I was looking at the pictures and quotes that had been up on my board in my dorm last semester and came across my older brother’s version of It’s Easy Being Green.  He made it up one day over lunch in the cafeteria and I wrote it down because it made me laugh; hopefully it’ll make you smile, too.

Ode on Completion of my Sister’s Book

by Clark Sleeth

It’s not easy being green

unless you’re some sour cream

that’s been allowed to incubate

four months past “Expiration Date.”

Dad and I were given the opportunity to speak at Icthus, an annual large Christian music festival near where we live. Dad did three sessions and I did one. Dad was great, as always; I managed to short out my microphone and one of the guys from the sound booth had to answer a question for me because I didn’t know the answer. There was one really adorable little boy in my audience who kept asking the greatest questions–things like “What’s the TV with the least environmental impact?” and “Do they use LED lights in police cars?” I think I want to import him everywhere I go speak.

Also at Icthus, my school’s environmental group teamed up with a couple other local groups and had a tent where people could learn more about environmental stewardship. They also took care of the recycling for the entire festival for the second year in a row. Over the weekend I also did an interview with some people from Steelroots; they were super nice and fun to hang out with.

(P.S. The picture is of Dad and me in front of some of the recycling; I can’t believe how much plastic and aluminum was saved from being put into landfills!)

Last week a friend and I were invited to speak at a vacation bible school at a large church in Lexington. The theme for the day was taking care of others by caring for the planet. There were three ages groups; I got the four-year-olds. We acted out the parable of the good Samaritan and went over some simple things they could do to be good stewards. Then we did a craft where they used their hand prints to pledge their commitment to saving the earth. They were so much fun to be with! The best part was when one of the little boys who volunteered asked me “what’s an innkeeper?” It was a good reminder that it’s hard to do your part when you don’t know it is you’re supposed to be doing.

On May 18th Mom and I were invited to Crescent Hill Baptist Church–it was their annual youth service and the theme was God’s creation. The entire service was done by the youth group, from the children’s lesson to the worship team, and they invited me to give the message. They chose to do the service outside so that we could be in nature, which was really neat! Afterward, we got to meet the congregation and be a part of their church picnic (super yummy)!

Now that finals are over (I just finished my take-home on the theme of control in Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair and Amy Tan’s “Rules of the Game”), I now have time to add all the cool links and reviews I’ve collected over the past few weeks. This is a review done for Youth Ministry Exchange; we also got a review in the May 2008 issue of CBA Retailers and Resources which is awesome! On a totally random note, I think it’s crazy that someone from Hong Kong can order a copy of the book!

We got a review in Publishers weekly last month! It says: “Sleeth, now an Asbury College student, is a precocious advocate for environmental issues. She wrote this book when she was just 15. (And, no, she wasn’t homeschooled, if that’s what you’re wondering.) She shares her passion for Jesus and for saving the planet, in roughly that order. Although the book is clearly aimed at teen and young adult readers, Sleeth is skillful enough at sermon illustrations that her anecdotes about babysitting, high school cliques and Mom’s homemade meals help illuminate her points for older readers as well. Pull-out boxes offer concrete suggestions for young Christians who want to go green, but aren’t sure how to go about it.” Pretty neat!

If you’re interested, here are a few websites that have covered the book. Good News Magazine, which is a Methodist publication, did an interview, which you can reach by clicking here. Also, there was a piece on the Asbury College website, here; I did an interview with The Word FM as well, which you can find here. Thanks so much for your interest and many blessings!
–Emma

Hello, and thanks for visiting our website! We’re very excited about getting up and running on the web–we’ll be updating regularly, so make sure to check back soon for more information. God Bless!