Joel and Abbie Miller

ST. LOUIS , MO (Mennonite Mission Network) – This past summer my wife and I celebrated our two-year anniversary and did some reflecting on our marriage up to this point. Despite all of the issues that young couples must work through as they bring their lives together, we were glad that we have had a harmonious first couple of years. One reason for this is that we essentially see eye-to-eye on a very important issue: how we view and spend our money and what type of material lifestyle we want to live.

This approach to how we live was greatly shaped by our families and faith communities of our childhood. My wife, Abbie, grew up in a small town in western Kansas where none of the members of her church had a TV, and there was too much family around to ever be bored. I come from a Mennonite background where living "More with Less" is not only the name of a favorite church cookbook, but also a motto around which many of us attempt to shape our living.

During our time together so far, we have made decisions that have enabled us to explore different aspects of simple living. For the last year and a half, we have been full-time volunteers living in intentional community in St. Louis with four other young adults as members of Mennonite Voluntary Service. This has enabled us to test career possibilities while serving people in need as we experiment with living in community. This experience of community living has included meal and kitchen duty sharing, car-pooling, using other forms of getting around the city such as biking and public transportation, living on a small budget, and finding activities and entertainment that do not cost a lot of money. The most important decision we have made is to be committed to a church community that feels the same way about these issues. In this context, simplicity, generosity, service and the priority of people over possessions becomes the norm. It provides a structure of affirmation, encouragement and fresh vision to a way of life that is, in the broader social context, very countercultural. In a society that glorifies consumption and personal accumulation of wealth, simple living is a necessary spiritual discipline on the same plane as prayer, personal retreat, fasting and study.

Ultimately, life is not about money. It’s about living with enough: having what you need to live a healthy, fulfilling life without letting possessions accumulate out of control. It's about good stewardship: recognizing that all of our resources are gifts to be shared for the common good. It’s about having time: time to spend with family and friends doing things you enjoy rather than working long hours to pay for things you don’t need in order to impress people you don’t like. It’s about having freedom and making our own decisions: decisions not inspired by mass marketing, but decisions that flow out of our faith convictions. It’s about quality of life. It’s about connections. It’s about being person-centered and not thing-centered.

We have just completed our term with Mennonite Voluntary Service and I will soon be beginning seminary as Abbie works full-time to financially support us. Living simply can take on many different forms, but its central goal, I believe, is always people before possessions. After having been in voluntary service a year and a half, our bank account reserves are slightly smaller than when we began, but I consider myself a much wealthier person.

Friendships, connectedness, knowledge and understanding of the world, spiritual growth —these are the things I consider riches and seek to accumulate. These are the things around which my wife and I will continue to form our life.

- Joel Miller