A pocket full of pieces

So, the fundraising begins.....  Adoption is so expensive, if you are on your own .  We however, are far from that.  The Lord is amazing we have seen Him do crazy impossible things and so we are simply trusting Him to do it this time as well.  I know how powerful it is when people pull together and what can be accomplished. 
So....
we have a puzzle and if you want to donate toward our adoption you can purchase a piece of the puzzle by mailing  $2.00 to
Todd and Jessica Bridges 
640 Weatherby Dr.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35405
Make sure to write your name on a piece of paper.  We will then write your name on the back of a puzzle piece and one day we hope to put the puzzle in a two sided frame and show our adopted son all the people who contributed to him becoming part of our family.  What a beautiful illustration of how the body of Christ works.  An individual puzzle piece means nothing really, but when joined with all the others, it creates a beautiful picture and serves its purpose.  Each $2.00 donation goes towards the purchase of one puzzle piece and all the small pieces will then be joined together to complete the puzzle.  $2 seems like nothing when it stands alone, but when you combine it with all the others, it becomes the money needed to bring an orphan home and into a family.  Please share this blog with your friends or anyone who may be interested in taking part in our journey.

I have a maker....

We sang a song in church last night.  "I have a maker".  As I stood there singing the song, Anabella attached to my leg, flashes of me holding our little brown boy race through my mind.  I just want to squeeze him tight and smell his little cheeks.  I can't wait for the day when we will be able to say that before even time began that his life was in the Lord's hands.  This will be the hard part.  Waiting.  It's been all of five days since Todd and I realized we were going to lay down every reason why we were postponing the process.  Now everyday my thoughts are caught wondering if our little boy is already born, what he will eat today or if he will eat today.  Will someone hug him, and will he feel lonely and unloved.  I wonder if he expects a family in another part of the world to be longing for him.  Will he ever understand the moments I sat here just aching to hold him and make up for every moment he spent without a family and to hear him call me mommy.  This will be an emotional journey I can tell.  The waiting.... this next year will feel like a decade.  I wonder how the Lord handles the waiting.  Sometimes He waits, months, years, even decades for someone to finally call Him, Father.  No wonder heaven rejoices when someone comes to the Lord.  All that waiting...  What kind of patience are we dealing with here?  I definitely don't have it.  :}
We talked to the adoption agency on Monday and again on Tuesday. :}  I may become annoying at some point.  Poor Heather, she is in charge of the program for Uganda.  After I spoke with her, all sorts of doubts and fears began.  Adoption is expensive...I am reminded that I know someone who paid the ultimate price to adopt me into His family.  We have to find a bigger house/apartment within our budget.... Traveling for 4-6 weeks to Uganda......  Health issues that could arise after we get him home... so many things.  What a journey of faith this will be.  I don't know how it is all going to work out at this point all I know is that somewhere in Uganda is a little boy that needs a family.  He has a maker, the one who formed his heart, before even time began his life was in the Lord's hand.  The Lord knows his name, every thought,  and sees each tear that falls.  He has a Father, who calls him his own.  The Lord will never leave him.  We are patiently waiting (perhaps not so patiently at times), to see the miracles that take place as the Lord hears the cries of a little boy for a family and the heart of a family to be that little boys daddy, mommy, sisters, and brother. 
" One day sweet boy, you will read this blog and see that your mommy loved you and wanted you.  One day we will share with you the amazing testimony of how the Lord gave us you."

Our Journey begins

The floor was covered with packets from every international adoption agency we could find.  We looked through all the programs and I remember lying in bed with our first baby, who was then about four months old, thinking wow next year we will have another baby beside us all in this bed.  I had this longing to be a mother to a child who did not have someone to call mommy.  Well three babies later and now eight years have gone by and we have yet to actually move past the packets spread all over the floor.  Until now!  What have we been waiting for?  The word mommy was a word I took for granted as a child.  I so freely got to throw that word out and I knew that she would come to pick me up, love me, hold me, and applaud my achievement.  The realization that so many millions of children have no one to say mommy to, no one is going to gather them up in arms full of love and say you are my son you are my daughter, it has shaken me this week.  I have been challenged to the point of movement.  Todd and I can not save every orphan child, but we can give one, two, even several more something that every child longs for- A DADDY, A MOMMY, A FAMILY.  Our journey has begun.  We are beginning the process to bring home our son or daughter from Uganda.  We will be adding color to our family and that is so exciting.  Our first step is to find a bigger place so that we have another bedroom.  I have created this blog so that we can share with all of you the journey.  So many of you came with us to Equatorial Guinea, you loved us when we returned home, and now we want to share with you another voyage.  You never know what the impact of one will be.  Let's impact as many as possible!