers longing to believe that beauty can rise from ashes, My Song in the Night is a steady and compassionate companion. It is a testament to the nearness of God to the brokenhearted and to the quiet truth that a song of praise can still be sung, even when the night feels endless.

 

Connect with Esther:

Website: 43butterflies.com

Email: fortythreebutterflies@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/esther.neal.7

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/esther-neal-camealy-89607911

On her website you will also find her Resource Center for families facing prenatal diagnosis, pregnancy, or infant loss, a free first chapter of My Song in the Night, and a Spotify playlist of the songs that carried her through her darkest nights.

 

Closing Thought:

Esther's story reminds us that God never promises a pain-free life, but He does promise never to leave us. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. Whatever dark night you may be walking through, He is near to the brokenhearted, He can be trusted with your deepest grief, and He is still writing beauty from the ashes.

Date: July 28, 2026
Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Noa Razen

 

Story Highlights:

In this heartfelt episode of The Women Behind the Words, Debbie Dufek sits down with her own granddaughter, Noa Razen, a worship leader and ministry servant with a deep passion for helping the next generation know and walk with Jesus. What happens when a young person discovers that God isn't simply asking them to do something for Him, but inviting them to walk with Him?

With honesty and humility, Noa shares her journey from an ordinary high school student to serving with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). She opens up about hearing God's gentle call, wrestling with uncertainty, and ultimately saying yes to an adventure that changed her life. From her training at YWAM's base in Kona, Hawaii, to outreach in Fiji and recent mission experiences mentoring hundreds of students, Noa takes us behind the scenes of what it truly means to step into God's calling as a young person.

This conversation is especially close to Debbie's heart, a rare and beautiful glimpse into two generations sharing the same love for Jesus. Together, they offer practical wisdom for parents, grandparents, church leaders, and anyone longing to see young people build an authentic, life-giving relationship with God.

In this episode, Debbie and Noa explore:

• Noa's personal faith journey and how God led her to YWAM
• What YWAM training is really like, and how to choose the best fit for your family member
• The impact of outreach in Fiji and building relationships with children and families
• Why mission trips so often become life-changing turning points
• The challenges young people face after returning home
• Practical ways parents and churches can support returning students
• How to create authentic, welcoming church communities
• Why serving alongside older generations helps young people grow in their faith
• Helping teenagers move from simply living for God to walking with God
• Encouraging young people to find purpose beyond social media and cultural pressure

Whether you're a parent praying for your children, a young adult wondering what God has for your future, or someone who simply wants to encourage the next generation, this conversation is a reminder that God still calls ordinary people to extraordinary purposes.

 

About Our Guest:

Noa Razen is a worship leader and ministry servant with a heart for helping young people know and walk with Jesus. After completing her training with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Kona, Hawaii, and serving on outreach in Fiji, she returned home with a deep passion for investing in the next generation through worship, discipleship, and local church ministry. She was hired on staff for a year-long internship, where she served in youth ministry, led worship, and mentored students. Today she continues to encourage others to discover a genuine, with-God relationship. Noa is also Debbie's granddaughter, making this conversation a special glimpse into two generations united by their love for Jesus and His calling.

 

Connect with Noa:

Email: noarazen@gmail.com
Instagram: @noarazen
Facebook: Noa Razen
Learn more about YWAM Kona: ywamkona.org

 

Looking Ahead:

Be sure to catch the teaser for Noa's next visit to the podcast, where she'll share practical, biblical encouragement on overcoming negative thoughts and unhealthy conversations. It's an episode you won't want to miss.

 

Closing Thought:

God isn't simply calling us to do something for Him. He's inviting us into a relationship where we learn to walk with Him every day. As Scripture reminds us: "Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity" (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT).

Date: July 21, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Myra Ingargiola

 

Story Highlights:

In this deeply moving episode of The Women Behind the Words, host Debbie Dufek welcomes author, speaker, and Bible study teacher Myra Ingargiola for a heartfelt conversation about discovering the purpose God has already placed within you. Drawing from Proverbs 20:5, which reminds us that the purposes of a person's heart are like deep waters waiting to be drawn out, Myra offers gentle, hard-won wisdom for every woman who has ever wondered whether her life still holds meaning after heartbreak, loss, or unexpected trials.

Myra shares one of the most powerful truths of the episode: that courage is not the absence of fear, but the choice to trust Christ in the middle of it. She encourages listeners to stop striving and start following, staying in step with God rather than running ahead of Him or lagging behind. Purpose, she explains, is not something we create with our own hands. It is something we discover as we wait on the Lord, press into His Word, and allow Him to transform our pain into purpose and our brokenness into a testimony of His faithfulness.

Along the way, Debbie and Myra name the three lies that keep so many women feeling unqualified for God's call: imposter syndrome, the credibility attack, and limiting belief. Myra reframes courage as a skill set rather than a personality trait, a muscle we build through prayer, trust, obedience, and time in Scripture. She speaks tenderly about the importance of seeking wise counsel and surrounding ourselves with praying women, sharing about the faithful prayer team who intercede for her and for whom she intercedes in return.

What makes this conversation unforgettable is Myra's willingness to share her own story. As a survivor of domestic violence, a mother who surrendered a child to adoption, and a parent who has walked through the recent, sudden loss of her youngest child, she speaks with the authority of someone who has found God faithful in the deepest valleys. Her testimony carries one resounding message: God does not rescue us to remain victims. He rescues us to become a voice. Like the woman at the well, we are invited to dip our ladle into the living water and drink deeply, trusting that the God who placed purpose within us will faithfully draw it out.

 

About Our Guest:

Myra Ingargiola is an author, speaker, and Bible study teacher, as well as a high school guidance secretary who treasures the quiet opportunities to speak life into the students around her. She is a wife of thirty-six years, a mom, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. Myra serves as Interim Women's Ministry Leader at her home church, sings on the worship team, and ministers alongside author Rachel Britton with reNEW, a spiritual retreat for writers and speakers.

Myra considers it a privilege to speak and write, proclaiming God's truth of forgiveness, healing, and redemption. Her deepest passion is to show others how Jesus weaves the threads of a life into a tapestry that displays His amazing love, redeeming grace, and unrelenting mercy. Psalm 116 holds her life Scriptures as a survivor of domestic violence and a mother who surrendered a child to adoption. Amid seasons of profound sadness and exceeding, abundant joy, Myra continues to be bold and courageous as she discovers her purposeful heart for God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Book Spotlight:

The Courage to Write: 62 Devotions to Encourage Your Writing Journey

Myra is a contributing author in The Courage to Write, a collection of sixty-two devotions curated by reNEW co-directors Rachel Britton and Lucinda Secrest McDowell. Gathered from a warm community of Christian writers and speakers, these short, encouraging reflections speak straight to the heart of anyone who has ever felt afraid to share their story or step into their calling. Each devotion is a reminder that God equips those He calls, making this a fitting companion to Myra's message that courage is something we build, one faithful step at a time. It is a beautiful encouragement for writers, speakers, and any woman learning to trust God with the purpose He has placed within her.

Available on Amazon at The Courage to Write and through reNEW at reNEW Writing.com.

 

Connect with Myra:

You can learn more about Myra and her ministry through her reNEW author profile at https://renewwriting.com/team.

 

Closing Thought:

Myra's life is living proof that God gives us enough courage to meet each day, even in the midst of pain. Courageous living does not come from anything we manufacture on our own. It comes from intentionally drawing out what God has already placed deep within us and faithfully walking in it, one trusting step at a time. He will not abandon us. He will be our guide, our compass, and the One who leads us through every ebb and flow of the purpose He has written on our hearts.

Date: July 13, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Angie Baughman

 

Story Highlights:

In this encouraging episode of The Women Behind the Words, Debbie Dufek welcomes Bible teacher Angie Baughman, founder of Steady On Ministries, for a conversation that helps women move from feeling overwhelmed by Scripture to feeling equipped to study it with confidence. Angie opens up about being a trauma and abuse survivor and shares how a young and developing faith carried her through public rejection and heartbreak, teaching her early on that God's Word is the place where real trust in Him takes root. Debbie and Angie talk honestly about the obstacles that keep women from turning to Scripture in hard seasons, from a lack of consistency to simply not knowing where to begin, and Angie points listeners toward the Psalms as a place of comfort where every emotion, from doubt to praise, is welcomed by God. The conversation moves into the heart of Angie's Step By Step Bible Study Method, a simple, five-step, transferable approach built around choosing one word in one verse of Scripture and walking through its definition, its investigation in the original language and in commentary, its revelation of God's character, its exposure of the enemy's lies, and a personal takeaway. Angie shares how the method has grown far beyond her own Bible study group, now used by homeschool families, Christian school classrooms, a bilingual homeschool teaching both Bible and Spanish, and even young women in a juvenile detention center. Debbie and Angie close with a tender reminder that full surrender to God is not a one time decision but a daily returning, and that no matter how small the starting point, God meets us there and multiplies it.

 

About the Guest:

Angie Baughman is a licensed pastor, Bible teacher, author, and podcaster, and the founder of Steady On Ministries. She holds an MBA from Southern Illinois University and is trained in inductive Bible study through Precept Ministries. Angie created the Step By Step Bible Study Method, a simple and transferable approach that helps women understand Scripture for themselves. Her own journey through trauma, including surviving abuse as a teenager and later a devastating car accident that impacted her entire family, shaped the redemptive, grounded voice she now brings to her teaching. Angie lives in southern Illinois with her husband and two sons, and she hosts the weekly Steady On podcast, where she and her guests unpack a single word and verse of Scripture each week to help listeners grow in clarity and truth.

 

Book Spotlight:

Cast Your Cares: Recognizing and Speaking to Anxiety is Angie's newest offering, a two part, twelve lesson Bible study that helps readers understand anxiety through the lens of Scripture and respond with God centered trust. In Part One, Conversations That Heal, readers explore how God meets us in the middle of fear through the stories of real women paired with biblical passages that reveal how He brings security when life feels shaky. In Part Two, Talk to Your Triggers, readers are guided through a five step plan for recognizing and addressing anxiety as it rises, drawing on biblical narratives including David's quick anger, Hannah's honest lament, Jacob's altars of remembrance, Esther's surrendered courage, and Peter's restored trust. You can find Cast Your Cares along with Angie's full library of Bible studies, including Be Still, Dress for Success, The Women, Hand in Hand, and more, at livesteadyon.com/books.

 

Connect with Angie:

Website: https://livesteadyon.com/

Books: https://livesteadyon.com/books/

Step By Step Family Kit (free resource): https://steadyon.myflodesk.com/familykit

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livesteadyon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angiebaughman421/

 

Closing Thought:

Angie's story reminds us that God is not waiting for us to arrive at perfect understanding before He meets us in His Word. He is the God of small beginnings, and one word, one verse, and one honest step of trust is enough to begin a lifetime of deeper intimacy with Him.

Date: July 7, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Jennifer E. Tirrell

 

Story Highlights:

In this rich and reflective episode of The Women Behind the Words, Debbie Dufek welcomes award winning author Jennifer E. Tirrell for a conversation about faith, family, and the generational blessings that outlast us. Jennifer is a kinship adopted orphan who grew up to become a devoted stay at home mother, and her writing consistently points readers, both young and old, back to the Creator through the beauty of creation and the truth of God's Word.

Jennifer opens up about the trauma of losing both parents by age three and how her older sister took her and her sibling in, raised them in the church, and surrounded them with books that shaped their character as much as their imagination. She traces her lifelong love of reading back to that home, and how good literature, from Anne of Green Gables to the Elsie Dinsmore series, helped her heal and understand what makes a story worth telling.

Debbie and Jennifer dig into the idea of a generational blessing, from a great grandmother's handmade baptismal gown to Jennifer's discovery of her ninth great grandmother's grave in England, etched with a symbol of prayer from the Tudor period. That discovery became the seed for her novel Jane's Secret. Jennifer shares her conviction that prayer is the ultimate generational blessing, and that even those without a legacy of faith to draw from can be the first to start one for the generations that follow.

The conversation turns tender as Jennifer describes losing her name, her home, and her sense of identity as a young child, and how one quiet moment with her father, learning to say "we don't know why, but we trust," became a truth she carried through every season since. She and Debbie talk honestly about surrender as a continual act of worship rather than a one time decision, and about choosing virtuous living and marriages built on faithfulness and honor rather than culture's version of stability without intimacy.

Jennifer also shares the heart behind Jane's Secret, a novel inspired by real family history, and behind her children's book series, including Pets to the Rescue and a forthcoming project preserving her own mother's handwritten stories, recorded decades ago, for her grandchildren. Her hope throughout is simple and clear, that good stories can quietly plant character and faith in the next generation the same way they once did in her own.

 

About Our Guest:

Jennifer E. Tirrell is an award winning author, speaker, and encourager, and a kinship adopted orphan who grew up to become a devoted stay at home mother. Her writing is shaped by faith, confirmed by history, and centered on truth, and she invites readers to merge their roots, purpose, and blessings and live all in. She is the author of the novel Jane's Secret, the children's picture book Little Sprout Says Yes!, and co-author of The Pets to the Rescue chapter book series for young readers, including Apple Butter Adventure and America's Birthday Hero. Jennifer serves as President of Word Weavers Coastal Carolinas and lives at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, with her husband, Bobby, where she is blessed with six grandchildren.

 

Book Spotlight:

Jane's Secret by Jennifer E. Tirrell

Two women, separated by five centuries, are bound together by one golden key. Inspired by Jennifer's own discovery of her ninth great grandmother's grave in England, Jane's Secret follows Lady Jane Ingleton through Tudor England and Kaitlyn, a present day descendant who stumbles onto a mysterious letter and a key that fits no known lock. As Jane's story of faith found in hardship unfolds alongside Kaitlyn's search for answers, both women discover that the blessings and prayers of one generation can echo further than anyone could imagine. Part historical mystery, part contemporary discovery, Jane's Secret is a reminder that our roots and our faith are often more connected than we realize.

 

Connect with Jennifer:

Website: writingwithjet.com

Book: Jane's Secret on Amazon

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/writingwithjet

 

Closing Thought:

Jennifer's story reminds us that we do not need a perfect legacy to leave a lasting one. Whether it is a baptismal gown, a shelf of well loved books, or a single prayer whispered generations ago, the blessings we plant in faith have a way of reaching further than we will ever see this side of heaven.

Date: July 1, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Heather O'Brien

 

Story Highlights:

In this powerful and faith-filled episode of The Women Behind the Words, Debbie Dufek welcomes healing coach, Bible teacher, and podcast host Heather O'Brien for an honest conversation about emotional and spiritual healing, the kind that reaches the spirit, soul, and body. Heather helps Christians who have suffered injustice and battle anxiety, depression, and addiction get to the root of their pain so they can stop managing symptoms and start living an abundant, free life.

Heather shares how God healed her of anxiety, depression, and trauma in dramatic and deeply personal ways, and why He asked her to wait before stepping onto a public stage. As she puts it, God healed the woman before He expanded her words. That season of waiting taught her what forgiveness really means, deepened her understanding of Scripture, and gave her the words and authority to minister to others.

She opens up about growing up in a home marked by a sibling's addiction, and the feelings of rejection and abandonment that followed her into adulthood, sharing how God walked her through inner healing, forgiveness, and freedom, even delivering her from a long mental battle with addiction. Along the way she offers practical wisdom that listeners can hold onto: the difference between anxiety, which lives in a future that has not happened, and depression, which walks around in a painful past, the power of Philippians 4 to reshape our thoughts, and why being faithful with our words matters more than simply being careful with them.

Heather and Debbie also talk about calling, qualification, and courage, encouraging every woman who feels led to write or speak but wonders whether she is ready. Heather's reminder is simple and freeing: messy, faithful action is what qualifies us, and being just a step or two ahead of someone else is enough to help them. If you have ever felt stuck, unseen, or unqualified, this conversation will remind you that God heals deeply and uses the willing.

 

About Our Guest:

Heather O'Brien is a Spirit-led healing coach, Bible teacher, and host of the Heal with God Podcast, ranked in the top 2% of podcasts globally with more than 44,000 downloads. A licensed minister for over a decade, she helps Christians who love Jesus but still feel emotionally stuck learn how to hear God's voice clearly and heal with Him deeply. Through her Heal with God coaching program and monthly live workshops, she walks people through biblical inner healing from anxiety, depression, relational trauma, and emotional overwhelm. Heather is the author of Heal with God, No Fear Allowed, Supernatural Weight Loss, The Journey of Healing from Injustices, and But How? A Cookbook for Christian Solutions. She lives in South Georgia with her husband of 23 years and their three sons.

 

Book Spotlight:

Heal with God: Christian Spirit-Led Healing by Hearing God's Voice

Do you love God but still feel stuck, carrying shame, anxiety, or hurt you cannot seem to pray your way out of? Heather wrote Heal with God for you. More than a collection of ideas, it is a gentle, step-by-step framework for hearing God's voice clearly, finding emotional and spiritual healing, and walking in lasting freedom. Drawn from years of live workshops and one-on-one coaching, the book helps readers break cycles of shame and self-doubt, work through anxiety and depression, forgive the people who hurt them, and rebuild their confidence and identity in Christ. Each chapter pairs biblical insight with practical tools and personal reflection, so healing can begin right away, even for those who have felt stuck for years. Your healing does not have to wait. God is ready to meet you right where you are, one step, one prayer, and one truth at a time.

 

Connect with Heather:

Website: heatherobrien.net
Email: heather.w.obrien@outlook.com
Instagram: @heatherobrienhealwithgod
Podcast: Heal with God, Christian Spirit-Led Healing by Hearing God's Voice

 

Closing Thought:

Heather's story is a reminder that healing is rarely instant and never wasted. God often does His deepest work in the waiting, healing the heart before He widens the platform. Wherever you feel stuck today, He is still in the business of setting people free, one truth at a time.

Date: May 27, 2026

Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Amber Weigand-Buckley

 

Story Highlights:

In this bold, laugh-out-loud, and deeply moving episode of The Women Behind the Words, host Debbie Dufek sits down with Amber Weigand-Buckley, multi-award-winning author, founding editor of the multi-award-winning Leading Hearts magazine, and unapologetic mental health advocate. Amber is a self-described #shortyellowpencilgirl, and she shows up to this conversation exactly as she is: funny, raw, real, and fully unfiltered.

Amber opens up about navigating life with what she affectionately calls her "full alphabet soup" of mental health challenges, and how instead of hiding that part of her story, she has leaned into it with sticky notes, humor, and a whole lot of grace. This conversation covers the heart and humor behind her newest book, what it means to be a woman of faith who also wrestles with mental health, and why she believes God wired our brains not as a bug, but as a feature.

In this episode, Debbie and Amber explore:

• How humor became one of Amber's most powerful tools for mental health advocacy
• The story behind Leading Hearts magazine and what it means to build a platform rooted in purpose
• What it looks like to be a woman of faith who lives openly with mental health challenges
• The meaning behind the #shortyellowpencil movement and why sticky notes have become her signature
• Her journey to becoming a #1 Amazon bestselling author and what she hopes readers take away
• Why being named one of Listen Linda's Top 6 Women to Watch in 2026 and being featured twice on Times Square billboards is about so much more than recognition
• Her podcast #RandomDevoThoughts and how she keeps showing up for her community, one devotional thought at a time

Whether you have personally walked through mental health challenges, love someone who has, or simply need a reminder that God can use every messy, beautiful, complicated part of your story, this episode will meet you right where you are. Amber's voice is one of hope, honesty, and holy laughter, and this conversation is one you will not want to miss.

 

About Our Guest:

Amber Weigand-Buckley is a multi-award-winning, #1 Amazon bestselling author and the founding editor of the multi-award-winning Leading Hearts magazine (leadinghearts.com). Named one of Listen Linda's Top 6 Women to Watch in 2026, she has been featured twice on Times Square billboards, first as part of that recognition, and then with her latest book featured solo. A self-described #shortyellowpencilgirl, Amber navigates life with humor, raw vulnerability, and zero apology as she lives openly with a full range of mental health challenges.

Her fourth book, #sisterhoodoftheshortyellowpencils: Mental Health Mayhem One Sticky Note at a Time (Abundance Books, May 2026), is a humor-based memoir that makes the case that laughter and mental health advocacy are a perfect pair. She also hosts the podcast #RandomDevoThoughts with Amber, where she delivers bite-sized devotional encouragement to her growing community.

Amber believes God wired our brains not as a bug, but as a feature, and she has built an entire platform to prove it.

 

Book Spotlight:

#Sisterhoodoftheshortyellowpencils: Mental Health Mayhem One Sticky Note at a Time by Amber Weigand-Buckley 

If you have ever felt like your brain was working against you, Amber Weigand-Buckley wants you to know you are not alone, and she has the sticky notes to prove it. In her fourth book, Amber pulls back the curtain on life with mental health challenges in the most disarming way possible: with honesty, wit, and the kind of laughter that only comes from someone who has been in the thick of it.

This is not a clinical guide. It is not a tidy, step-by-step recovery plan. It is a real, human, sometimes messy memoir-style journey through the moments that make mental health hard, and the faith, community, and humor that make it survivable. Through short, sticky-note-sized reflections and personal stories, Amber invites readers into the #shortyellowpencil sisterhood, a community of women who show up for each other, imperfections and all.

Readers will find:

• Relatable, humor-laced stories that normalize the mental health conversation
• Faith-centered reflections that remind us God is present in the hard days, not just the healed ones
• A message of community and belonging for women who have ever felt like "too much" or "not enough"
• Encouragement to embrace the brain God gave you, alphabet soup and all

This book is perfect for women who want to feel seen, readers who appreciate honest storytelling, and anyone who has ever needed a good laugh in the middle of a hard season. A #1 Amazon bestseller, it is proof that vulnerability and humor are not opposites. They are companions.

 

Connect with Amber:

Website: shortyellowpencilrx.com

Leading Hearts Magazine: leadinghearts.com

Instagram: @shortyellowpencilrx and @barefacedgirl

Podcast: #RandomDevoThoughts with Amber

 

Closing Thought:

Amber Weigand-Buckley's story is a powerful reminder that the parts of us we are most tempted to hide are often the very parts God wants to use. She did not wait until she had it all figured out to show up and speak up. She picked up a short yellow pencil, grabbed a sticky note, and started writing her truth, and in doing so, she built a sisterhood. Your story matters. Your brain matters. And there is a community of women out there, sticky notes in hand, ready to cheer you on.