If your spouse was cut from a high-paying job and didn’t tell you for three months, could you forgive them? If they also secretly staked the family fortune, forcing the sale of their home, withdrawing their children from private schools, and moving with their parents to another state, could and would he forgive them? That’s the premise of Cynthia Keller’s new book, An Amish Christmas.

The Hobarts, James, Meg, Lizzie, Will and Sam, reside in a five thousand square foot house in an exclusive neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. James and Meg have been married for 18 years. James is a well-paid legal advisor for a software company, and his family wants nothing. Meg primarily raises her three children and, although she is more thrifty, she still enjoys her materialistic advantages.

Hobart’s offspring embrace a sense of entitlement, attend private schools, and enjoy modern technologies, including laptops and iPods. Fifteen-year-old Lizzie berates Meg for not spending five hundred dollars on a dress for her upcoming prom; and thirteen-year-old Will repeatedly and inadvertently loses his dental retainer at four hundred dollars each.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Meg prepares to take part in her favorite holiday. Every year she cooks for eighteen neighbors, utilizing her impressive and industrious entertaining skills, including a time-consuming menu.

For months, Meg has felt that something is not right with James, now regularly complaining about “too many bills” and the need to “batten the hatches”. She decides to give him until the New Year to explain himself.

While getting dressed for his Thanksgiving party, James reveals that he was down at work in August. Too proud to admit it, he secretly invested in a real estate deal that was sure to double his money. The transaction fell through, leaving the Hobarts virtually penniless, as James used his house as collateral.

Naturally, Meg is dumbfounded. How could James be so selfish by not consulting her and endangering the future of her children? Her short-term solution is to sadly move in with Meg’s parents in Homer, New York. Her parents are severe and emotional people. When Meg tells her mother that she will be able to spend more time with her grandchildren, she replies, “Just remember, Margaret, I raised one child and I’m not raising any more. Once was enough.”

The Hobarts reduce their possessions and prepare to travel in James’ vintage 1969 Mustang. During Meg’s last moments at the house, she retrieves a North Carolina state magnet on the refrigerator, which reads “Esse quam videri”, meaning “To be, rather than to seem”.

En route to New York on a cold, dark, and freezing night, the Hobarts swerve to avoid an Amish dune buggy in Pennsylvania. They hit a tree, causing extensive damage to his car.

Buggy driver and Amish man David Lutz invites the Hobarts home, pending car repairs. His planned stay of a day or two brings news of a two-week-long car restoration needed.

Will’s comment “Can you believe this place?” and Lizzie’s “Kill Me Now” lament, exemplify James and Meg’s challenge to make their spoiled teenagers appreciate David and Catherine Lutz’s generosity. The couple have nine children, some of similar ages to the Hobart trio.

Keller imparts a cross-section of Amish cultural knowledge in history. Sam excitedly experiences a school day with Eli Lutz. He learns that Amish children are formally educated only through the eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse. Once they graduate, the boys work in the fields full time and the girls contribute to the household.

Meg is aware of how little affection the Amish show, except towards babies and young children: “But she couldn’t recall seeing the adults exchange a hug or a kiss or even an unnecessary touch.”

Lutz’s eldest son, Benjamin, is missing. At age 16, Amish children are free to leave home and explore other lifestyles before deciding to be baptized. This period is known as rumspringa.

The resolution finds the Hobarts beginning a promising new life, clearly influenced by their brief Amish encounter. As they prepare to leave Lutz, Meg rediscovers the North Carolina state magnet in her pants pocket. The short time with the Lutzes allowed her and her family to live that motto.

It’s easy to dismiss An Amish Christmas as another feel-good story about the simple life, based on the book’s cover depicting a bucolic setting and the silhouette of an Amish woman in a white beanie. Whose.

Read An Amish Christmas and find that it assesses your stance on topics like forgiveness, wedding vows, and materialism. Keller’s message is especially timely during this era of economic challenges, foreclosures and high unemployment.

In addition to being an entertaining and informative read, An Amish Christmas It is well written literature. For more information on Amish culture, visit http://www.amishliving.com.