Archives for July 2011

Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

The only flights David could arrange for me on his United Frequent Miles program to California went through San Antonio to Los Angeles on the trip out from Chicago. Coming home the arrangements were even worse; from John Wayne airport in Santa Ana, to a layover in Denver, to a layover in Sioux Falls and finally—12 hours later—arrival in Chicago. These were two journeys I was not eager to take, but since it was the only way I could attend the wedding of my nephew in California, I accepted the miles from my husband with admittedly some minimal grumbling about the endurance demands of the transit.

At the gate to San Antonio at O’Hare, however, the ticket agent looked at me and asked a question that in all my air travel no one has ever asked me before: “I can get you on a direct flight to California. Would you prefer me to book you on that flight?”

To save money, I had packed lightly, and looking down at my carryon case, which I had not surrendered at the check-in counter, realized I could easily haul it to whatever terminal the direct flight was departing from. “When does that flight leave?” I asked. It was now 7:25 a.m. My San Antonio flight was booked to leave in an hour at 8:31.

“It’s boarding now and the gate closes at 7:45.” That was just enough time for me to hurry from gate C6 down through the United connecting tunnel to gate B12. “I can just make that.” And, I took off racing through the bustling morning crowd.

Sitting in my seat on the direct flight to LAX, I calculated I had shaved four hours off my trip and another hour of waiting at the gate—five hours total. Now if I could only figure how to get from the airport to the Marriott Residence Inn in Westlake Village, California. My brother-in-law, Steve Bell, had arranged under the original plan for me to drive to the hotel with his brother and wife, who were scheduled to arrive at 3:45 p.m., about a half-hour after my original scheduled arrival time. If all went well, it seemed like a fortunate plan.

But, I didn’t want to wait for them if I could find other transport. An afternoon nap before the rehearsal dinner seemed like an even better scheme.

“Steve?” I inquired, using my new smartphone. “I’ve arrived four hours early in L.A., and I can get a shuttle up to Westlake Village. But, is there anyone else arriving about now?” Thank God for cell phones.

“No, no, no. Don’t take the shuttle,” he instructed. “Daryl and Brenda (brother-in-law and sister) have just called. They are right now at the car rental. I’ll get back to them and have them circle around for you. Are you at Terminal 7?”

I indeed was at Terminal 7. I told Steve to have them look for a white-haired lady in a brightly colored jacket (indeed, it seemed as though I was the only white-haired lady in all of the LAX airport!) waiting just before the “Taxi Pickup Only” sign. Within 45 minutes we were on our way, bopping along the 101 Freeway in a dark-blue, rented Mustang convertible. I was in my room by noon, had time to unpack and take a long nap, then dress for dinner.

What was an original travel plan that worked became a truly perfect travel plan orchestrated by a loving heavenly Father who cares when His aging children dread the impact of a long and exhausting journey. It surprised me and exceeded any of my expectations.

I recognize His caring hand. I give Him credit and thanks. My husband is praying that I will catch a direct flight home.

I spy God!

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

I have had two ugly, ragged trellises supporting vines leaning against our house and offending my demanding eye every time I look at them.

I’ve shopped for sturdy, good-looking trellises at home supply stores, but most of what I find is more of the same. I’ve cut out samples of the kind of trellises I am hunting from gardening magazines. I’ve discovered a few building plans. But, my construction skills are limited, and my husband’s even more impoverished than my own.

There just weren’t any good trellises to be found. None that I liked, at any rate, and none that I could afford. A well-made aesthetically pleasing trellis could cost anywhere from $300 to $500.

One day, at Menards, my eye glanced at some wooden open shelves that were flat, had been crudely knocked together by a careless team and were intended to be used for garage storage shelves—something quick and cheap.

Hm-m-m-m-m, I wondered. If I stacked them together, tightened them with screws and spray painted the whole assemblage, could I get the kind of trellis I wanted at a minimum of cost, skill and labor?

“I have time to help you with gardening this Saturday morning,” volunteered Amy, the college graduate who has been living with us this summer. We are not charging her rent, and she pitches in when she can.

The trellis project came directly to mind. Amy spray-painted the five sections I had purchased; they were transformed with a rich chocolate veneer. I took my power drill to the hardware and received a tutorial on drill bits from a knowledgeable twenty-something sales clerk. Together, Amy and I stacked, restacked, and conformed the shelves into my vision of a substantial structure.

In 15 minutes’ time, the power drill with the correct bit had screwed together an assemblage of the five sections, which looked, on the garage floor, at least, like a rather remarkable, somewhat modern version of my ideal. But, set up against the grid of bricks that makes up our garage outer wall, the trellis looked stunning, so stunning that I immediately began to make plans to create two more. One on the back corner of the house where the apple-green hop vine curls, and one for outside the back garage door where the clematis show off their velour cranberry-colored blooms in late spring.

I was filled with creator’s pride, like the little girl who shows off her scribble-scrabble picture to her mother, “Look! Look what I made.”

We are never closer to God than when we create something that gives us joy. Genesis records that the Creator looked at His handiwork—the earth, the seas, the skies, then all the creatures inhabiting these elements—and said (with immense satisfaction), “It is good. It is very good.”

When I look at my hardscrabble trellises, I see God’s help and understand His pleasure in this work of my hands. For paint and supplies, I figure the cost to me was all of $50.

I spy God!

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Apart from seeing old friends we hadn’t seen for nearly 40 years, or being reminded of the value of our long-term ministry (a truth many of us are apt to forget with the passing of time); apart from the fact that our whole family gathered themselves together for the first time in seven years, there were surprising add-on benefits that came from our 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration—cards with lovely messages and words of thanks, and sometimes monetary gifts—$50 for 50 years of marriage seemed to be a trend.

One couple had five Gideon Bibles placed in hotel rooms in our names—what a nice gesture! Others included restaurant or event coupons (tickets to Goodman Theatre in Chicago, for instance).

The week after our 50th, my husband announced that we were taking Cirilo Leon out for pizza to celebrate his birthday. Cirilo is from Oaxaca, Mexico and migrates seasonally to garden for clients along Hawthorne Lane and Prince Crossing and Indian Knoll Road, the streets that are close to our home. For the last two summers he has lived in our basement guest room. So we took Cirilo out to Gino’s East for deep-dish Chicago pizza and “paid” for the meal with 50th Anniversary Coupons.

David had also reserved on my calendar the fact that we were going to spend one whole day in the city of Chicago with a young couple from South Africa who are stepping into a crucial leadership position in that country. Because we love “our” city, and because it seems to become more and more beautiful with the passing years, we enjoy showing it off to friends, old and new, who have only visited it while passing through O’Hare Airport or on quick, cursory trips. A rule-of-thumb we have learned through the years is: You should always try to see a city through the eyes of someone who loves it. My husband gladly provides (no matter how busy he is) the “David Mains’ Overview Tour of Chicago With Guided Commentary.”

We ended the excursion (on a beautiful sunny June day) at Maggiano’s, an established Italian eatery on the near north side. Again, we treated our friends to a meal using up our 50th Anniversary Coupons.

Eating together, listening to each other’s stories, I had the passing thought, How wonderful to have gifts that allow us to give gifts. Some presents just keep on giving. Our coupons would not have been nearly as meaningful to us if we had used them only for our own pleasure. Their meaning was doubled in the fellowship of sharing.

This certainly is one of the principles of Christian grace: God pours mercy and fullness and forgiveness and kindness into the lives of His children. And, if they “get it” instead of hoarding the bounty, they pass it along. From His gracious expansive unlimited favor, we are made replete with enough generosity to share again and again.

How pleased our friends who gave us gift cards would be if they knew they had doubled our joy—gifts for ourselves and gifts for others.

I spy God!

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

For the last 10 years, we have been out of the country over the Fourth of July. Most often, we attend the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario during these dates. We might drive home to Chicago on the evening of the Fourth with the night sky bursting in brilliant fireworks colors 360° around us.

Before this 10-year hiatus, we regularly hung American flags around the house, hauled out the red, white and blue towels to dry off kids after the traditional backyard water-fight, and shared a bean-bake, hot dog, and hamburger barbecue with friends and family in the back yard.

This year (2011) we were in town, and last year I purchased five new flags and flag-holders to hang on the rebuilt front-porch post in preparation for this year’s Independence Day celebration.

The only problem was as July approached, I couldn’t find where I had stored the holders when I put away unfinished summer projects last autumn. Found the unopened flags still in their plastic holders, found the poles and stripped them of their faded and sagging flags, but where was my stapler and where were those holders?

I have learned over the years that the best thing to do when I misplace articles (keys, purses, cell phones, glasses, etc.—unfortunately, all lost with all-too-frequent regularity) is to stop and pray, Dear God, the One who delights in finding all lost things, who specializes in locating misplaced people, as well as misplaced objects, will You please help me to remember where I put the (whatever)?

Then, if I will just sit and be still, move out of the frenetic search mode into the quiet receptive mode, I always (so far always) hear a gentle reminder as to where the lost object is hidden.

But this time, I was busy, moving through the list and I searched first—all over—and prayed belatedly. Try the toolbox in the garage. I ignored that inner nudge, my search mode taking dominion over the quiet listening mode.

Finally, I heard again, and this time I paid attention: Try the toolbox in the garage. Sure enough, beneath the tray holding screwdrivers and hammers, there hid the box labeled “Stapler. Heavy Duty.”

I stapled the five new flags to the flagpoles, and having learned my lesson, prayed the same prayer about my flagpole holders. Quickly, I remembered I had stored them in a plastic container on the furnace-room shelves.

The beautiful red, white and blue American flags (all five of them) now wave their patriotic message from the front-porch posts, and as is our custom, they will stay outside until we take them down after Labor Day.

The point of this, however, is that the God of the Universe, who loves the whole world, we are told, is also the God who delights in helping us find the dislocated, misplaced, forgotten or neglected objects of our lives.

The new flags flying on their new holders on the freshly painted posts on the Mainses’ front porch do not only speak loudly of patriotism—they wave in the wind about the daily intervention of a God who cares about displacements and regularly intervenes to help us in our lostness. If He can help us find our way through the trivialities, He is more than provident to assist us when life-threatening or soul-harrowing events threaten to displace us.

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

In Budapest, I began discussing with a friend what I’d been reading about the discoveries in brain science. We were attending a church and health track of a large Congress where an assortment of leaders from European organizations were gathering. Because she is a healthcare professional herself, she recommended several books she had found amazing on the same topic. I made a point of ordering her recommendations from Amazon.com.

One of the books that topped her list was How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. I am eager to plumb its contents. The back-cover copy quotes are enticing:

“Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman give us a magnificent, comprehensive explanation of how spiritual beliefs and experiences enhance changes in our brains and yield better health and well-being. This book brings science and religion closer together.”

Now what intrigues me about this book is the fact that neither of the co-authors claims to be a practicing Christian! They are purely looking at what the scientific data reveals about how the brain functions in areas regarding spiritual faith. The book, consequently, is not a tract, nor is it propaganda for developing a belief system—although both scientists show that studies strongly indicate that a belief in God is great for mental, physical, and spiritual health.

This Sunday, I am supposed to preach in church on practicing the God Hunt—a topic I have addressed over and over again for decades. But, I too (a seriously practitioner of Christianity and an avid follower of Jesus Christ) believe that we reach heights of well-being (even though we transit through wretched circumstances) when we practice the tenants of faith.

I’ve wanted to find the scientific rationale that proves what I suspect is true, and this book seems to be exactly what I need. Again, from back-cover copy—one blurb:

“Intense prayer and meditation lastingly change numerous structures and functions in the brain, altering your values and the way you perceive reality.”

AND—I have two days to read and underline the book. I should be able to find exactly what I need before this Sunday. The right book at the right time for the right topic.

I spy God!

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Our new office administrator at Mainstay Ministries, Heather Ann Martinez, is an ordained Anglican priest. This actually has nothing to do with one of her unusual capacities, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that ministerial function: Heather Ann delights in saving Mainstay money.

She came to work for us before Christmas of 2010 and has taken delight (sort of a savings game) in stretching the donor’s dollar that supports our ministry. Often, we hear Heather Ann chortling, “Hey-hey-hey. I just saved us _______ (whatever the amount).”

Heather Ann renegotiated our Internet service contract to better meet our needs; that will save $25/month. She procured a simpler Canon copier because we no longer really require the fancier machine. This lowered our monthly rental fee by $225. She discovered that paper products were cheaper at a national box store chain than those at the local office-supply store—a savings of $10 every six weeks or so. She renegotiated our Cimco phone-service contract, lowering the monthly fee some $30. Her last coup was to take the financials systems in-house, put them all on Quick Books—a savings of $200 per month.

Heather Ann says, “It may sound silly…” when I ask her to name some of the ministry frugalities she has achieved. But, it’s not silly when you total the amounts because the savings add up. In just the items named above (there are more), Heather Ann’s careful attention will save us $5,940 per year—no small amount. No little silly thing at all.

This principle of cumulative impact cuts across many of life’s activities. The more we do something, the more effect it has. The more we exercise, for instance, the more we reap the benefit of physical discipline. The more we walk, the more we can walk.

The same is true about looking for God’s activity in the world. The more attention we give to hunting for God’s daily interventions in our common life, the more we will become facile in finding Him.

I spy God in Heather Ann’s diligent pursuit of frugality; without a doubt it is benefiting our entire ministry, helping us to do God’s work in the world better. The fact that she takes such delight in penny-pinching makes it every day a treasure hunt here in the office.

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Every time I open the kitchen cupboard, I remind myself that I need to pick up some cereal bowls. Our hand-cast pottery, lovely as it was, only has one cereal bowl left from the set David had made for me some 20 years ago—and that bowl has a warning crack across the bottom.

So, I keep thinking, Surely I’ll find something I like at the resale shops I frequent—but nothing has turned up so far, and I haven’t had a moment to check in at the Crate & Barrel outlet where I often find products of good design and affordable prices.

Among the many congratulatory cards and comments that came our way in celebration of our 50th Wedding Anniversary were a couple of gift-wrapped packages. One contained—you guessed it—a set of six cereal bowls that will hold me over until I find that stack of 20 bowls, enough for a crowd and enough to weather the breakage that occurs from frequent usage.

The gift was from a nephew and niece who couldn’t possibly have known I needed bowls! What a hoot!

Someone said to me the other day that they didn’t believe God paid attention to the little details of our lives. This flies in the face of my experience. God seems to be intrigued in helping me with the little things in my life—things I neglect to do, or don’t have time to pay attention to. He’s not my servant by any means, but rather, a loving Father and Friend who says, Here, let me help you with that.

I spy God! The bowls are on the shelf.

————————————————————————————–

Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

Share this Article

Have you ever gone on a God Hunt? A God Hunt begins when you teach yourself to look for God’s hand at work in the every day occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Our nuclear family has not been all together since our eldest son, his wife, and children moved to Phoenix, Arizona seven years ago. Oh, we’ve seen one another as individuals, and as small groups. We talk on the phone and the younger generation keeps in touch via Facebook. David and I have traveled with one couple here or one or two grandchildren there to special spots in the world. But, pulling the whole group together has been nigh unto impossible.

Every couple in the Mains’ is struggling financially these days, and the downturn in our economy prohibits expensive travel. In addition, a majority of the Mains clan is involved in working for not-for profit organizations.

So, when our 50th Wedding Anniversary was put on the calendar by friends who were determined to make a celebration out of the event, David insisted that for this one-time-only moment every Mains offspring would be expected to attend. We found the money to underwrite the airfare for five travelers from Phoenix.

Now that they were all planning to be present, what would we do? None of our homes were big enough to house 18 people.

Our son-in-law, Doug, called a brother who owns a summer home on a lake in Michigan. Could we use his place to gather for three days after our Sunday 50th Worship Celebration? We were generously welcomed and filled the three-floor getaway (five bedrooms, three sleeping porches, and a long room with bunk beds enough for six of the eight grand kids).

It is wonderful when people with means are generous and even take joy in sharing what they have with others. Our adult children and their kids spent two days on the lake jet-skiing, riding on the pontoon boat, and tubing behind the speedboat. Other hours were spent using the Wii, playing table games, driving the golf cart around the one-mile island, chatting in the hot tub, or eating (and eating and eating—we have a growing brood). Some of us of a certain age even got in afternoon naps.

All of these gifts were given to us to use without any expectation of return (although we did pay for gas for the water vehicles, and my daughter and I spent a good ten hours together getting everything shipshape after the gang had departed for homes or airports).

Nor could David and I have afforded to provide these kinds of activities had we been renting a vacation home or gathering together at a retreat center.

I consider this a huge gift given to us by my son-in-law’s brother, but also by God who certainly understands the environment families need for bonding again when they have been separated by miles and years. So, I thank Jeff for his incredible generosity, but also our loving heavenly Father who is undeniably the originator of the idea of loving, happy, playful families.

“This was fun!” said our eldest grandchild, the teen who is heading off to college this August. “Let’s do this again next year!” Best payoff possible for grandparents’ ears to hear.

I spy God!

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Award-winning author Karen Mains has long had an interest in spiritual formation and the obedient Christian walk. She has written about the God Hunt in her book by the same name, The God Hunt: The Delightful Chase and the Wonder of Being Found. A hardback copy can be ordered from Mainstay Ministries for $10.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. Contact Karen at info@mainstayministries.org and she will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

Karen continues to write content for her Christian blog, “Thoughts-by-Karen-Mains.” In so doing, she desires to touch the lives of Christian women and men and help them find ways to walk closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, through silent retreats, spiritual teaching, women’s retreats, Christian vacation opportunities, and other ministry activities, Karen helps each Christian woman and man receive vital spiritual food.

Through her Hungry Souls ministry, Karen serves as a spiritual coach to many Christian women and men, and teaches a mentor-writing class. And, through the Global Bag Project, she is working to develop a network of African women who sew exquisite cloth reusable shopping bags, Africa bags. This micro-finance women opportunity helps provide a much-needed sustainable income for struggling African families. For more information on this critically important project, please click here.

For decades, Karen and her husband, David, have served God through religious communications—radio, television, and print publication. They are the co-authors of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy: Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance, and Tales of the Restoration. To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

Likewise, pastors will find special resources to help them prepare effective, life-transforming Sunday sermons by visiting David Mains’ website by clicking here.

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