If you've ever felt like screens are slowly taking over your home… you're not imagining it.

In today's world, kids are growing up surrounded by constant stimulation, easy access to technology, and devices designed to capture their attention. And while screens aren't inherently bad, without clear boundaries they can quietly shape our kids' habits, emotions, and even their relationships.

P.S. If you haven't rated and reviewed Don't Burn Your Own House Down yet on Amazon and GoodReads, would you mind taking a second to do so?! It is a book so dear to my heart and I love seeing the feedback from all of you!! Thank you x 1000!

In this episode, I'm sharing a few of the non-negotiable screen time rules we use in our home to help our kids stay present, emotionally regulated, and connected to real life.

This episode connects directly to a chapter in my book, Don't Burn Your Own House Down, called "More Scrolling, More Problems."

In that chapter, I talk about how constant phone use doesn't just impact our kids, it impacts our marriages, our attention, and our ability to actually connect with the people in front of us.

Because the truth is, what we model in our homes becomes the culture our kids grow up in.

If we want more presence, more connection, and healthier relationships… it starts with what we allow to take our attention.

You can grab the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Burn-Your-House-Down/dp/0310369479

1. Screens are for weekends only

2. Screens stay in open family spaces

3. Screens are not used to regulate emotions

4. No dopamine hits first thing in the morning

What happens when ministry expectations go beyond Scripture?

In this episode of Living Easy with Lindsey, Lindsey Maestas has an honest conversation with the women behind Pastors' Wives Tell All, Jessica, Jenna, and Stephanie, about the hidden pressure many pastors, pastors' wives, and ministry families carry behind closed doors.

They discuss how churches can sometimes add expectations God never asked for: expectations that lead to burnout, exhausted marriages, neglected children, and leaders who are publicly pouring into everyone else while privately running dry at home, often leading to public downfall or sin.

Together they unpack topics like:

• How church culture can add pressure that Scripture never required
• The cost of sacrificing your family on the altar of ministry
• Celebrity pastor culture, public redemption tours, and the tension between restoration and platforming
• How to know if your pastor is truly rooted in the Word of God
• The danger of putting internet pastors and ministry leaders on a pedestal
• Why healthy churches should be able to continue even if one leader leaves
• The importance of accountability, vulnerability, confession, and being fully known
• Why believers need community that challenges growth instead of letting them hide in crowds
• How to discern whether God is calling you to a large church or a smaller church where you can truly be known

This conversation is honest, thoughtful, and deeply needed in a time when many believers are deconstructing or navigating disappointment with church culture while still wanting to love Jesus and honor His church.

If you have ever felt burned out in ministry, confused by church leadership culture, frustrated by celebrity Christianity, or hungry for healthier spiritual community, this episode will encourage and challenge you.

pastor burnout
church leadership podcast
pastors wives tell all
ministry boundaries
church hurt healing
celebrity pastor culture
healthy church leadership
pastor family struggles
Christian accountability
church burnout and ministry
how to choose a healthy church
biblical leadership in church
Christian podcast church culture
pastor marriage family ministry
Christian discernment church leaders
large church vs small church Christian
church expectations pastors family
Living Easy with Lindsey podcast

In this conversation, I sit down with Jennifer Pepito, author of Habits for a Sacred Home and host of the Restoration Home podcast, to talk about how easy it is to become consumed by the constant stream of news, opinions, and outrage, and how that weight doesn't just stay on our phones, it follows us into our tone, our conversations, and the atmosphere of our homes.

Jennifer shares insight from history, reflecting on how many revolutions were fueled by anger, only to leave people in an even more broken place. It's not about ignoring what's happening in the world, but learning how to navigate it with wisdom, focusing on what we can actually steward well.

This episode is a reminder that the peace of God is not passive, it's protective. And that when we fix our minds on what is good, excellent, and lovely, it doesn't just change us, it shapes what our children experience and carry with them.

If you've been feeling distracted, overwhelmed, or even frustrated by the state of the world, this conversation will gently call you back to what is yours to tend, your heart, your home, and the people right in front of you.

You can learn more from Jennifer Pepito and explore her books here:
https://thepeacefulpress.com

Get Habits for a Sacred Home

And listen to her podcast, Restoration Home, wherever you listen to podcasts.

If this conversation resonates with you, my book Don't Burn Your Own House Down: Prioritizing Your Spouse, Your Marriage, and Yourself for a Deeper Connection is all about protecting what matters most and rebuilding connection in your home

You can connect with me on Instagram at:
https://www.instagram.com/livingeasywithlindsey

What happens when a marriage slowly drifts into loneliness, betrayal, and eventually divorce? And can God really restore something that broken?

In this episode of Living Easy with Lindsey, Lindsey Maestas talks with author and marriage mentor Cheryl Scruggs about the painful season that led to an affair, the divorce that followed, and the unexpected seven-year journey that eventually led Cheryl and her husband Jeff back to each other.

Cheryl shares honestly about feeling deeply alone in her marriage, the choices that led to brokenness, and the personal and spiritual transformation that made reconciliation possible. Their story is a powerful reminder that even when a marriage feels beyond repair, redemption is still possible.

Resources

Cheryl Scruggs
https://jeffandcherylscruggs.com

I Do Again: How We Found a Second Chance at Our Marriage
https://www.amazon.com/Do-Again-Second-Chance-Marriage/dp/1400074452

Lindsey's Book

Don't Burn Your Own House Down: Prioritizing Your Marriage, Your Spouse, and Yourself
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Burn-Your-House-Down/dp/0310369479

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, rate, and review on Spotify and/or Apple Podcasts so that more people can find these conversations!

Follow Lindsey on Instagram for daily encouragement on faith, marriage, and intentional living.

Have you ordered, rated, and reviewed my new book, "Don't Burn Your Own House Down: Prioritizing Your Marriage, Your Spouse, and Yourself for a Deeper Connection"? If not, please take a second to do so!! If you've ever enjoyed my content, this is the greatest way that you could support me right now! THANK YOU!

Change is expensive, but won't staying cost you even more?

What if the reason you feel stuck, drained, or unhappy isn't because your life is hard, but because you've been "adding sugar" to what's actually bitter?

In this episode, Lindsey Maestas shares what she calls the "Black Coffee Theory": a simple but transformative mindset shift that has changed the way she approaches relationships, work, habits, and her spiritual life.

The concept is this: the happiest, most successful, most grounded people don't add sugar to things that are already bitter. They're honest with themselves that it's bitter, and they put the cup down.

They don't distort reality to make something tolerable, they don't romanticize what hurts, and they don't convince themselves something is good just because they're afraid of what honesty might require.

This episode also explores the research behind why we do this in the first place:

Cognitive Dissonance
When our reality conflicts with our identity or beliefs, we feel internal tension. Instead of changing the situation, we often change the story.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy
We stay in situations because we've already invested so much — time, emotion, reputation, or faith — and leaving feels more painful than tolerating.

Emotional Suppression and Resentment
Research shows that consistently overriding internal signals leads to emotional exhaustion, resentment, and anxiety. When we ignore what drains us, our body and nervous system keep the score.

Isaiah 5:20 warns:
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

1. Where am I adding "sugar" in my life right now?
2. How can I be more honest with myself about what I want out of life?
3. Am I enduring something that is refining me or am I tolerating something that is draining me?
4. What would it look like to tell the truth about this situation before God?
   
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In this heartfelt, faith-centered episode, Lindsey Maestas and Lenya Heitzig have a powerful conversation inspired by Sheologie's core message of "calling women up, not out": a reminder that growth happens through truth and not shame.

P.S. Have you read my new book, Don't Burn Your Own House Down, yet?! We are still in launch month so EVERY bit of support from this community helps!! I have a goal of selling 120 books this week!!

If you're single or engaged, this book will prepare your heart for marriage. If you've been married for 1-50 years, I wrote this book to help you become more intentional with your time and energy toward the most important relationship in your life!

Please gift it to a friend and share on social, and once you've read it, please put your review on Amazon, Barnes & Target! Every bit helps.

In this conversation with Lenya, we explore how our thoughts shape who we become, why people-pleasing often disguises itself as love, and how emotional overfunctioning can hinder us from trusting God in our relationships.

If you ever find yourself trying to control outcomes, rescue others, or manage everyone's emotions, it's easy to create pressure rather than peace.

Lindsey and Lenya discuss how:

• What you think about consistently shapes who you are becoming

• People pleasing can turn into trying to save someone who isn't even willing to save themselves

• Overhelping friends can actually interrupt what Jesus is trying to teach them

• Emotional triggers in marriage don't have to explode into conflict, they can be gently deconstructed

• Therapy, self-awareness, and faith can work together in healing

• Differences in marriage don't have to collide, they can become places of laughter, humility, and compromise

• Fear can cause us to "lasso" our spouse and limit the very growth God is inviting them into

This episode is for the woman who feels responsible for everyone's well-being, who carries anxiety about her marriage, or who struggles to release control and trust God with the people she loves most.

I pray you walk away with a clearer understanding of emotional boundaries, spiritual surrender, and how to stop trying to be the Holy Spirit in someone else's life.

Learn more about Reload Love here!

IT'S RELEASE DAY!!! Don't Burn Your Own House Down is officially out in the world! For this special day, Jesse asked if he could sit down and interview me about the real story behind the book… and our marriage.

We talk honestly about the habits and patterns that created distance between us. We discuss the stories of others' that are a big part of this book (and the title).

This conversation is about the reality that marriage doesn't just happen and stay great on its own. It takes intention. It takes humility. It takes learning how to repair when you've hurt each other. And it takes choosing an eternal perspective, to keep Jesus as the foundation, and choosing one another even when your feelings are all over the place.

I also share the core moment that made me feel like I had to write this book, the chapters that were the most personal for me, and what I believe is the one place couples can start if they want to begin reconnecting.

This isn't about being the "perfect couple." It's about being two people who are ready to learn how to stop drifting and start building again.

Don't Burn Your Own House Down is about recognizing the small patterns that slowly erode connection in your marriage. I speak on modern issues in modern marriages, like social media, p*rnography, comparison, spiritual disconnection, emotional labor, marital financial struggles, and much more.

I give practical tools, along with my own vulnerable stories, to help you to rebuild emotional safety, communication, and closeness in a practical, honest way.

Don't Burn Your Own House Down is for new couples who want to prepare their hearts for a godly marriage. Couples who don't want to give up, but know something needs to change. Couples who have been married for 50 years but feel like their love has disappeared. Couples with newborns or a difficult family life who just need some reprieve and support. No matter what season you're in, this book is for YOU.

Don't Burn Your Own House Down is officially out today!!!!

If this episode resonated with you in any way, or if you've ever been helped by my content, the book goes deeper into the practical and emotional work of reconnecting in marriage.

👉 Grab your copy here!

If you get a copy of the book and it blesses you, would you take 60 seconds to leave a review?! Reviews during launch month help more than most people realize! They help the message reach couples who are quietly struggling and searching for hope.

You can leave a review here:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Target

Thank you for being part of this with me. Truly!!

I'd love to hear from you!! Follow along with me on IG!

Instagram: @livingeasywithlindsey

My book, Don't Burn Your Own House Down: Prioritizing Your Marriage, Your Spouse, and Yourself for a Deeper Connection, will be here in ONE WEEK. (AHHH!!!) Please pre-order today!!!

Barnes & Noble: Buy from B&N! (Preferred <3)

Target: Buy from Target! (Preferred <3)

Amazon: Buy on Amazon!

Did you know that 41% of first marriages and 60% of second marriages end in divorce? And even higher numbers are reportedly completely dissatisfied in their marriages.

In today's episode, I'm diving into the four silent killers that quietly lead couples toward disconnection, resentment, and ultimately divorce. These issues show up in nearly every modern marriage, Christian or non, and they often go unnoticed until the relationship feels distant or broken.

You can only live like ships passing in the night until something inevitably breaks.

My prayer is that this conversation gives you the clarity, conviction, and practical encouragement you need to build a healthier, more connected, and more Christ‑centered marriage — one that resists emotional disconnection, strengthens communication, and protects your relationship from drifting toward divorce.

If you've ever enjoyed The Living Easy Podcast, my Instagram posts, or my blog… the single most supportive thing you can do is to preorder Don't Burn Your Own House Down! It means the world to me, and it allows me to continue creating content that serves marriages and families with honesty, faith, and practical wisdom. THANK YOU!

Please share this episode with a friend, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, or tag me on Instagram @livingeasywithlindsey.