So many of our deepest anxieties come not from circumstances—but from people we love. Broken trust. Emotional betrayal. Confusing mixed signals. Fear of being hurt again. In this episode, Jennifer Slattery talks with Matthew and Joanna Rapsmith and therapist Dan Drake about why relational wounds cut so deeply, how they affect our nervous system and emotional health, and how God compassionately leads us toward healing, safety, and renewed connection.

Whether you’re trying to heal a relationship, rebuilding trust after betrayal, or carrying hidden wounds you’re afraid to name, today’s conversation offers compassionate truth and practical guidance to help you breathe again.

You’ll Learn

• Why relational pain can feel overwhelming

• How betrayal and fear impact the brain and nervous system

• Why emotional safety is essential for healing

• What emotional intelligence really looks like in relationships

• How to unlearn unhealthy coping responses

• What to do if you’re willing to heal—but the other person isn’t

• How God meets us in relational heartbreak and restores hope

Key Themes

• Honesty and truth-telling
• Emotional and relational safety
• Healing from shame and fear
• Restoring trust
• Christ-centered restoration
• Personal healing even when relationships don’t rebuild

This Episode Is For You If…

✔️ You’ve experienced betrayal or broken trust
✔️ You long for connection but fear being hurt again
✔️ You struggle with anxiety in relationships
✔️ You want emotional maturity and healing
✔️ You desire hope, clarity, and Christ-centered encouragement

Resource referenced: Building True Intimacy: Creating a connection that stands the test of time by Dan Drake, Joanna Raabsmith and Matthew Raabsmith.

Connect with Joanna and Matthew Raabsmith on their ministry website

Connect with Dan Drake and learn more about his and the Raabsmith's work on the Intimacy Pyramid website.

Find Jennifer Slattery:

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Discussion/Reflective Questions:

1. When have you felt the most emotionally unsafe in a relationship, and how did your body and heart respond?
2. What story do you tend to tell yourself when conflict happens—“I’m failing,” “I’m unlovable,” “They’ll hurt me,” etc.?
3. Where might unhealed past experiences be shaping how you see and react to present relationships?
4. What would emotional safety look like for you? What boundaries, support, or healing might God be inviting you toward?
5. Where do you sense God calling you to honesty—either with yourself, Him, or someone else?
6. If your current relational or emotional patterns remain the same, where might they lead you? What could healing change?
7. How does it encourage you to know that God does not shame your pain—but meets you in it with compassion and restoration?

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Do you feel emotionally overwhelmed—like you’re carrying more than you can handle and one more hardship or problem might break you? Have stress, anxiety, or burnout caused you to react in ways that don’t feel like you?

In this episode of Faith Over Fear, Jennifer Slattery and Carol McCracken talk honestly about emotional overwhelm, emotional capacity, and why prolonged stress and hardship can push even faithful, capable people past their limits. Through personal stories of caregiving, trauma triggers, disrupted sleep, ministry pressure, and relational strain, they explain why “pushing through” often leads to exhaustion, shame, and broken connections.

Turning to Scripture, they explore the life of David—a man after God’s own heart—who also experienced seasons of intense fear, grief, and emotional overload. His story shows us that overwhelm is not a spiritual failure and that God meets us with grace, not condemnation, when we’re in survival mode.

This conversation offers biblical encouragement and practical tools to help you recognize when your emotional capacity is maxed out, calm anxiety throughout the day, reduce unnecessary stress, and reconnect with Christ’s presence in the middle of overwhelming seasons.

If you’ve been feeling worn down, reactive, or ashamed of how you’ve been coping, this episode will remind you: you’re not weak, you’re human—and you’re not alone.

Download a free resource designed to help you experience the peace of Christ in Your Most Emotionally Overwhelming Seasons.

Reflective/Discussion Questions:

• Where do you currently feel emotionally overloaded?
  What circumstances, responsibilities, or unresolved stressors might be adding weight to your “emotional bridge”?

• How do you typically respond when your emotional capacity is exceeded?
  Do you tend to withdraw, lash out, numb, overwork, or push through—and what has that response cost you?

• What stood out to you about David’s responses to overwhelm?
  How does his honesty with God challenge or free you in the way you pray, lament, or express emotion?

• Are there stressors in your life that could be reduced, paused, or removed—at least temporarily?
  What might it look like to honor your limits instead of judging them?

• What helps calm your body and mind throughout the day?
  Which practices—movement, rest, prayer, breathing, joy, community—might God be inviting you to return to or begin?

• Is there an area where shame has followed your past reactions to stress?
  How does this episode reshape your understanding of God’s grace toward you in survival seasons?

Find Carol McCracken:

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Find Jennifer Slattery:

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Amazon

Subscribe to her free newsletter

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

If the holidays leave you overwhelmed, overstretched, or anxious, you’re not alone. In this episode of Faith Over Fear, Jennifer Slattery and guest Kelly Hall unpack the story of Mary and Martha to reveal practical, grace-filled ways to reduce holiday stress, avoid codependent patterns, set healthy boundaries, and re-center on what matters most. Whether you’re navigating grief, family tension, perfectionism, or people-pleasing, this conversation offers gentle guidance to help you enter Christmas with more calm, clarity, and joy.

You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize your emotional capacity
• Resist the pressure to meet everyone’s expectations
• Simplify your celebrations
• Experience deeper peace by staying aligned with Jesus rather than holiday chaos

Scripture discussed:

Luke 10, Mark 1:35-39

Resources Recommended: Courageous Faith by Kelly Hall, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life by Joanna Weaver

Free Bible Reading Plan: "Embracing Your True Self: Living in Your Christ-Centered Identity"

Free Resource: Practical Steps to Reduced Anxiety and Overwhelm This Christmas

Find Kelly Hall:

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Unshakable Hope Podcast

Find Jennifer Slattery:

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Subscribe to her free newsletter

Discussion/Reflective Question:

1. What resonated with you most in this episode

2. Where do I feel the most pressure during the holiday season—and whose expectations are driving that pressure?

3. What signs tell me I’m reaching or exceeding my emotional capacity? How can I respond with grace rather than reacting from overwhelm?

4. In what situations do I tend to “Martha”—trying to control people or outcomes rather than pausing to sit at Jesus’ feet?

5. Where might I be slipping into codependent behavior (fixing, appeasing, rescuing) instead of allowing others to own their emotions?

6. What boundaries do I need to set this holiday season to protect peace, joy, and emotional/spiritual health?

7. What one simple shift could help me keep “the most important thing” at the center of my celebrations?

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.