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.
