this is us | plus two.

I had just finished up a journal entry to our future son or daughter, one of my favorite things to do. I filled up a journal to Braxton a few years prior while he grew in my belly so he would have a tangible way to look back and see how loved he was from the very beginning, and I started one for Baby Bargeron #2 in January of this year, too. I wrote these words to our future child: "I don't know if it's the Holy Spirit or if it's just my intense longing to know you, but I'm convinced that you'll have a name soon."

Ten minutes later, on Friday, the twenty-sixth of May at 8:35 AM, my phone dinged.

That was the moment that breathed life into what I had just written to our future baby: we had received an email from a friend of a friend who had seen our Hoping to Adopt page on Facebook. Her friend was pregnant and pursuing adoption, and we had caught her eye as potentially a good match for her child. We asked her to encourage her friend, the expectant mama, to contact us if she was willing, and at 12:57 PM that same day I received a text message that would launch us into a beautiful relationship with her.

We chatted back and forth for two days, just getting to know each other and sharing our stories. Three days later, we met for dinner at Olive Garden. We were all so nervous prior to that first meeting, but it was a gift from God just how well we got along. It was like we were old friends reconnecting, and none of us could believe how seamless everything felt. By the end of our two-hour meal, this brave expectant mama had looked at us and told us that she wanted us to be the ones to raise her son or daughter. This once-stranger had become a part of our family. Incredible! It was just incredible.

Since that day, the Memorial Day we will never forget just over three months ago, our relationship with her has grown, matured, and flourished in ways we never thought was possible. She was only twelve weeks pregnant when we matched, which has given us a lot of time to get to know each other better than any of us thought we would. We were with her when she found out she was having a baby girl, and I have been to most of her appointments since we first met. We have had several meals together (she loves her some Mexican food!), she and I have had a spa day at the nail salon, just the two of us, and we will get to see baby girl squirm around next week at her twenty-eight week appointment. We are nearly to the third trimester! WOWZA!

Before we officially began pursuing adoption, I had so many scenarios playing out in my head of how I thought it would go. And I mean this with my whole heart: none of them compared to how wonderful it has been. That's not saying that everything has been perfect and we've not faced any trials since May, but simply that God's grace has provided us infinitely more gifts than grievances throughout this season. We believe that even the grievances we have run into have been gifts! Our faith has been stretched more times than we can count, and all of it has given us glimpses of glory.

Today marks three months until baby girl is expected to make her grand appearance into the world, and because of her first mama's (as we lovingly call her) fierce love for her daughter and for us, I will be there alongside of her to hear those first cries in person. Both of her mommies will be there, Lord willing, and that's only because of the generosity, kindness, and selflessness of her first mama -- the one who chose life for her. Since the twenty-ninth of May, I have been the recipient of grace in a way I never have been before. And I promise you that it has changed me. Nope, I will never be the same. Neither of us will.

 We don't know how the final three months of waiting will play out, but the goodness of God in our story up to this point prompts us to believe that His goodness will continue flood our lives. We are praying very specific prayers, mostly for our expectant mama (whom we love very much), and we are committed to keep trusting God with our whole lives as the days continue to pass. Our hearts grow a little bigger with each new sunrise, and that's more than we deserve. What a treasure we have been given during this season. A treasure that has allowed our family to grow in more ways than we ever imagined.

A little over two and a half years ago, we doubted if we would ever know the abundance that we had dreamed for our family. Today, however, we are experiencing an abundance greater than any dream we've ever had. God knew that our out-of-this-world expectant mama would come into our lives and that our paths would cross at the perfect time.

Only a mighty God could orchestrate something as wonderful as this. How could we not trust Him?