The holidays can bring joy, connection, and comfort, but they can also awaken old memories, family dynamics, and nervous system responses we thought we had outgrown.

In this episode of Faith in Focus: A Moment for Your Mind, Coach Gigi invites you into a slower, wiser way of showing up at home for the holidays. Through Scripture, lived experience, and gentle psychological insight, this conversation explores what it means to move from survival to stewardship, to stay present without shrinking, and to regulate your body without rushing your healing.

You will learn how renewal begins in the mind, how memory lives in the body, and why wisdom sometimes looks like pacing yourself, setting boundaries, and letting certain fires cool before touching them again.

This episode is for anyone who loves their family, has grown in faith and maturity, and is learning how to remain steady in familiar spaces.

Healing is holy.

📚 Books by Coach Gigi

Children’s Books

Chef Gigi Saves the Day

https://a.co/d/7cprHL7

Gigi’s French Bakery

https://a.co/d/5lUJ9Qy

My Body Is God’s Gift

https://a.co/d/iEwYbVx

Adult Faith and Healing Books

Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon

Catch and Release: Seeds of Deception

Beautifully Broken

Jesus Lover of My Soul: Helping Women Worship Through Grief

https://a.co/d/8NzA35Z

https://a.co/d/a4AViP5

https://a.co/d/bBCiNIw

🖥 Author Website

https://geletaparker.com/

🌐 Nonprofit, Programs, Giving, and Support

https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

🎧 Learn more, listen, book, or support the mission

https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

💛 FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc.

Serving women, children, and families where mental health meets the ministry of hope.

🎶 Music Credit

“Be Still and Know That I Am God”

Written and composed by Geleta Parker.

Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson

SEASON 4,

Faith & Focus: A Moment for Your Mind

Geleta “Gigi” Parker

Survival mode may have kept you alive, but it was never meant to be permanent.

In this episode of Faith in Focus: A Moment for Your Mind, Geleta “Gigi” Parker guides listeners through the powerful shift from survival to stewardship. Through Scripture, psychology, and lived experience, this conversation explores how trauma, illness, and prolonged stress train the mind and body to remain in crisis mode, and how God lovingly invites us into a life of intention, wisdom, and regulated peace.

Geleta explains why survival drains but stewardship sustains, how nervous system overload impacts decision-making and faith, and what it looks like to steward the body, boundaries, energy, and calling with care rather than urgency. This episode also introduces the heart behind her upcoming devotional Faithful with the Few and calls listeners into a more intentional way of living in the new year.

Listeners are invited into practical reflection questions, a Scripture-based declaration, supportive resources, and a closing prayer designed to help them enter this season anchored in Christ, not anxiety.

This podcast is sponsored by Focus Faith and Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where faith and mental health meet and where healing is holy.

📚 Books by Geleta “Gigi” Parker

Available on Amazon, including My Body Is God’s Gift and her newest release, Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon, now available in ebook and paperback:

https://a.co/d/8sD1MEq

🖥 Author Website

https://geletaparker.com/

🌐 Nonprofit, Programs, Giving, and Support

https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

If you are experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

You are not too far gone.

You are never alone.

Healing is holy.

Faith in Focus: A Moment for Your Mind

Geleta “Gigi” Parker

Coming out of survival mode is not an overnight shift. It is a holy rebuilding.

In this episode of Faith in Focus: A Moment for Your Mind, Geleta “Gigi” Parker, board-certified brain and mental health coach, reflects on the Healing Table gathering and the powerful lesson God revealed through what she calls the “Martha Mentality.” Through Scripture, lived experience, and psychological insight, this conversation explores how perfectionism, control, and overfunctioning can quietly exhaust the body, overload the nervous system, and pull us away from the presence of God.

Geleta shares how releasing control, letting go of unrealistic expectations, and trusting God with who He brings to the table created space for authentic connection, prayer, and healing. This episode is a reminder that the function is never more important than the fellowship and that God often does His deepest work when we stop striving and start abiding.

Listeners will hear a heartfelt recap of the Healing Table impact, gratitude for donors and community partners, an anonymized impact moment, Scripture-based encouragement, reflection questions, a spoken blessing, and a closing prayer to help enter the new year anchored in Christ rather than exhaustion.

This podcast is sponsored by Focus Faith and Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where faith and mental health meet and where healing is holy.

🎶 Music Credit

“Be Still and Know”

Written and composed by Jalita G.G. Parker.

Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson.

📚 Books by Geleta “Gigi” Parker

My Body Is God’s Gift

Chef Gigi Serves Today

Gigi’s French Bakery

Beautifully Broken

Catch & Release: Seeds of Deception

Jesus Lover of My Soul: Helping Women Worship Through Grief

Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon (ebook available, paperback coming soon): https://a.co/d/8sD1MEq

🖥 Author Website

https://geletaparker.com/

🌐 Nonprofit, Programs, Giving, and Support

https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

If you are experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

You are not too far gone. You are not alone. Healing is holy.

SEASON 4 • EPISODE 6 — WHEN WE FEEL BEHIND: TRUSTING GOD’S TIMING DURING THE HOLIDAYS

The holidays have a way of amplifying comparison, pressure, and the quiet fear that we are somehow falling behind. In this episode, Coach Gigi speaks directly to the sister who feels late, overlooked, or out of step with where she thought life would be by now. Through Scripture, lived experience, and mental health insight, this conversation reframes delay, disappointment, and perceived lack as places where God is still deeply at work.

Coach Gigi shares a personal story from her first Christmas in Paulding County during the pandemic, reflecting on how even joyful moments like decorating can subtly shift from delight to comparison when intentions change. This episode explores how easily we can drift into performing, proving, or competing, and how God gently invites us back to peace, presence, and purpose. Drawing from Ecclesiastes 3, Psalm 37, and other biblical truths, listeners are reminded that God is not rushed, delayed, or confused by our timeline.

This episode offers practical tools for recognizing when comparison is stealing joy, how to reset intentions, and how to choose contentment without shrinking hope. It affirms that healing is holy according to Exodus 15:26, and that God’s timing is not punishment, but protection. If the holidays stir feelings of inadequacy, restlessness, or grief over unmet expectations, this episode offers grounding, encouragement, and a reminder that you are not behind, you are becoming.

This episode is sponsored by FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where faith and mental health meet. Learn more, book coaching, partner with us, or support our mission at https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

We are deeply grateful to No Child Goes Hungry for their generous food donations supporting families in Paulding County, and to Publix for gift cards that helped support our holiday food basket initiatives. You can also support our outreach and community efforts through our Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DUJNOXS1DPDA?ref_=wl_share

Coach Gigi’s newest book, Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon, is now available in ebook and paperback. This faith-centered resource explores how intimacy can be withheld as control or punishment in relationships and offers biblical insight, psychological clarity, and practical solutions for healing and restoration.

Get the book here: https://a.co/d/8sD1MEq

Additional books by Coach Gigi include:

My Body Is God’s Gift https://a.co/d/iEwYbVx

Jesus, Lover of My Soul https://a.co/d/8NzA35Z

Beautifully Broken https://a.co/d/a4AViP5

Catch & Release: Seeds of Deception https://a.co/d/bBCiNIw

Children’s books:

Chef Gigi Serves Today https://a.co/d/7cprHL7

Gigi’s French Bakery https://a.co/d/5lUJ9Qy

If you are experiencing domestic violence or feel unsafe in your home or relationship, help is available. You can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or visit https://www.thehotline.org/

Background music: “Be Still and Know.” Written and composed by Geleta “Gigi” Parker. Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson

SEASON 4 • EPISODE 5 — JESUS & FAMILY DYNAMICS: LOVING WITHOUT LOSING YOURSELF

Family relationships can become especially complex during the holidays, when expectations are high and old patterns resurface. In this episode, Coach Gigi explores Jesus’ own family dynamics and what Scripture teaches us about loving others without abandoning ourselves. Drawing from Mark 3 and other biblical truths, this conversation reminds us that even Jesus experienced misunderstanding, tension, and emotional pressure within family relationships, and that boundaries are not unloving, they are wise.

Blending faith, brain and mental health insight, and practical holiday application, this episode unpacks what it means to love wisely, choose peace over pressure, and release the false belief that love requires over-explaining, over-giving, or self-sacrifice that harms the soul. Coach Gigi walks listeners through how to recognize when love turns into self-loss, how to partner with God in the healing process, and why Galatians 5:1 reminds us that freedom is part of God’s design for our relationships.

As part of the Home for the Holidays series, this episode affirms that healing is holy according to Exodus 15:26, and that God never asks us to set ourselves on fire to keep others warm. If you’ve ever wrestled with guilt, obligation, or emotional exhaustion around family, this episode offers clarity, compassion, and hope rooted in the love of Christ.

This episode is sponsored by FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where faith and mental health meet. Learn more, book coaching, partner with us, or support our mission at https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

We are deeply grateful to No Child Goes Hungry for their generous food donations supporting families in Paulding County, and to Publix for gift cards that helped support our holiday food basket initiatives. You can also support our outreach and community efforts through our Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DUJNOXS1DPDA?ref_=wl_share

Coach Gigi’s newest book, Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon, is now available in ebook and paperback. This faith-centered resource explores how intimacy can be withheld as control or punishment in relationships and offers biblical insight, psychological clarity, and practical solutions for healing and restoration.

Get the book here: https://a.co/d/8sD1MEq

Additional featured resource by Coach Gigi:

https://a.co/d/0L9elQy

Additional books by Coach Gigi include:

My Body Is God’s Gift https://a.co/d/iEwYbVx

Jesus, Lover of My Soul https://a.co/d/8NzA35Z

Beautifully Broken https://a.co/d/a4AViP5

Catch & Release: Seeds of Deception https://a.co/d/bBCiNIw

Children’s books:

Chef Gigi Serves Today https://a.co/d/7cprHL7

Gigi’s French Bakery https://a.co/d/5lUJ9Qy

If you are experiencing domestic violence or feel unsafe in your home or relationship, help is available. You can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or visit https://www.thehotline.org/

Background music: “Be Still and Know.” Written and composed by Geleta “Gigi” Parker. Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson.

SEASON 4 • EPISODE 4

Grief in the Garland

How to Hold Joy and Sorrow in the Same Season

Home for the Holidays Series

The holidays can magnify what’s missing just as much as what’s present. In this tender and deeply reflective episode, Coach Gigi invites you into an honest conversation about grief, memory, and learning how to hold joy and sorrow in the same season. Grief in the Garland is for the sister who loves God, shows up for others, and yet feels the quiet ache of loss, change, or longing during the holidays.

Through fresh Scripture, brain and mental health insight, and pastoral care, this episode explores why grief often surfaces during the holidays and how God meets us gently in these tender places. Coach Gigi shares a deeply personal story about her mother and a cherished Christmas wreath that became a living metaphor for love, memory, and learning how to honor what was without forcing ourselves to preserve what can no longer hold. This episode offers permission to slow down, give grief a place, tend to what feels fragile, regulate your body, and trust that healing is still unfolding.

Anchored in the truth of Exodus 15:26, this episode reminds us that healing is holy and that God is still Emmanuel, God with us, even here. Grief is not a lack of faith. It is love that still matters. If this season feels complicated, quieter, or heavier than expected, this conversation offers compassion, wisdom, and hope rooted in the love of Christ.

This episode is sponsored by FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where mental health meets the ministry of hope. Learn more, book coaching, partner with us, or support our mission at https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

We are deeply grateful to No Child Goes Hungry for their generous food donations supporting families in Paulding County, and to Publix for gift cards supporting our holiday food basket initiatives. You can also support our outreach and community efforts through our Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DUJNOXS1DPDA?ref_=wl_share

Coach Gigi’s newest book, Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon, is now available as an ebook, with the paperback coming soon. This powerful, faith-centered resource explores how intimacy can be withheld as control or punishment and offers biblical insight, psychological clarity, and practical solutions for healing and restoration. Get the ebook here: https://a.co/d/8sD1MEq

Additional books by Coach Gigi include:

My Body Is God’s Gift https://a.co/d/iEwYbVx

Jesus, Lover of My Soul https://a.co/d/8NzA35Z

Beautifully Broken https://a.co/d/a4AViP5

Catch & Release: Seeds of Deception https://a.co/d/bBCiNIw

Children’s books:

Chef Gigi Serves Today https://a.co/d/7cprHL7

Gigi’s French Bakery https://a.co/d/5lUJ9Qy

If you are experiencing domestic violence or feel unsafe in your home or relationship, help is available. You can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or visit https://www.thehotline.org/

Background music: “Be Still and Know.” Written and composed by Geleta “Gigi” Parker. Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson.

Season 4, Episode 3

Home for the Holidays: When Peace Feels Complicated

Welcome back to Faith & Focus: A Moment for Your Mind. I’m Coach Gigi, best-selling author, board-certified brain and mental health coach, and CEO and Founder of FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit where faith and mental health meet and where we believe healing is holy.

In this episode, we continue the Home for the Holidays series by naming a truth many people carry quietly. The holidays can stir joy and grief at the same time. For some, home feels warm and familiar. For others, it feels tense, triggering, or emotionally complicated. And for many, it is all of the above.

This conversation blends Scripture and psychology as we explore peace, emotional safety, boundaries, and why familiar environments often activate old patterns. We talk about how the nervous system responds during the holidays and how God invites us to create holy space without abandoning our well-being. This episode includes biblical encouragement, psychological insight, prayer, and a reminder that you are allowed to care for your heart while still honoring God.

This episode is sponsored by FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc., serving women, children, and families through faith-centered mental health coaching, education, and community outreach.

Community and Gratitude

We extend heartfelt thanks to No Child Goes Hungry in Virginia for their continued generosity and major food donations supporting families in Paulding County. We are also grateful to Publix for providing gift cards that helped make our holiday food baskets possible. Your partnership is changing lives.

You’re invited to support our work by attending The Healing Table fundraising dinner on Saturday, December 20 at 5 PM. Visit the Contact Us page on our website for details. You can also support our outreach through our Amazon Wishlist, with items going directly to families in need.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DUJNOXS1DPDA?ref_=wl_share

Books by Coach Gigi

Coming Soon

Withholding Love: When Intimacy Becomes a Weapon

Children’s Books Available Now on Amazon

Chef Gigi Serves Today

https://a.co/d/7cprHL7

Gigi’s French Bakery

https://a.co/d/5lUJ9Qy

My Body Is God’s Gift

https://a.co/d/iEwYbVx

Adult Faith and Healing Resources

https://a.co/d/8NzA35Z

https://a.co/d/a4AViP5

https://a.co/d/bBCiNIw

Learn more about our mission, book a coaching session, donate, or stay connected at

https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com/

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or emotional abuse, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org. You are not alone.

Background music credit

Written and composed by Geleta “Gigi” Parker. Arrangement and piano accompaniment by Debary Thompson.

Thank you for listening and for allowing God to meet you in real life, not a picture-perfect version of it. Breathe deep, stay prayed up, remember you are not too far gone, you are never alone, and stay focused

When Holidays Trigger Old Wounds: Finding Peace in a Season That Stirs Up More Than Joy

The holiday season can be beautiful, but it can also awaken memories, expectations, and emotional triggers we didn’t ask for. In this honest and deeply grounding episode, Coach Gigi explores why the holidays often stir old wounds, how emotional labor takes a toll on the mind and body, and how to stay centered when stress, disappointment, or pressure tries to steal your peace.

You’ll hear a vulnerable personal story about carrying the weight of Christmas for years — cooking, hosting, giving, showing up — while feeling unseen, overwhelmed, and emotionally stretched thin. You’ll learn why your nervous system reacts the way it does during stressful seasons, how trauma memories show up, and how to hold space for yourself while still honoring God and your healing journey.

This episode blends biblical wisdom, mental health insight, grounding techniques, guided reflection, and prayer to help you move through the holidays with honesty, rest, and grace.

Topics in this episode:

• Why holidays trigger emotional and spiritual memories

• The weight of invisible labor during high-pressure seasons

• Feeling unseen, unappreciated, or emotionally overloaded

• How trauma responses show up in the body

• What biblical peace looks like under pressure

• Grounding practices for real-time overwhelm

• Reflection questions to deepen emotional clarity

• A prayer for protection, comfort, and holiday peace

• Safety + support resources

FOCUS: Faith & Mental Health, Inc.

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting women, children, and families through trauma-informed care, mental health education, and community programs.

Support the mission or donate at:

👉 https://focusfaithmentalhealth.com

Amazon Wish List for our Year-Round Fill-A-Backpack Initiative:

👉 https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/19CEUZIY3WJ6X?ref_=wl_share

Books by Geleta “Gigi” Parker on Amazon:

• Beautifully Broken

👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CL1D2RZK

• Catch & Release: Seeds of Deception

👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJLZ7F1P

• My Body Is God’s Gift

👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D37NPDX1

• Jesus, Lover of My Soul: Helping Women Worship Through Grief

👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4S6V1HS

Safety Resources:

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988

Music Credit:

Be Still and Know That I Am God

Written and composed by Geleta “Gigi” Parker.

Arrangement and piano accompaniment by DaBarry Thompson.