Historic Rock Castle

Wedding Day

Fall

Our Wedding

The summer after my junior year is the first time I remember hearing the name “Heath Bridges”. Bob Alan was working at a fireworks tent with the Bartch family and Heath was too. I was in Guatemala that summer, but I remember my mom talking about a boy named Heath coming to the lake and hanging out with Bob and let’s just say she was impressed. Yeah yeah, a Lipscomb boy I thought to myself each time she would mention him. The next summer, Bob Alan was working at the same fireworks tent, so my family decided to go visit him. Heath interacted with person and made our short conversation at the tent count! A few weeks later, we found ourself at the same event again, this time a soccer tournament, devotional, and fireworks show. Heath caught my attention when he very intentionally passed the ball to Bob to  score when he easily could have shot it in. After the game, he came over to talk to me. He was direct and kind, remembering details about me that Bob had told him and congratulating me on passing the NCLEX. He was also looking very ~sporty~. We talked the rest of the evening, and closed the night with fireworks, mentally and quite literally. After the show, we talked in a group by my car, but somehow we ended up being the last two there. As I told Heath bye and opened my car door, Heath stopped me and said, “I know you’re moving to Memphis in two weeks, but could I take you to dinner this weekend?”  We went on our first date.. Burger Republic and Jeni’s, and made plans for the next! We hung out two more times before I moved to Memphis, and then we committed to trying out long distance. A year later, Heath and I both know why the long distance route is the road less traveled. It was beyond challenging to start a relationship in two different places, while I started a new job and Heath started PA school, but we endured. A year later, I moved all of my stuff back home and did a handful of nursing jobs. Heath powered through didactic and is now surfing through his rotations. We spend a lot of time studying, and our schedules are always changing, so we fit dates in where we can. We have learned SoOOooO much about what being in a relationship centered on Christ looks like. Some days (honestly not that many), we feel like pros, some days we feel like we’ve grown, and some days are a total flop, but we learn and mold day by day none the less. One of my favorite things about Heath is how willing he is to learn and change to meet my needs. He is kind and patient and sees sides of me that I never thought anyone would, and yet he loves me so sweetly. Heath is gentle on the hard days, compassionate when I’m weary, hilarious when we are feeling goofy, honest even when it’s hard to hear, and always always always wants to sit by me. On October 3rd, we will take a big step in our relationship. We would not be where we are without the never-ending love, advice, support, meals, and training from our precious parents and dearest family and friends. We can’t wait to share this day with all of you!! To marriage!!

Julie’s Lens

One could say Julie and I met by sheer luck luck, but I’d say it was one of the many ways that the Lord dipped his hand into our lives and brought us together through his perfect timing. First, let me say that there have been many bumps in the road along the way, but Julie has shown me A LOT of grace and that is why we find ourselves where we are today, preparing for our life together. I’d like to start where I first met Julie. In the summer of 2018, I found myself working a fireworks tent with several friends, one of which being Julie’s brother Bob. I’d heard a lot of really great things about Julie, but I never figured that we would ever run into each other. One night, Julie and her parents came and visited with the people running the tent (the Bartch family (: ) along with Bob, and that’s when it happened...absolutely nothing. As I recall, I introduced myself, and that was the extent of our conversation and the last time that I figured I would ever see Julie Plunket. As “luck” would have it, I found myself in the same situation the following year working with the same group of people. Julie came and visited with her family again, and I had the opportunity to say a few more words, less than I would have liked but enough to at least leave an impression on Julie’s mother, Mrs. Margaret. (I think that was the ticket to my success (: ) A couple of weeks later, I participated in a soccer event at  the the church of the families that I had been working for, and once again Julie showed up. God was not going to let me screw this up a third time. Following the event was a devotional, potluck and fireworks, and I made every opportunity to spend as much time as I could getting to know Julie Plunket. At the end of the night, both of us were in a circle of friends when suddenly we found ourselves the last two remaining people. I had learned that Julie would be moving to Memphis in two weeks, so it was now or never. (*Side note: That was way out of my comfort zone) But it just made sense, so I took a leap of faith and asked her out on a date and she said yes. I was to take her out the following week. Then was my next problem...what in the world should we do. (I hadn’t been on a whole lot dates just in case your wondering) And oh yeah..apparently it’s a good thing to text the person you’re interested in and keep them involved in your plans. (I’m not very good at utilizing the cell phone. Sorry mom and dad) I picked Julie up on a Friday night, and we had an absolute blast. What I expected to be a 2 hour date turned into an 8 hour date filled with joy and laughter, and that is when I confirmed my suspicion that Julie was special. Julie moved to Memphis a week later to take a job as a nurse at Methodist University Hospital in their ICU, and we did “long distance” for a year, which mostly consisted of Julie making the drive back to Nashville to come visit me. (Did I mention that she has shown me a lot of grace) Julie move back to Nashville in August of 2020. Since then, Julie has been to St. Louis, El Paso and the remote city of Murfreesboro as a travel nurse, bought a home, and put up with me being in school through the entirety of our relationship. (I like to brag on her (: ) On April 30th of this year, I made the easiest decision of my life and asked Julie to be my wife. Since then “we’ve” (Julie) has been preparing for our wedding, and Julie has done a fantastic job balancing this, work, and oh yeah she’s in NP school just to top it off. In conclusion, I give all the glory to my Lord and savior for moving my heart and putting us in the situation that we find ourselves in today. I’ve learned a lot in the two years that I’ve been with Julie, and I’ve had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Scripture tells us that adversity produces perseverance. At this point, I’ve got a lot of perseverance! Also, I’d like to give a lot of credit to each of our families, because they have been a source of love and support from day 1 and laid a foundation of faith that we have built our relationship on. I don’t think we would have made it this far without them, so thank you Plunkets and Bridges alike for your wisdom. If you’re still reading to this point, you obviously care a lot about Julie and I, so I’d like to say thank you for whatever way in which you’ve been involved in our lives! October 3rd is rapidly approaching, and we can’t wait to celebrate!

Julie & Heath

Julie & Heath

Photos