It's only the beginning!

Strange Things are Happening....

Right before our eyes things are changing. Our home is losing furniture that once gave it such character and meaning to our lives. Things that were at one time in our lives "normal" or "stable" are no longer normal for us. Phone numbers are changing. Dinners are being eaten in the living room because we don't have our chairs to sit on anymore. Our time is spent packing boxes and cleaning cupboards. Clothes are being dug out of tubs to wear. Thoughts of apartment living and renting our house are always not far from our mind. Hobbies have taken the back seat. Time with family seems more appreciated. Time with friends is not taken for granted.

While my emotions quickly change from sheer excitement of the unknown future God holds for us to the overwhelming heart ache that is coming with leaving all that we have known and are accustomed to; when I am able to take a few moments (and I mean MOMENTS) out of the crazy busy life we are now living, I realize a few things. Things like, how blessed we have been to have a home like we have and how God has used it for his glory while we have been in it. Things like, how much "stuff" we have had that we obviously really didn't "need". Things like, how much I love how blessed we are to have two beautiful healthy little girls who need us. Things like, how much our families love us. Things like, how many friends have blessed us these past few years. Things like, how blessed we have been by our church family and pastors. Questions like, how will God use us in a new community? Questions like, what will our new church family be like? Questions like, how will we manage without all of the love our family and friends give us while being close to home? Questions like, what will hosting things in our new home look like? Questions like, how is this going to affect my children?

The list of blessings and questions can go on forever but the most important thing we have right now is FAITH! Faith can be strong enough to take this giant step into the unknown. We have faith that God's will must be done and he knows the big picture!

Please continue to offer prayers for us, we need them! Thanks!

Em :)

Where in the world is Dover, NH you ask???

This might help those of you who have been asking this very question!  We are going to be close to the Atlantic ocean and one hour from Boston.  We are literally going from one side of the U.S. to the other.

A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE!!!!! A MUST READ

I am happy to be back and hope to be better about sharing our journey with all of you over the next couple of years. I think this will be the easiest way to keep everyone who wants to be informed, in the know!  So here we go!

Our adventure begins...

As most of you know, I have been so blessed to have the dream job of staying home with our girls!  God has been so good to us, providing for us as we go these last few years with random blessings (unexpected pay raises, bonuses, annonymous gifts, etc).  This has made it so I have been able to continue to stay home and not have to work.  Well, this last year has been hard, we have lived on Jason's income + a tad from our savings account each month.  As construction in Oregon has dramatically slowed down, so has Jason's job and we fear it might continue to lessen his work load. We knew this was going to make things change in our lives, I was willing to find some kind of part time work if I had to. We began this new idea like we always do with prayer.  We prayed for wisdom and direction.  We asked if I was supposed to go back to work that God would provide the perfect job for me.  We asked God to help us be better stewards of our (well really His) money. 

After several months of living even more frugally than we have in the past, we decided we wanted to add (what we felt like) a considerable amount to our monthly tithe to our church.  It was great because I felt it so I mentioned it to Jason and he immediately said he'd felt like we should do that as well.  We followed our hearts and did it the next Sunday, then the check cleared our bank account on Thursday, THEN Jason was offered a new job on Saturday of that week.

This was a job Jason had been offered in the past that we had not accepted.  We were thrilled that he even got offered the position of General Manager for a control company that is very similar to the one he already works at.  At this point we were just excited about the offer because we knew this meant job security for him in the future!

So what's the catch...
The job he was offered will ensure that I will be able to continue to stay home with the girls, it will also help us dig ourselves out of debt, and give Jason some amazing experience!  The catch is that the job is located in Dover, New Hampshire. 

With this in mind, we prayerfully considered it for a few weeks before we eventually decided this was indeed the best thing for our family and more importantly what we felt God is leading our family to do.  Often times, God is faithful in ways we never expected!  After meeting with a few people from our church and a few weeks of prayer, we are 100% sure this is the direction we should be going.

Logistics....(tentative)
*Jason leaves for New Hamshire on June 2nd and will be there for one week.  During this time he will look at several apartments or places for us to live.~~Pray he is able to find something not to small in our budget! And we will find someone great to rent our home here in Oregon.
*He comes home for one week to help us pack up the house and see me graduate from OSU with my Masters.  We will ship our stuff, including my car :( at this time. I will borrow a car.~~Pray our stuff arrives in a timely manner and safely.
*Jason flies back to NH and the girls and I stay at my parents home and Jason's parents home for a few weeks so our stuff has time to travel across the country.~~Pray that our time with family is filled with love and laughter!
*The girls and I will fly over to start our new lives with Jason at the beginning of July!~~Pray for a safe and "easy" flight for momma and the girls!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, it is easier to post something like this than explain details to each individual.  Please know that we are completely at peace with our decisions and feel God's mighty hand at work in all of this!  Stay tuned for more!

With great love and blessings,
The Bruggemans!!!

Jayme Renae!

Our family was blessed yet again!  Sweet little 6 lb. 7oz. Jayme Renae joined our family on December 6, 2012.  She was born 10 days before her due date and we made it to the hospital only 20 minutes before we had her in our arms.  We are so very thankful we made it and were able to have a safe deliver AT the hospital!

She has been so much fun to watch grow.  I cannot believe she is already 5 months old.  Her tempermant is much like her fathers, laid back and go with the flow.  Not many of us have heard her cry.  Currently her favorite past time is watching her big sister. 

She also loves blowing spit bubbles and rolling over.  The skill she is working on at the moment is mastering sitting up all on her own.  I may be a bit biased but I believe she has one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen and she sure isn't afraid to flash for anyone!