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:
 
 
 
Last year when I went to fill the mailbox barrel and the garden pots by the front door, the weather had already turned cold in October here in Chicago, and everything was frozen solid. I found myself hauling soup pots of boiling water, heated on the stove, across Hawthorne Lane and pouring it in the barrels to thaw the black soil. That worked fine. After a few trips across the street, the earth was sodden enough for me to fill it with Scotch pine limbs, red dogwood branches, and the stems of the Hobby Lobby fake poinsettias I add for Christmas color.

This year it is November and we have had no hard cold snap as yet. With no freezing frost to end their leafing cycle, the yellow maples are stubbornly hanging onto their leaves. Yesterday, it was 60 degrees in some neighborhoods in Chicago! I am rushing to get all the outdoor tasks done before that cold freeze hits. Clerks in stores, our friends who run the Tower Laundry, all say something to this effect: “Beautiful day, isn’t it? Can you believe it’s November?” And then, all add the invariable aside, “But we know the cold weather is coming, don’t we?” According to forecasters, Chicago is in for a really cold, really hard winter.

So when David and I drove to church Sunday morning, my eye (a gatherer’s eye) noticed the pile of branches set out by the side of the road so the city could pick up the prunings, as well as the mounds of leaves that had been dutifully gathered in huge mounds when home owners raked their back yards and gardens. Signs notify all residents:

LEAF PICKUP BEGINS IN THIS AREA NOVEMBER 7.

So Sunday night, there I was, clipping as many of the evergreen cuttings as I could fit into the back of our Mazda. Then, on Monday morning, while driving to work, I spied another pile of evergreen branches and stopped to fill another load into the back of my car. Hm-m-m-m, I thought. Need to remember to go scouting around next fall when the leaf-collection signs go up. People are trimming their trees as well.

I have enough greens to fill all the pots by the front door and two barrels—one by the mailbox and one by the side of the driveway. I usually buy a box of greens from the local nursery wholesaler. These gifts by the roadside will save me a couple hundred dollars.

It is true that one person’s waste can fill another person’s need. But I give thanks as I think about Thanksgiving for these roadside gifts given to those of us who either don’t have the funds or need to spend the money for other charities.

Thank you Lord for yard refuse, dumped beside the street. Thank you that I saw the piles and had the time to gather my Christmas decorations. (And please me to get everything arranged before the coming hard freeze!)

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 microfinance 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. The 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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