At the Counter with the Baking Pastor | Christian Encouragement, Grief Support, Burnout Recovery & Soul Care

Laura Sharp-Waites | Licensed Minister, Pastoral Counselor & Christian Soul Care Coach
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Spirituality

Are you grieving a loss, navigating an unwanted change, caring for everyone but yourself, or waking up already tired? Maybe you’re burned out, your faith feels weary, or life simply doesn’t feel the way it used to. At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is a Christian podcast offering encouragement for hard seasons, grief and loss support, burnout recovery, practical soul care, and honest conversations about faith in everyday life. Hosted by Laura Sharp-Waites, licensed minister, pastoral counselor, and Christian soul care coach, each episode brings meaningful stories, gentle spiritual encouragement, and practical ways to care for your soul when life feels heavy. Here, grief is bigger than bereavement. It can come with caregiving, divorce, friendship loss, health changes, career changes, disappointment, or a life you never expected to be living. Sometimes what you’re carrying has a name, and sometimes you simply know you don’t feel like yourself anymore. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you come to the Counter. This is a place to slow down, breathe, reconnect with your faith, and notice God’s presence in the middle of ordinary life. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

  1. 4d ago

    37 | When Faith Doesn't Feel Safe Anymore | Spiritual Direction, Church Hurt & Rest with Paul Burgmayer

    What happens when faith still matters to you, but church no longer feels safe? Church hurt, spiritual exhaustion, misuse of authority, shame, and disappointment can leave people wondering where God is and whether faith can ever feel safe again. Healing doesn't always begin with having the right answers. Sometimes it begins with finding a safe place to tell the truth, ask difficult questions, and simply be heard. In this episode of At the Counter with the Baking Pastor, Laura welcomes spiritual director, researcher, and author Paul Burgmayer for a gentle conversation about spiritual direction, church hurt, prayer, trust, and finding God in ordinary life. Paul explains what spiritual direction actually is and why “direction” doesn't mean someone telling you what to do. Instead, a spiritual director can offer presence, careful listening, and space to notice where God may already be at work. Together, Laura and Paul explore: • What spiritual direction is and what a spiritual director actually does • Why people seek spiritual direction during seasons of church hurt or spiritual exhaustion • How healthy spiritual direction avoids control and misuse of authority • Why rebuilding spiritual trust can take time • How prayer can change throughout different seasons of life • Simple forms of prayer when you don't have many words • Finding God in ordinary, everyday moments • What to do when worship or church begins to feel like autopilot • Why slowing down can feel difficult in a culture that wants quick answers • The relationship between psychology and spirituality • Why rest may be the first step when faith feels exhausted Paul also shares a powerful lesson from his own spiritual director, who waited nine years for Paul to feel safe enough to say something he had been carrying. It's a reminder that trust cannot be rushed, especially after we've been hurt. If you're spiritually tired, questioning, recovering from church hurt, or simply longing for a quieter and safer way to listen for God, pull up a chair. You don't have to solve everything today. Sometimes the first step is simply to rest. Connect with Paul Burgmayer Learn more about Paul, his research, spiritual direction, and his book The Making of Modern Spiritual Direction at historyofsd.com. Pull Up a Chair Explore more Christian encouragement, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, books, resources, and the At the Counter community at BakingPastor.com. If this conversation helped you, consider sharing it with someone who may need a safe place to breathe today. Until we pull up a chair next time.  Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    37 | When Faith Doesn't Feel Safe Anymore | Spiritual Direction, Church Hurt & Rest with Paul Burgmayer

  2. Sep 30

    36 | When You’ve Become Who Everyone Else Needs You to Be | Burnout Recovery with Kimia Penton

    There are seasons when everything looks right from the outside. You’ve worked hard, cared for people, carried responsibilities, and done what was expected of you. But somewhere beneath all that competence, a quieter question may begin to surface: Where did I go? In this episode of At the Counter with the Baking Pastor, Laura is joined by organizational psychologist, leadership practitioner, recording artist, and author Kimia Penton for a conversation about authenticity, people-pleasing, boundaries, burnout, purpose, and belonging. Kimia shares her own experience of realizing she had become skilled at performing the roles expected of her while drifting away from herself. Together, Laura and Kimia explore why saying no can feel so uncomfortable, how healthy boundaries can actually preserve relationships, why kindness sometimes requires more honesty than niceness, and what happens when we stop measuring our lives entirely through other people's approval. Kimia also shares a tender childhood story about a small gray My Little Pony that has remained with her for nearly four decades and why it still reminds her of what love and value really look like. In this conversation: When achievement becomes armorPeople-pleasing, overfunctioning, and burnoutLearning to say no without abandoning the people you loveHealthy boundaries in family, faith, and workThe difference between niceness and kindnessRecognizing our own internal red flagsMoving from “Will they choose me?” to “Do I choose them?”Why legacy is built through the way we live, love, and lead todayYou are more than the roles you perform, the peace you maintain, the approval you earn, or the work you complete. Connect with Kimia Want to go deeper into the themes of authenticity, purpose, and living in alignment with who you were created to be? Visit Kimia Penton’s website to learn more about her work, explore her book, Power, on Purpose, and connect with her: https://www.kimiapenton.com/book Pull up a chair. There’s a place for you here. ☕  Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    36 | When You’ve Become Who Everyone Else Needs You to Be | Burnout Recovery with Kimia Penton

  3. Sep 23

    35 | When You’re Grieving Someone Who’s Still Here | Grief Support with Julie Barth

    Sometimes grief begins long before someone dies. You can still hear their voice, sit beside them, and love them fiercely while quietly missing the life you used to have together. In this episode of At the Counter, Laura sits down with writer, mother of six, trauma survivor, and founder of the Colin James Barth Outreach, Julie Barth, for an honest conversation about caregiving, anticipatory grief, loss, guilt, and what happens when an entire family learns to live around illness. Julie shares the story of caring for her daughter Taytem through complex medical needs and later walking alongside her husband Colin through pancreatic cancer. She talks candidly about the exhaustion of navigating doctors, treatments, insurance, parenting, and marriage while trying to convince everyone, including herself, that things were “fine.”  Together, Laura and Julie explore the grief that begins before death, the complicated relief a caregiver may experience when suffering finally ends, and the guilt that can follow. Julie also reflects on realizing years later that she had done the best she could in circumstances where nothing ever felt like enough.  They also talk about the emotional “backpack” caregivers carry, the difficulty of admitting when you can no longer do everything yourself, and why caring for yourself is not a betrayal of the person you love.  In this conversation:  Anticipatory grief and grieving someone who is still here  Caregiver exhaustion, guilt, and resentment  Parenting while navigating serious illness  The pressure to tell everyone you’re “fine”  Why grief doesn’t follow a timeline  Giving yourself grace for what you could and couldn’t do  The transition from caregiver to widow  Learning to receive care when you’re accustomed to caring for everyone else  How Julie’s experiences eventually inspired the Colin James Barth Outreach Julie reminds us that it’s okay not to be fine and that we are not defined by how successfully we appear to be holding everything together.  Soul Pause: What are you carrying that you haven’t allowed yourself to name? Not fix. Not solve. Just name. ☕💛  Connect with Julie: JulieBarthAuthor.com Learn more about Julie’s books,  Taytem’s art, and the Colin James Barth Outreach. Care for Little Ears: This episode includes conversations about serious illness, cancer, caregiving, death, grief, and end-of-life experiences. ☕ Pull up a chair. The Counter is open. Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    35 | When You’re Grieving Someone Who’s Still Here | Grief Support with Julie Barth

  4. Sep 16

    34 | When the Life You Built No Longer Fits | Burnout Recovery with Jobert Abueva

    What happens when the life you worked so hard to build no longer fits who you are? Sometimes burnout recovery begins before we make the next plan, set another goal, or try to reinvent ourselves. It begins by slowing down long enough to look honestly at where we've been, what we've been carrying, and what our lives may be trying to teach us. In this episode of At the Counter, Laura welcomes Jobert E. Abueva, author, global marketing and philanthropy executive, and creator of The Janus Plan. Jobert shares the story of reaching profound burnout while leading a successful international career. From the outside, he appeared to be thriving. Behind the success were exhaustion, relentless travel, little sleep, and beliefs such as I must outperform, rest is for the weak, and others expect perfection. That breaking point eventually invited Jobert to reconsider not only how he worked, but how he approached transitions, endings, goals, and new beginnings. Together, Laura and Jobert explore how to recognize burnout, why reflection can be an important part of burnout recovery, and how looking backward can help us move forward after grief, change, or an ending we didn't choose. How can you tell when exhaustion has become burnout? Burnout can be difficult to recognize when overworking has become normal. Jobert reflects on the beliefs and expectations that kept him pushing long after his body and life were asking him to slow down. Laura and Jobert discuss the difference between ordinary tiredness and a deeper depletion that may signal something needs to change. Why look backward when you're trying to move forward? Jobert shares his “good, bad, and ugly” approach to reflection and why beginning again doesn't require erasing everything that came before. Looking back isn't about getting stuck in the past. It can help us recognize what shaped us, what we've learned, what still matters, and what we may no longer need to carry into the next season. What about endings and transitions we didn't choose? Not every new beginning comes from a goal we enthusiastically set. Laura and Jobert also talk about grief and unwanted change, including Jobert's experience of losing his father during the COVID shutdowns. Their conversation explores how reflection can help us honor what has been part of our lives while discerning what we want to carry forward. In this conversation, you'll hear about: • How to recognize the difference between being tired and experiencing burnout • Hidden beliefs that can keep us overworking and overperforming • Why reflection can matter in burnout recovery • Jobert's “good, bad, and ugly” approach to looking back • Why endings deserve reflection before beginnings become another rush forward • Grief, unwanted change, and transitions we never planned • Deciding what to carry forward and what we're ready to release • Why handwriting and physical reflection can help us slow down • Beginning again without needing to have the next five years figured out Soul Pause What are you doing right now because it genuinely matters to you, and what are you doing because you're convinced that you have to? You don't need to fix anything today. Just notice. And perhaps consider one more question: What is this moment trying to teach me? Maybe beginning again doesn't require an empty loom. The threads of joy, disappointment, love, loss, wisdom, and experience are already part of your tapestry. Sometimes one small, intentional thread is enough to begin. Connect with Jobert Learn more about Jobert E. Abueva and The Janus Plan:  https://joberteabueva.com/ Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    34 | When the Life You Built No Longer Fits | Burnout Recovery with Jobert Abueva

  5. Sep 9

    33 | When Other People Decide What You're Capable Of | Christian Encouragement with Dorsey Ross

    What happens when other people decide what you’re capable of before you ever get the chance to find out for yourself? Dorsey Ross has spent much of his life hearing predictions about what he wouldn’t be able to do. Born with Apert syndrome, Dorsey was not expected to survive into adulthood. Doctors encouraged his parents to institutionalize him, teachers questioned whether he could succeed in college, and later, doors into traditional ministry repeatedly closed. But Dorsey’s parents raised him differently. They encouraged him to try, explore, and discover what he could do rather than allowing other people’s expectations to define his future. At the counter, Dorsey and Laura talk about the voices we allow to shape our identity, trusting God when His plans look different from ours, finding genuine friendship, navigating grief, caring for someone you love, and learning to keep moving forward when life knocks you down. Dorsey also shares how a calling he once struggled to imagine eventually led him to travel and share his story for years. Because a closed door doesn’t necessarily mean your purpose has disappeared. And someone else’s prediction about your life doesn’t get to write the ending. ☕ Soul Pause: Whose voice have you allowed to tell you what you’re capable of, and what might God be saying instead? Connect with Dorsey: Visit DorseyRossShow.com to learn more about Dorsey, his podcast, faith story, ministry, and speaking. Continue the conversation: Search At the Counter in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and pull up a chair. Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    33 | When Other People Decide What You're Capable Of | Christian Encouragement with Dorsey Ross

  6. Sep 2

    32 | When You Need Someone to Carry Your Mat | Christian Encouragement

    You’re probably pretty good at carrying other people’s mats. You show up. You help. You pray. You remember what everyone needs. You’re the person others know they can count on. But what happens when you’re the one who can’t get up? In Mark 2, four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus. When they can’t get through the crowd, they find another way. They open the roof and lower their friend down in front of Jesus. The friends couldn’t heal him. They couldn’t fix what was wrong. But they could carry him. And sometimes, that’s what we need too. In this solo conversation, Laura explores what this familiar story can teach us about receiving care, asking for help, and allowing other people to hold a corner of the mat when life becomes too heavy to carry alone. We’ll talk about: • Why receiving help can feel harder than giving it • The difference between supporting someone and trying to fix them • What Mark 2 means when it says Jesus “saw their faith” • Who might be able to hold one corner of your mat • Why people can’t always help with something we’ve become very good at hiding • How to ask for the kind of support you actually need • Why community means sometimes carrying and sometimes being carried Maybe your mat today is grief. Maybe it’s caregiving, exhaustion, uncertainty, a diagnosis, a relationship that has changed, or simply more than you can carry by yourself right now. You don’t have to find four perfect people. Maybe there’s one person who can listen. One who can pray. One who can help with something practical. One who can remind you that you are loved and this difficult season is not the whole of your story. And maybe, for now, one person is holding two corners. Soul Pause: Who could hold one corner of your mat today? Sometimes faith looks like carrying someone. Sometimes faith looks like letting yourself be carried. ☕ Continue the conversation The At the Counter community is a place to slow down, connect, find encouragement, and remember you don’t have to carry everything alone. Search At the Counter in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and pull up a chair. Scripture: Mark 2:1–12 Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    32 | When You Need Someone to Carry Your Mat | Christian Encouragement

  7. Aug 26

    31 | When the Screen Is Meeting a Need You Can't See | Christian Parenting with Nathan Graham

    What if the screen isn’t the real problem? For many parents, gaming can become a battleground. We see hours disappearing behind a screen, responsibilities being ignored, tempers flaring when it’s time to log off, and a child who seems increasingly disconnected from the family. But Nathan Graham invites us to look beneath the behavior. Nathan knows the world of gaming from the inside. What began as childhood entertainment eventually became a place where he found accomplishment, significance, connection, and belonging. His own experience taught him that simply removing a game may stop a behavior without addressing the deeper need the game was meeting.   Together, Laura and Nathan explore what can happen when parents trade immediate correction for curiosity. Nathan shares why entering a child’s world can create connection, how asking better questions can uncover what’s really happening underneath gaming, and why the goal of the first conversation doesn’t have to be changing the behavior. Sometimes the first goal is simply being invited back into your child’s world.   Nathan also shares a meaningful story about the first time his own father became genuinely curious about gaming and how that small act gave him something much bigger: a sense of significance and connection with his dad.  The conversation reaches beyond gaming, too, into parenting, boundaries, churches, belonging, and the places young people go when they’re searching for somewhere they feel known and valued. At the counter:  Why gaming may be meeting needs we don't immediately see  The difference between addressing a behavior and understanding what's underneath it  Belonging, significance, accomplishment, and connection  Why taking the game away doesn't necessarily solve the problem  How curiosity can change difficult parent-child conversations  Nathan's practical “three deep questions” approach  What happened when Nathan's father entered his gaming world  Creating boundaries without shutting young people out  What churches can learn about welcoming the young people they say they want to reach  Why the first goal may not be changing your child at all Nathan leaves parents with a simple invitation: come from curiosity. Your child may not yet be able to understand your adult world, but you have something they don't have yet. You remember what it was like to be young.  Maybe the question isn't simply, How do I get them off the screen? Maybe it's: What are they finding there that they're struggling to find somewhere else? About Nathan Graham Nathan Graham helps parents better understand gaming and the needs children may be meeting through it. Drawing from his own experience with gaming and his work with families, he encourages parents to move beyond fear and frustration and toward curiosity, connection, healthy boundaries, and stronger relationships. Learn more at his website: https://syntheticecho.com/ Purchase his book: https://amzn.to/4ckXDmD Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    31 | When the Screen Is Meeting a Need You Can't See | Christian Parenting with Nathan Graham

  8. Aug 19

    30 | When Coping Isn't Enough Anymore | Burnout Recovery with Kathrine Parnell

    Sometimes the things that helped us survive eventually stop helping us live. We keep functioning. We show up. We take care of people. We handle the responsibilities. From the outside, we may even look successful. But underneath all that competence, something feels off. This week at the counter, Laura welcomes licensed therapist, author, and Stone and Sky Retreats founder Katherine Parnell for a conversation about what happens when coping, performing, and pushing through are no longer enough. Katherine shares why the strategies that once helped us manage difficult seasons may eventually leave us exhausted and disconnected, especially when we're living according to expectations that no longer align with who we are or what we value. Together, Laura and Katherine explore the hidden exhaustion of switching roles, why burnout can sometimes look remarkably like success, and what happens when identities such as caregiver, helper, peacemaker, achiever, or "the strong one" begin to cost us more than we realize. They also talk about grief that accompanies even positive transitions, the discomfort of slowing down, and Katherine's unexpected experience in the Scottish Highlands that taught her what can happen when the noise finally becomes quiet enough to hear ourselves again. And Katherine offers a simple pen-and-paper exercise to help identify what actually matters to you now, rather than what you've been taught should matter. At the counter:  When coping strategies stop helping  Why appearing capable doesn't mean you're okay  The energy cost of constantly shifting roles and performing  How values change as our lives and circumstances change  Why burnout can masquerade as success  Caregiving, identity, and the question, "Who am I when I'm not taking care of everyone else?"  Why even good changes can bring grief  What stillness can reveal when we're brave enough to stay there  Katherine's 60-second exercise for identifying your values  Where to begin when you realize you've lost touch with yourself One of the most hopeful reminders Katherine offers is beautifully simple: It's not too late. Reconnecting with yourself doesn't require changing your entire life overnight. It can begin with one quiet moment, one honest answer, and one small step toward living in greater alignment with what matters to you. Katherine emphasizes that even one step toward authenticity is worthwhile.  About Katherine Parnell Katherine Parnell is a licensed therapist, author, and founder of Stone and Sky Retreats. For more than 20 years, she has worked in mental health, helping people navigate burnout, identity shifts, life transitions, and the exhaustion that can hide behind competence and success. She is the author of Keeping It Real: Discovering Your Authentic Self and creates retreat experiences designed to help people slow down, reconnect with their values, and rediscover who they are beneath expectations, roles, and responsibilities. Learn more about Katherine and Stone and Sky Retreats at stoneandskyretreats.com and look for Keeping It Real: Discovering Your Authentic Self https://amzn.to/4bYpUiv Join me October 19–23 for The Empty Chair at the Counter, a free five-night online retreat for anyone carrying grief, change, or a season that feels heavier than expected. Come as you are. Your chair is already waiting. https://bakingpastor.com/tec-atc/ Support the show ☕ Enjoying At the Counter? Share the podcast with a friend: If an episode made you think of someone, send it their way.Leave a review: Your review helps more people discover At the Counter with the Baking Pastor and find encouragement for the season they’re walking through.Come join us at the Counter: Download the At the Counter app in your phone’s app store and connect with a welcoming community where the conversation continues between episodes.At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is for anyone looking for Christian encouragement for hard seasons, grief support, burnout recovery, soul care, and faith in everyday life. We talk about grief and loss support, caregiving, life transitions, unwanted change, emotional healing, spiritual weariness, rest and renewal, and practical soul care for the days when life feels heavy, faith feels tired, or you simply don’t feel like yourself anymore. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

    30 | When Coping Isn't Enough Anymore | Burnout Recovery with Kathrine Parnell
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Are you grieving a loss, navigating an unwanted change, caring for everyone but yourself, or waking up already tired? Maybe you’re burned out, your faith feels weary, or life simply doesn’t feel the way it used to. At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is a Christian podcast offering encouragement for hard seasons, grief and loss support, burnout recovery, practical soul care, and honest conversations about faith in everyday life. Hosted by Laura Sharp-Waites, licensed minister, pastoral counselor, and Christian soul care coach, each episode brings meaningful stories, gentle spiritual encouragement, and practical ways to care for your soul when life feels heavy. Here, grief is bigger than bereavement. It can come with caregiving, divorce, friendship loss, health changes, career changes, disappointment, or a life you never expected to be living. Sometimes what you’re carrying has a name, and sometimes you simply know you don’t feel like yourself anymore. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you come to the Counter. This is a place to slow down, breathe, reconnect with your faith, and notice God’s presence in the middle of ordinary life. Pull up a chair. The counter is open. ☕

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