The God Hunt

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:

I had never heard before of the “reticular activating system,” but the women of my small Hungry Souls planning team seemed to be familiar with it. An Internet search informed me that the RAS is one of the most important parts of the brain. Neuroscience has revealed that this part of the brain, located near the stem, the thalamus (I am still learning, so pardon me, any neuroscientists reading my blog).

It performs various important functions, one of which is the regulation of transition between sleep and wakefulness, but the function of the reticular activating system that most intrigues me is its capacity to filter out information, once a person has programmed himself to achieve a certain goal—like writing a book on listening, as I am now doing. Having experienced this in other situations, such as when pregnant, noticing that the world is full of other pregnant women—something I had not noticed when I was not pregnant (the goal, of course, was to deliver a healthy baby), I am totally psyched for the quotes, conversations, books, testimonies to the physiological impact of the a regular practice of listening to others in a small-group setting.

Of course, one cannot scientifically measure the work of the Holy Spirit in laboratories set up to study the brain. Neurosurgeons think the brain is the most fascinating and complex organism on earth—naturally, they would. And I am prepared to give a nod to the RAS and to give praise to a Creator who could design such a complicated physiognomy that brilliant scientists can scarcely fathom its function.

For now, and because it is the habit of decades, I will give credit to the Holy Spirit who moves in mystery and brings to light truths we didn’t know we should know, and who displays beauty of thing or idea or of substance that we can scarcely apprehend; yet we do!

I trust that the RAS and the Holy Spirit, working in conjunction somehow, will focus my attention on the task at hand—and assist me in the learning I need in order to write the book I am impelled to write.

Amen.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Every morning during the growing season, I step out my back door to see what in the garden surprises me. At this time in May, it is the velvety wine-colored clematis that is thriving on the wall by my back door. Beyond it, the blue delphinium is in bloom, the purple iris is beginning to unfold, and the blue columbine that have self-planted are thriving small bushes in the patio garden.

This beauty causes me to catch my breath and praise my Creator for the sheer grace of it all. I give thanks that I am here to see the exquisite creatureliness of created things. For this morning moment, I am absolutely present. “To be present where we are,” says one writer, “is to wake up to this place.” I smell the earth, and the rain that has come and is gone; I want to yearn to fold my hands into the soil.

But I press my fingertips lightly against the velvet flower on the vine; I bless it and in turn am blessed by the beauty of it.

“We need to stay alert for moments of inspiration. The word inspiration means literally “in-breathing.” I breath in the world and know more of the God who has made it so unbearably lovely. I breath out again. I am still alive.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

I wrote a list in my prayer journal, the one I had lost then found again. These are all projects I have finally figured out that would complete the admittedly idealized garden I want to complete after having lived in this house for the last 36 years.

Here is my list:

1. Sheds for the side yard as a privacy fence and for storage.
2. Crude structure for east side by house with fallen tree limbs attached. (I’d seen something like this at a Renaissance Faire and coveted something similar.)
3. Privacy fencing to fend this east side from eyes on the street.
4. Huge plants—acanthus; angelica; rhubarb—hard to find at local nurseries.
5. A matching outdoor light (bought on sale and stored in attic) hung by the back door.
6. Something stunning-looking in the cold frame garden that I haven’t been able to solve. A garden house? A play area for grandchildren? A miniature apple-tree orchard?

About this time, I began to hear that still, small voice saying, Now, wait a minute, dear; wait a minute.

I looked at the list again—my list—my list in which I am telling the God of the Universe what I want for my garden (after all, this has been a collaborative project from the start, some 36 years ago; a good portion of this garden is His garden).

OK. OK. Time to re-calibrate. Didn’t mean to tell You what I wanted You to do, God (Master Gardener). I’m sorry—I need to work myself into a place where I accept all these things as a gift from Your hand.

Still, small voice: Now, wait a minute, dear; wait a minute.

Whoops!—further re-calibration. Self-examination, a turning inward. Yep—too much attachment here: What I want. What I want. “The obstacle which we must overcome is attachment, even attachment to our own effort.” (Quote written in prayer journal.)

Resignation: Detachment is the cure. Detachment decreases our needs. I pray.

Lord, Master Designer, forgive me for running lustfully ahead of You. Just give me the gifts for the garden that You want me to have. Help me go forget my grand schemes (even backyard gardens can be conceived with grand schemes), and just toss it away to You. You design and provide what You want me to have to finish up the garden design. Just, please, help me to see the gifts that come my way. Amen.

 “Most loving Father, whose will it I for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who cares for us. Preserve me from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from me the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Morning Office, The Divine Hours, Spring)

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

It feels as though I did nothing but hunt for lost and misplaced things all last week. First, I misplaced my black leather satchel I haul to and from work. Securely tucked inside was my irreplaceable prayer journal. I searched the house high and low, checked the corners of my writing study, under the bed, in the closet, the downstairs listening room, the back seat of the car, the trunk of the car—well, you get the idea—a satchel-hunt search yielded nothing. Where could I have left my bag?

I discovered when time came to write these blogs that I am keeping as a spiritual discipline—to record God’s interventions in my everyday life—that I was having trouble remembering where I had seen His hand in the days. Usually, I list in the mornings all these wonderful, funny and amazing interludes that have convinced me in the almost four decades of recording that God is intimately involved in my life.

Oh, Lord, I prayed. You are the finder of lost things; help me to find that satchel—most of all help me to recover my prayer journal.

Even more proof for me that journal-keeping, a formal kind of list-making, is essential if we are to detect and remember the divine interactions with our all-too-human existence.

I lost the blue cash bag from a presentation I had made last Saturday and where I had a table of Global Bag Project products for sale. When I unloaded the car on Saturday afternoon, I remember thinking, I don’t want to leave this cash bag in the open on our office administrator’s desk… And I thought I remembered putting it somewhere—but after that, my memory was just blank. I opened desk drawers, looked on shelves, went through all the speaking folders; nothing. How could it just disappear? There hadn’t been a whole lot of sales—but it held pencils, a small desk calculator—it couldn’t just fall between some crack, could it?

Again the prayer of finding: Oh, Lord, You are the finder of lost things, people and places. What have I done with that money bag?

By now, I was suspecting that there was a theme of sorts developing here. Mains was losing things. So what?

Last week was the week I started to write the book on listening groups, Listening With My Fingertips. I could not find the book that first gave me the idea for that title, and I wanted to include it in my first chapter. I checked the spiritual-growth-books shelves in my writing study, hunted through the bookcases at the office, checked more carefully my books—those piled on surfaces and those stacked at the back of the shelves—nothing.

Lord, maybe I’m not supposed to be writing. If You want me to begin this week in this way, help me to find that resource.

On the way out the back door, one cool morning last week, heading out to do a quick job in the garden, I grabbed a hoodie off a hook in the hall. Lo and behold—there was my satchel. Oh and the journal—the prayer journal was inside. I never hang my work tote on those hooks, but there had been lots of people in the house, and I’d stored it there just to get it out of the way.

One lost thing found.

As I was checking to find the resource for the title Listening With My Fingertips, I decided to search through the library in the little first-floor listening room. There, sitting on a stool, totally nonchalantly as though it had nothing to do but gaze at the ceiling, was my blue cash bag. In plain sight. On top of the pile. Why had I not seen it there before? I had certainly passed by the study; one glance would have revealed its location.

“Oh by the way,” I informed my daughter. “I found the blue cash bag. It was on the stool in the downstairs library. Why on earth did I put it there?”

“Maybe you didn’t,” said my irrepressible Melissa. “Maybe some angel took pity on your always losing things and placed it where you couldn’t ignore it.”

At any rate, with relief that was proportional to replacing thousands of dollars, I turned the $180 over to our office manager this morning.

Finally, while sitting at my writing desk, I realized that a few of the binders of the books in the left-hand pile were facing the window. Turning these right-side out, sure enough, I found the book by Brother David Steindl-Rast, A Listening Heart. The writing proceeds as planned.

So what was the theme, the message important for me to understand, heard through the venue of these three lost things—satchel and cash bag and book? Now that I have time to stop hunting, with the found items in place; now that I have time to listen, the question comes, spoken quietly yet forthrightly, Haven’t you misplaced something important about yourself? Haven’t you lost your way a little? Haven’t you forgotten who it is I have created and expect you to be?

Whoops—with all the activity, the business, the responsibilities, the programs and the plans—I have lost me. I have lost me.

 “Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep me I pray, from all the things that may hurt me, that I, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with a free heart those things which belong to your purpose, through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”(Morning Office, The Divine Hours, Spring)

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

What pleasure $10 brings!
Catnaps after gardening. Swinging at night and looking up at the stars.

 Looking out my dining-room window on the barren March backyard, I saw the string hammock we purchased some 20 years ago, swinging forlornly between the two trees to which it is attached. Through the decades it has gone grey, but today I thought, Oh, I should really get a new hammock. That one looks pretty used.

Believe me, it has been used. Nine grandchildren, the oldest of whom is now 21 and the youngest of whom is now six months, have all swung to and fro in the hammock in the backyard.

I didn’t think about it any more. Come summer when the trees, bushes, grass and flowering plants are all green, when the four bright-blue pillows are bouncing on the string hammock, I’ll forget how forlorn and worn it looked in March. Because notes in my own grandmother’s hand, written to record some of the history of her family, indicated that her mother—my great-grandmother—had died after a fall from a hammock, I always check to make sure the hammock is solid. This grey hammock is sturdily attached to the two trees that guard it; not a string is frayed, not a knot untied.

It would probably serve us well for the next decade.

However, when I popped into St. Vincent’s, the closest resale shop I frequent, there in the back hall where odd items are stored, was a bright, new, white-as-white-could-be string hammock. “How much?” I inquired of my friend who manages the shop. “Oh, how ’bout $10?” I almost didn’t get it, thinking it was a frivolous purchase since the graying hammock would probably last for quite some time. Yet, I am trying to learn to pick up bargains at impulse (they are often gifts to me). I’ve regretted many of the purchases I’ve passed on—the latest being a big red sun umbrella that would have been PERFECT for the outside color scheme in our yard—Oh, well.

I bought the hammock, assured by the guarantee that if I unrolled it and discovered holes, I could return it in the morning. It was in perfect condition, and the hooks stretched the exact length to the two fasteners embedded in the trunks of the guardian trees. More than that, the clean, crisps white really looks beautiful. I can’t wait to pull out the blue outdoors pillows that are stored in the attic.

My question about all this is: Did God put the desire in my heart so that I would be open to hauling home a $10 resale hammock because He knew it would delight me? Or did He catch that thought and steer me within a month to walk into the resale shop when a nice new hammock was stored in the back hall, meaning it had just been delivered and wasn’t even priced yet?

I don’t know. I really don’t know. I just know that I am embarrassed by the lavish love of a divine process I can’t fathom or understand. I’m like a little child chanting, “Jesus loves me, this I know…” Perhaps the intricacies and mysteries of how God works are beyond my capacities. I just need to know that Jesus loves me. Yes, He does.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Every so often throughout our decades of ministry, someone will slip a folded check into my hand. This happened recently, and I quickly thought, How lovely. Perhaps it is a gift for the women in the Global Bag Project.

Mary Ogalo had just graduated 11 seamstresses, awarded them certificates of achievement, and presented each with her own sewing machine (part of the value of which they will pay back to buy machines for other seamstresses who complete training).

Because I was talking with other people, I stuck the check in a pocket just to make certain I wouldn’t lose it in the joyful confusion of meeting and greeting.

An industrial-strength sewing machine with dual controls for electricity and for manual operation (when the power goes off in Kenya, which it is always doing) costs about $325. You can imagine my amazement when I opened the check and discovered it had been made out to me personally and that it was for $5,000. The short message on the distribution line indicated that it was to be used to spread the love of Jesus. I was left in kind of happy shock!

So as soon as I got home, I wrote a thank-you note and said, “I would love to know what God whispered to your heart?” Then I wrote out a $900 check for the Global Bag Project, a $300 check for a friend whose husband has had a freelance job but has not been paid since February, sent $1,000 to the Brendan and Kailey Bell fund to contribute toward paying down their catastrophic medical expenses. I put some money aside so I would be able to pay our friend from Mexico when he had a day here and there without work; the funds would help him and his expertise would help me. The rest I divided between my Hungry Souls ministry and a donation to Mainstay Ministries.

You get the idea—I had joy, overflowing joy at being able to share the generosity shared with me. Indeed, I spread the love of Jesus, absolutely happy with being able to do so.

When we teach about the God Hunt, one of the four categories we use to help people identify God’s intervention in their everyday lives is that of “help to do God’s work in the world.” This is a prime example. Go find some examples of your own.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

The call-waiting notification rang three times while I was talking with someone else on the phone. I rarely interrupt conversations when this happens—but someone was trying to get hold of me.

It was Angela—my daughter-in-law. “Karen, I have boxes of food from the food pantry. Can you come over and pick stuff up, some of it is frozen. I have the three kids and think if you can make it here, it will be easier for you than for me.”

I finished the phone call, then hopped in the car. This kind of notification comes from my daughter-in-law a couple times a year. The Neighborhood Food Pantry, which provides for those who are economically stressed, sometimes has to clear out their shelves and commercial freezers because another delivery has been scheduled and they must clear space.

One of Angela’s neighbors, a woman with eight children, works at the pantry. Her van is loaded with the discarded food (discarded but perfectly safe and edible), and then everyone on Angela’s block get the word. This time, there was so much food, we all went home with a couple boxes and several sacks—ready-made sandwiches from Panera Bread, pork chops, ground beef and steaks for the freezer, cereal and granola and boxes of crackers for the shelves, packages of pasta. It was so much food that I was having difficulty finding room for it all.

Just when I had stored everything away (sometimes shoving boxes into corners and shutting the cupboard doors fast), I heard a noise in our garage. It was a friend who does odd jobs for me when he has time and I have money. He had come to put a second coat on the windows for the cold frames he had made for me during the winter. But that task was already done; the second coat—Cinnamon Tea, the color chart informed me—had been applied.

“Oh, could you use some food?” I explained about the food pantry and the fact that I had more than I could use and he would be helping me by taking some home with him. I know this friend has been out of work for a while, and I understand from personal experience what a break it is not to have to put out money for grocery store bills.

We laughingly filled three sacks, and I sent him out the door with that warm satisfactory inner feeling. Not only had Provider God filled our food needs (not to mention the block on Claremont Street that is fortunate to have a neighbor who works at the food pantry), but I was able to pass it along to someone I knew it would help.

Which Scripture is it that tells us, “…He fills my with good things”? If you find the reference before I do, let me know. (Hint: It’s somewhere in the Psalms.)

With or without the Scripture reference, however, the truth is this: He bounteously supplies us with all good gifts. Even when we are not looking to His hand, He stretches it toward us. He gives us enough to share with our mother-in-law, and enough for her to share with a friend.

In such realities do praises begin.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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 everyday occurrences of your life. Here’s one of my personal God Hunt Sightings:

Bee hives early morning. I get up first!

Our bee colony died over the winter. Last summer, grandsons Elias Mains, age 14, and Ayden Timberlake, age 13 and I ventured into the world of apiculture. Our gentle bees produced (in their first year) some two and a half gallons of honey, and though we worked with them all summer and became acquainted with this extraordinary other world that borders on the numinous, none of us received one sting. (And I separate the boxes of the hive supers, pull out the frames, stand with bees swarming around me without suiting up or wearing a hat with a veil.)

So it was sad to hear that our precious colony that had served us so well and delighted all who can to observe did not survive the harsh Chicago winter of this last year. I would have taken that most personally, concluding that we were new apiarists and had done something wrong, but many professional beekeepers also lost whole hives of bees.

The bee population is fragile due to the poisons we use on our crops and grasses, so one of the reasons we are keeping bees is to make sure that the gardens within a five-mile range of our normal worker bee’s flight pattern will have these busy golden buzzing creatures to ensure flowers, food and fondness. I actually have become most attached to the whole bee-keeping apparatus and apiculture.

This spring I ordered another hive to match the one we bought last year. We cleared the earth and leveled it, set two smooth pavers on which we stacked two cement blocks (causing some height to keep out skunks), then stacked the hives on these. A friend, Pat Mitchell, who has been tutoring us in things apiary, demonstrated how to take out the queen, uncork her small box cage, stick in a marshmallow so there will be time for the colony to get used to her pheromones before she has eaten her way through the sticky substance. Then he dumped in two colonies of bees—one in one hive, the other in the other.

It was fascinating!

We evened out the frames with last year’s honey so that each hive had a similar amount, and then I spent days waiting for the bees to begin darting out and back, and circling around the hive. Dead bees were swept by the drones out of the hive, but there was so little activity that I actually lifted the lid from the supers, moved the top box a little just to make sure they weren’t all dead. I could see busy bee heads around the can of sugar water we left in a hole in the top super.

This lack of activity went on day after day. I resisted the urge to sneak a peek into the hive. My anxiety wasn’t assuaged by David’s frequent question, “See any bees today?”

Yesterday, I spent early morning and evening gardening. The day wasn’t any warmer than the few before it, but the temperature was perfect for early tasks—transplanting the lungwort that has gone rampant this year (maybe because of so much bee pollenizing)—moving herbs so they won’t crowd each other in the kitchen garden, getting the hoses all hooked to spigots again and making sure there are no leaks that spray excess water in places I am not wanting to water.

It was a happy day. I noticed bees drinking at the ponds that formed on the now-muddy earth. When I glanced at the two bee boxes, I was delighted to see the familiar hive activity that I have come to love because I know it means that healthy bees are doing the work God created them to do—making lively things live.

So the bees are back! What a gift of God this world is—in its spectacles and in its particularities.

One little bee stung me slightly; it was my fault. I picked up my trowel and didn’t notice that it was sucking water from its muddy handle. I quickly scraped out the stinger, noticed the syrupy string and watched the poor little creature go wobbling in flight out of sight. I’m sorry. Had I been more careful, you would have had more life to live.

But I am happy to have you and your brothers in my way—underfoot, in the water pools on the earth, on my tools, because it means you all are back. My garden (and my disposition) are all the better for you.

I spy God!

————————————————————————————–

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