Pieces of My Heart

As I lay here sleepless, my mind wanders over the past days, month and even years-

I remember many smiles, lots of laughter, tears of joy, and tears of grief- deep down in my soul to the point of physically aching.

I remember places- places of beauty, and poverty; of grandeur and emptiness; of man and of God.

But mostly I remember people- people I don’t remember meeting for the first time, people I only spent a moment with, people who took me in as a part of the family without question, people who laughed with me and more importantly cried with me-

In the words of Byron-

When Friendship or Love

Our sympathies move;

When Truth, in a glance, should appear,

The lips may beguile,

With a dimple or smile,

But the test of affection's a Tear:

Too oft is a smile

But the hypocrite's wile,

To mask detestation, or fear;

Give me the soft sigh,

Whilst the soultelling eye

Is dimm'd, for a time, with a Tear:

When I look forward, a sea of unknown memories, places, and people swim into view-

More pieces of my heart will be scattered to all the corners of this earth and some will journey to heaven before me.

Most days I am excited for these things that God has in store, but always I long for my heart to be all in one place- The more I look back on my life I see that on this earth it will never be. For that I chose to be thankful- what a gift of God to have given me so many wonderful though sometimes painful memories and what a wonderful variety I see in those who have taken pieces of my heart around the world and back again.

So tonight as I lay here sleepless- I look forward to heaven- The only place where my heart will truly be whole- When the pieces that have been scattered to the wind will all be in one place rejoicing with our Lord because of what He has done for us. That He chose to create relationships and that He wanted to have one with every one of us and make us all family-

This is for the family I am with now, that I will be leaving soon as well as the family I have met and left and Lord willing will be seeing soon and even the family I haven’t met yet. I look forward to the laughter and the tears- because we have the choice of hope and joy. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Newsy Time

                         Walking On Water

                       Faith ~ Hope ~ Trust

Once upon a dark night, two girls were riding the bus. The city lights sparkled through the raindrops that trickled down the window in front of them. Reminiscing over the way the Lord revealed Himself, they were reminded of a scripture:

And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

(Matthew 14:25-32)

Against all odds, these girls were learning to “walk on water.” They were learning to trust the only One worthy of their faith-

I was one of these girls, and I am astounded at the amount of times when I was serving in Europe that I heard this scripture either taught or found myself assigned to teach a kids’ club on it.

Midst of Chaos

PEACE. JOY.

God revealed Himself in giving us the strength to carry on when the night seemed dark and the storm was ready to knock us flat- but when we reached our hands out to Him. He consistently pulled us up so that we might learn to walk by faith instead of in our own foolishness.

Once again I am reminded of this verse, as I am learning to walk on water once more (and I’m sure it won’t be the last lesson in this).

In the last month, my life has become a sea of uncertainty. I quit my job, watched my little sister get married, and am planning on moving to England in just under a month. This sounds like a well structured plan- However; I am in the midst of my visa application and only at 42% of my support goal.

I have a peace in the midst of this chaos in that I know God has brought me to this place- and He’s never let me down before.

Please keep me in your prayers:

·           Discernment in knowing what God has for me in the coming weeks.

·           A quick turnaround for my visa application process.

·           A good deal on a plane ticket

·           People being led to become a part of my support team.

This wouldn’t be possible without you, and support goes both ways- Please let me know how I can be praying for you and how I can be involved in your life. We’re in this together united as the body of Christ.

Love and prayers,

                                               Alaina Mathers

Helping with the Federal Way VBS

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:16-19

Posing with my beautiful sister

If you would like to become a part of my support team:

You can give online at

www.usa.om.org/GiveOnline/

My account number is 2265967

Canoeing on the 4th of July

 Thank You for making this possible!