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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:
Our gardening friend from Mexico, Cirilo Leon, after the growing season up here has returned to his family in Oaxaca. David and I are making plans to visit his family after Christmas, but I have been tearing into the room in the basement now that it is empty to transform it into a sewing studio. A friend gave me her mother’s Bernina sewing machine that she inherited, and I am eager to get back to sewing again. Let’s face it, however—a sewing room—because of the inevitable messes of unfinished projects or works in progress—needs a door that can be closed.
I do want to keep the day bed for grandchildren and single guests, but the frame that was lent to me by a son is wobbly. I decided to try and hunt out one of those metal expandable frames that can be sized to fit the twin box spring and mattress.Ever cost-conscious (well, cheap), I ran past the nearest resale shop. I would much rather spend $10 on a used frame than $33 to $90 (plus S&H) I’d have to pay to order one online, but there was nothing at the St. Vincent de Paul Society resale shop, in the used-bed-frame section, that even remotely resembled a metal adjustable bed frame.
“Where do you find those things?” I polled the staff who works with us at Mainstay Ministries. The bed we’d torn apart needed to be put back together as soon as possible before I could make any progress organizing the Mitten Project some of the folk in my church are working on in order to produce 100 sets of mittens from recycled sweaters for our Neighborhood Christmas Boutique.
“Run to St. Vincent’s,” recommended another dedicated re-seller. “Tried that,” I explained. “Didn’t find anything.”
“Did you ask them? Sometimes they have things stored in the basement. I always ask if I don’t find what I’m looking for.”
So yesterday afternoon, at my friend’s nudging, I ran back to St. Vincent’s again. “You wouldn’t happen to have any metal bed frames, would you? I need something for a twin-sized mattress.”
“Yes,” responded the manager. “We have new frames, still in the box. They adjust from twin-sized to queen-sized.”
So out I walked, having written a check for $25 (more than my estimated $10, but no more time was required of me to find one). The manager loaded the long box into my Mazda Protégé.
Early this morning, I cut open the box in the garage, carried the frame parts downstairs and assembled my new metal frame. I pulled the fabric I’d set aside out of the drawer in the guest bedroom, estimated there would be enough to make a bedskirt, opened my Singer Sewing Book to the correct instructions, and sometime between today and tomorrow I should have a new bedskirt tacked to the box-spring cover. I dyed the new white sheets red, hung them on the outside line, and tomorrow I can start organizing the sewing studio. We should be ready to start stitching mittens this weekend.
Psalm 71 has so many verses extolling God’s loving intervention in our lives that I’ve taken two days to read and reread it. I’ve copied out the verses into my prayer journal: “My mouth is filled with praise…”; “My mouth will tell of thy righteous acts…”; “My mouth will talk of thy righteous help all the day long…” There—that’s the very one I need to apply to my metal-frame find.
In the grand scheme of history, this simple provision—a frame for the daybed—is less than even a minor incident. But by such provisions do we know God’s intimate care for His creatures. It is not important or newsworthy, but it is meaningful to me. I’ve been gathering used sweaters for over a year, washing them and felting those that are wool. We have about 50 sets cut and matched. We’ve taught seven people how to sew them. If we sell a hundred mittens, we’ll make about $2000 to begin microenterprise projects at our church, working with the immigrant community that lives around us. Not having a metal bed frame so that I could organize a sewing studio where mitten-makers could come and go at their schedule, has held us up for a couple weeks.
“Have you asked them if they have one?” This simple question sent me back to the resale shop. I walked out with an unopened box containing a new frame (with all the parts and the instructions). By the end of this week, the sewing studio will be ready to go. “My tongue will talk of thy righteous help all the day long.” Psalm 71:24a.
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.
