Episode 75 - Embracing Grace in the New Normal: Bob and Deb Dufek's Journey of Faith and Healing

Date: May 24, 2025 Podcast Show Notes: Bob and Deb Dufek

 

Episode Highlights: Welcome to another heartfelt episode of The Women Behind the Words! We’re so glad you’ve joined us for this deeply personal conversation with Bob and Deb Dufek. If you haven’t yet listened to last week’s episode (Podcast #74), we encourage you to go back and hear it first, as it provides valuable context for this follow-up discussion.

In this episode, Bob and Deb share how the Lord recently opened up a portion of Scripture to them—Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)—that has been monumental in their journey through incredibly challenging storms, especially those related to Bob’s traumatic brain injury.

With raw honesty and deep spiritual insight, they unpack what God is doing in their lives—individually and as a couple. Since Bob’s traumatic brain injury in November 2014, compounded by multiple rounds of Lyme disease (including one that impacted his heart), they’ve walked a long, difficult road together. And yet, through every valley, Jesus has shown up—right on time and with exactly what they needed.

Now, more than a decade later, Bob and Deb are beginning to see light breaking through the darkness. They speak with grateful hearts about a new season of refreshment, grace, and deeper intimacy with the Lord. They’re learning to walk in the unforced rhythms of grace and embrace a fresh wind of love and renewal, both personally and within their marriage.

 

About the Guests: Debbie Dufek is an author, conference and retreat speaker, inspirational storyteller, and the host of the popular podcast The Women Behind the Words. Her passion is encouraging others to live deliberately for what matters most to Jesus. She believes every story is significant and inspires others to share their journeys for the glory of God. Married to her best friend Bob for nearly 50 years, she is a grateful mother of seven, grandmother of twenty-two, and great-grandmother of eleven. She continues to marvel at the faithfulness of God and lives in joyful anticipation of reaching heaven’s shore.

Bob Dufek is a retired New York State Corrections Officer with 25 years of dedicated service. Known for his strength, faith, and compassion, Bob is a devoted husband, loving father, and proud grandfather and great-grandfather. Living in the family homestead in beautiful upstate New York, Bob finds his greatest joy in Jesus and in time spent with his beloved family. His life is marked by resilience, warmth, and an unwavering love for people.

 

Book Spotlight: Holy Interruptions By Debbie Dufek

Debbie Dufek weaves together her personal journey with the timeless stories of women in the Bible—women whose lives, like ours, were marked by unexpected turns, deep wounds, and divine encounters.

With raw honesty and tender grace, Holy Interruptions is more than storytelling—it’s an invitation to healing and hope. Through powerful writing, thoughtful reflection, and Scripture-rich encouragement, readers will discover that what God has done for one, He can do again.

Your Story Matters. We have the power to change the course of history—one heart at a time—through our stories.

God specializes in using the unlikely. Over and over, Scripture proves this truth through stories of women whose lives were gloriously interrupted by His love and calling.

God used their stories to change lives then. He can use yours to do the same today.

• Are you listening for His whisper?

• Are you willing to welcome Him into your story?

• Will you say yes—even to sharing the raw, real parts of your journey so that others may find healing?

Holy Interruptions invites you to surrender your story to the One who’s writing something eternal through it. He has miraculously changed li