Bridges: Party of 5!

Greetings my long lost blog, I keep making empty promises that I will keep up on here and always fall short. These boys keep me busy, but things are about to get even busier... in the best way possible! Our family of 4 is on it's way to becoming a family of 5! Here's the back story:

Most of you know that my pregnancies were less that pleasant, and that Andrew insisted on giving me two large boys... neither made it full term. Caleb was our NICU babe and while his stay was not that long... it was long enough to confirm our reproducing days were over. Too much risk to the baby's health if the increasingly early rate continued and the Lord knows I spent more than enough hours hugging that toilet bowl :(

Two boys, now that's busy... and fun... and hilarious... and exhausting. Two boys that surely bless our hearts! We are so fortunate to have these boys and we couldn't be happier with the family God has blessed us with.

Over the past 2 years, we have gone through some radical changes in our family. We had been going through the motions and enjoying a life at a superficial level... We began to re-evaluate our priorities, our beliefs, our family and our faith. We started with our finances. Those closest to us probably often thought "the Bridges', they are CRAZY!" We began selling off one thing after another and before you know it we had no couches to sit on and a card table to eat at. Dave Ramsey would be proud ;)

You see, we were breaking down society's lies about happiness and success. Happiness and success aren't found in the things of this world. They aren't found in the car you drive or the couches you sit (or don't sit) on. LOL We were yearning to live with more purpose. We began giving like we had never given before and I tell you what, it felt SO GOOD! We were fortunate to have some amazing friends in our lives that allowed us to take part in their adoption journey and y'all, God started working on us too!

I can't remember the exact date, or even that the sermon was about... but I tell you what God used our church pastor to plant the seed for adoption in our family. The sermon had nothing to do with adoption. In fact, when I (Jess) told Andrew what God had spoken to me... he was wondering if we were in the same service! He began to re-ignite our desire to experience having a daughter. Through prayer, and LOTS of it, we couldn't be more confident that God was and is calling us to grow our family through adoption. We are the church and we are responsible for caring for the orphans! If not us, then who?

We are so incredibly excited and blessed to be a part of a much bigger picture! And we ask that you would join our family's journey!! We are early in the process, but God knows exactly that child he has for our family... We ask that you start praying for our daughter. She may or may not even be conceived yet, but pray for her health and God's protection on her. Pray for the birthmother as she has an extremely hard decision ahead. Pray for peace and comfort for her as well as good health. Pray for us as we wait, that we would trust God in every step of this process and have complete confidence that He is in control! We couldn't be more excited to become, Bridges: Party of 5!