Episode 85 - Obedience Equals Opportunity: Faith, Covenant Marriage, and Parenting Through Trials with Heather Dwyer

Date: August 21, 2025 Podcast Show Notes: Interview with Heather Patterson Dwyer

 

Episode Highlights: In this powerful episode of The Women Behind the Words, host Debbie Dufek sits down with longtime friend and prayer warrior, Heather Patterson Dwyer, for a conversation that is both raw and deeply hope-filled.

Heather opens her heart about the realities of marriage, motherhood, special needs parenting, foster care, and adoption, weaving her story with the thread of God’s faithfulness through every season. With honesty and joy, she shares how obedience to God opens doors to opportunity, even when the path is hard and messy.

From her testimony of salvation to her ongoing journey as a mother of biological, adopted, foster, and special needs children, Heather’s story radiates God’s grace in action. Listeners will hear how the Lord transformed her bitterness into joy, equipped her to stand in her covenant marriage, and gave her the courage to parent through trials that would break many.

Highlights from this episode include:

• The meaning behind the phrase obedience equals opportunity and how it has shaped Heather’s walk with God

• The transformative moment of prayer that changed her life from bitterness to joy

• How to view marriage as a covenant and mission field, even in seasons of struggle

• The reality of raising a severely autistic son while still living with joy and purpose

• The importance of godly female friendships, discipleship, and spiritual soldiers who pray with you in the night

• Why fellowship in the home is vital for families and how it even transforms her son Isaiah’s worship

• Parenting through hardship, including special needs advocacy, sibling struggles, and standing firm in prayer when life feels overwhelming

This heartfelt conversation will stir your faith, challenge your perspective on obedience and marriage, and remind you that God equips us to walk through the messiness of life with His joy, His grace, and His presence.

 

About Our Guest: Heather Patterson Dwyer is a wife, mother, foster parent, and advocate who has lived a life of obedience and surrender to God’s calling. Married to her high school sweetheart, Tom, for 26 years, Heather is the mother of a severely special needs son, Isaiah, 17, kin gap parent to her niece Alexis, 15, foster parent to a sibling group of three, adoptive mom to twins Hannah and Nathan, and mother to two grown children, Leah, 25, and Ian, 24.

Professionally, Heather has served as a family peer advocate for mental health and prevention services in Albany, New York, and as part of the women’s emergency shelter staff at Capital City Rescue Mission. She previously worked as a registered respiratory therapist in multiple hospitals across upstate New York.

Heather and her husband currently live with their large, beautiful family in upstate New York in a home they see as a miracle from God. Her life is a testament to the power of faith, prayer, and choosing joy in the middle of challenges. 

 

Faith Spotlight:

Heather’s story is living proof that God meets us in the middle of life’s hardest places. From parenting children with special needs to navigating foster care and adoption, she reminds us that obedience to God brings new opportunities and that His grace equips us for the challenges we never thought we could face. Through Scriptures like Psalm 84:11 and Romans 15:13, Heather clings to God’s promises, choosing joy even when life feels overwhelming. Her encouragement is clear: pray over your children, honor your marriage covenant, and lean into fellowship that strengthens your walk with Christ.

 

Connect with Heather: Heather is active in ministry, discipleship, and prayer within her community. To connect or learn more about her journey, you can reach out through The Women Behind the Words podcast team.

 

Closing Thought: Obedience may not always be easy, but it always leads to opportunity. Heather’s life reminds us that God never wastes our struggles. When we surrender, trust, and step out in faith, He breathes joy into the messiest parts of our lives and equips us to live out His calling with courage.