At the Counter with the Baking Pastor | Christian Encouragement, Grief Support, Burnout Recovery, Soul Care, Faith in Everyday Life
At the Counter with the Baking Pastor is a Christian podcast for women navigating grief, burnout, life transitions, emotional healing, and the quiet seasons of faith.
I'm Laura Sharp-Waites, a licensed minister, pastoral counselor, and Christian life coach.
This is a quiet space for the woman who is tired... but still showing up.
For the one who's holding it together on the outside while something underneath feels a little unsteady.
Each episode offers a calm, honest place to slow down, take a breath, and reconnect with God in the middle of everyday life. Through gentle conversations, personal stories, faith-filled encouragement, and practical soul care, we'll explore topics like grief, emotional healing, spiritual growth, identity, caregiving, resilience, and finding hope when life feels heavy.
If you've ever thought, "I don't feel like myself anymore," or "I don't even know where to start," you're not alone.
This isn't a space for pressure, performance, or quick fixes.
It's a space to sit.
To breathe.
To listen for God's presence.
And to begin again... slowly.
Pull up a chair.
You don't have to carry everything alone.
At the Counter with the Baking Pastor | Christian Encouragement, Grief Support, Burnout Recovery, Soul Care, Faith in Everyday Life
2 | Feeling Stuck While You Wait? Learning to Trust the Slow Rise
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Have you ever felt like everyone else is moving forward while you're standing still?
In this episode of At the Counter with the Baking Pastor, Laura reflects on waiting seasons, unseen growth, and the quiet work God often does beneath the surface.
When life feels rushed and answers seem slow to come, it's easy to assume nothing is happening. But just like dough rising on the counter, some of the most important growth takes place where we cannot yet see it.
In this conversation, we'll explore:
• Why waiting seasons can feel frustrating and discouraging
• The difference between patience and pressure
• What faith looks like when clarity hasn't arrived yet
• How to trust God's timing during seasons of uncertainty
• The quiet growth that often happens beneath the surface
Whether you're waiting for healing, direction, change, restoration, or simply your next step, this episode offers a gentle reminder that not all progress is visible.
Soul Care Questions
• Where in your life are you longing for clarity or movement right now?
• What might be forming quietly beneath the surface, even if you can't see it yet?
• How could you offer yourself patience instead of pressure this week?
Scripture
"Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him." — Psalm 37:7
Closing
Pull up a chair.
The slow rise is still rising.
If this episode met you where you are, I’d love to hear from you. What stayed with you?
☕ The counter is always open.
If today's conversation stirred something in you, you'll find more gentle reflections, soul care resources, and ways to connect at BakingPastor.com.
You can also explore the At the Counter Soul Pause Journal, created as a companion for quiet moments of prayer, reflection, and everyday faith.
And if you'd like to share a question, reflection, prayer request, or something that's been sitting with you, visit Voices from the Counter and leave a message. You may even hear your voice in a future episode.
*****Interested in being a guest on At the Counter with the Baking Pastor?
I invite you to listen to a few recent conversations first to get a feel for the heart of the podcast.
At the Counter is a gentle space for honest conversations about faith, grief, burnout, identity, healing, purpose, and the sacred ordinary moments of everyday life.
If it feels like a good fit, I'd love to hear from you on PodMatch:
👉 https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/atthecounterwiththebakingpastor
Pull up a chair and tell me what you'd love to bring to the counter.
Welcome to At the Counter with the Baking Pastor. I'm Laura. This is a space for slow conversations, gentle coaching, and a little room to breathe. Nothing here needs to be fixed or finished today. So wherever you are, take a breath, settle in, pull up a chair. We'll start right here at the counter. I'm standing at the counter again today and there's dough resting nearby. It's not doing much. It's not impressive. It's just sitting there in the bowl under a towel. And if you didn't know better, you might think nothing was happening. But this is the part that matters. This is the slow rise. You know, we're not very good at slow. We like movement, progress, evidence. Something we can point to and say, see, this is working. But some of the most important things in life don't announce themselves while they're happening. Healing often looks like nothing. Discernment looks like circling the same questions. Growth looks like rest before it looks like fruit. And in baking, if you rush the rise, you don't get better bread. You get dense, tough bread. Bread that didn't have time to become what it was meant to be. People aren't that different. I notice this most when someone says, I just want to know what's next. Not because they're impatient, but because uncertainty is exhausting. There have been seasons when I wanted clarity before I had the capacity. I wanted answers before I had the space to hold them. And looking back, I can see now why they couldn't come sooner. Sometiming isn't a delay, it's preparation. We tend to assume that if we're not moving forward, we're stuck. But not seeing change doesn't mean nothing is happening. There are reasons where the work is invisible, where something is relaxingly quiet, where strength is being built without a sound. Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is stay present without demanding progress. If you're in a season where answers are slow, where decisions feel premature, where clarity hasn't arrived yet, that doesn't mean you're failing. It may mean you're rising. And if it feels right, pause with this question. Where in your life are you measuring progress too quickly? And the second question to hold gently. What might be asking for patience instead of pressure right now? No fixing, just noticing. If this week brings up things you'd like help sorting through, coaching is one of the ways I support people in making sense of what they're carrying. There's more information on my website, daretoin.com, if you're curious. Thank you for spending time with me today at the counter. If something in this conversation stayed with you, you're welcome to carry it into the week. And if not, you can leave it here. Either way, you are always welcome back.
