Episode 81 - Blooming in Brokenness: Resilience, Faith, and Authenticity with Amber Weigand-Buckley

Date: July 18, 2025 Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Amber Weigand-Buckley

 

Episode Highlights: In this inspiring installment of The Women Behind the Words, host Debbie Dufek sits down with Amazon #1 bestselling author and mental health advocate Amber Weigand-Buckley to unpack her latest devotional, Flowers Find a Way: Resilient Blooms in Relentless Faith. Amber opens up about overcoming mental health challenges and how “mental health struggles don’t disqualify anyone from divine purpose and leadership calling.” Drawing on intimate anecdotes, from the tenacious dandelion that “pushes itself up through concrete just to reach the light” to the symbolism of beautifully broken vessels. She reveals how vulnerability, authentic storytelling, and reliance on the Holy Spirit cultivate resilience, faith-based leadership, and spiritual growth. She also teases an upcoming audiobook version of Sisterhood of the Short Yellow Pencils, allowing listeners to experience her voice in navigating mental health mayhem one sticky note at a time.

 

About the Guest: Amber Weigand-Buckley is an Amazon number one bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and multi-award-winning founding editor and art director of Leading Hearts Magazine. A Springfield, Missouri native, Amber combines her passion for mental health advocacy with faith-based leadership, creating resources that help women embrace their cracks, quirks, and all. Her published works include:

• Leading Ladies: Discover Your God-Grown Strategy for Success (co-authored with Lisa Burris Burns)

• Flowers Find a Way: Resilient Blooms in Relentless Faith

• Enough for Today: 30 Mana Moments, 24 Hours at a Time (coming 2025) Her 2026 release, Sisterhood of the Short Yellow Pencils: Mental Health Mayhem, One Sticky Note at a Time, continues her mission of authentic vulnerability through powerful storytelling. Amber also co-hosts the weekly podcast Coffee Chat with Amber and Lisa.

 

Book Spotlight: Flowers Find a Way: Resilient Blooms of Relentless Faith 

Flowers Find a Way is more than a devotional, it is an invitation to see God’s presence in the overlooked, the ordinary, and the broken. Through thirty heartfelt reflections, Amber Weigand-Buckley leads readers on a journey of discovering beauty in unexpected places and strength in the midst of struggle. Each page is designed to help women deepen their faith, reframe their challenges, and recognize the powerful ways God moves through even our most fragile moments.

This devotional invites readers to cultivate resilience and uncover divine purpose through:

• Biblical wisdom woven with Amber’s raw and relatable personal stories. Using the dandelion as a powerful metaphor, she reminds us that God often uses what the world sees as weeds, flawed, stubborn, out of place, as vessels for His light and growth.

• Practical prompts that encourage readers to lean into God’s voice and listen for the nudges of the Holy Spirit. These exercises provide space to pause, reflect, and process what God may be speaking into your life today.

• Encouragement to embrace imperfections and stop waiting to be “put together” before being used. Amber’s voice reminds us that our cracks are not flaws to hide but openings through which God’s light pours out.

• Reflection questions designed to spark conversation, journaling, or small group dialogue. These questions help deepen your spiritual walk and foster authentic community, reminding us that our stories matter, and they’re meant to be shared.

From soft strength to holy defiance, Flowers Find a Way is a gentle but bold companion for any woman learning to rise,