Nancy Sleeth wants all of us to think about becoming a little more Amish. And then she wants us to act.

Sleeth, who cofounded the creation-care organization Blessed Earth with her husband, Matthew, isn't advocating that we sell the family car in order to buy a horse and buggy. Sleeth lives in a small urban townhome, drives a Prius, owns a computer and cell phone, and does her farming in a community garden plot.

But in her new book, Almost Amish: One Woman's Quest for a Slower, More Sustainable Life (Tyndale), Sleeth does invite readers to rethink their choices through the lens of simplicity, intentionality, and careful stewardship. The readable, gently provocative volume combines observations about the values that shape the Amish lifestyle, scriptural support for the Amish-style values that Sleeth's family has come to embrace, and plenty of anecdotes showing readers how these values were integrated into their lives over time.

When she was in her early 40s, Sleeth came to faith in Christ along with her husband Matthew, an emergency room physician, and their two preteen children. Energized by their faith, the deep concern about the state of the decaying world around them led the family to make significant lifestyle changes. They gave away half of their possessions and moved to a home the size of their old garage. They reduced their energy usage by two-thirds, discovering a deep sense of family unity and purpose in the process.

I recently had an opportunity to talk with Sleeth (also the author of Go Green, Save Green) about the message of Almost Amish.

Your ministry and the book encourage Christians to become intentional about simplifying in every area of life. Who is the audience for this message?

The majority of the e-mails and workshop and retreat requests we receive are from 25- to 60-year-old women. A lot of them are mothers, and they care very deeply about the future of their children and this planet. They sense that our lives have gotten crazy. The hours the average couple works has increased significantly over the past half-century. With the increase in technology, we're expected to be working all the time. Where does the time come from to care for family, our homes, and our relationship with God?

I think a lot of women sense we're not heading in a good direction. We're not advocating that everyone becomes Amish, but maybe we need to incorporate some Amish answers.

Some of the solutions you advocate include viewing technology as a tool instead of a master, buying local, and living into the conviction that true community is built upon surrender and submission. Those solutions look very different in non-Amish context, don't they?

I'm not saying, "You need to cut back your energy use," or, "You need to hang your clothes on the line," or, "You need to stop watching television." I simply want people to examine their lives. Learn to continually ask yourself two questions: Will this thing (this possession, decision, or action) bring me closer to God? Will it help me love my neighbor? We get in a blur and don't always stop to ask those questions. What I am asking is to get people to stop and to live a conscious life. This isn't a radical thing—or at least, it shouldn't be.

What do you say to people who are questioning their car-dependent, relationally-isolated suburban lifestyle?

Lasting change doesn't happen overnight. If you're further along the journey than you were the year before, then you're headed in the right direction. Create community where you live. Walk around your neighborhood. Patronize local businesses. They may cost a bit more, but they create a sense of community. Reach out to your neighbors and not expect anything in return. It's hard to take the first step and bring over a loaf of bread or invite others to a potluck or open house. Christ never said these things are easy.

Your children each enrolled at Asbury College in Lexington, Kentucky, at an early age (15-1/2 and 17), and you and your husband chose to relocate there from your East Coast home to live near them. That's a quite a countercultural choice.

It's an unusual step, and it wouldn't work for many families. It was important for us to keep the family together. Matthew thought they were too young to be separating the family. We asked the children how close they might want us to live to campus, and they said, "Within walking distance." For the next four years, that's where we lived.

Though some would call this parental hovering, we believe the family unit is important. I'm grateful I got to know my children's friends. I knew my son's wife for several years before they married. She came to my home and cooked with me once or twice a week. Now that our children are adults, we're grateful that our family still lives within walking distance of one another.

Our culture teaches us that our consumer and lifestyle choices belong in one category and our faith in another. The message of Almost Amish is that "our faith life and our way of life are two strands of the same cloth." What do you mean by that?

Thousands of advertising messages tell us that we're not good enough, our houses aren't big enough, that we require more. Those messages are about consuming. The more we buy, the more frenzied our lives become, and the further most of us get from God.

Christ offers us a better way of living. He is the only path we can take to true contentment. Peace can only be found in God, not things. Our faith is inseparable from the rest of our lives. When our faith life and our way of life are inseparable, then Christ is truly at the center.

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