Clarksville, TN (1996- 1999)
Life progressed, and our next assignment led us to the Volunteer State. Over the next few months, we would experience several firsts for the Perkins’ family …including our first baby and our first home. Almost as soon as we found out about our upcoming PCS move, a realtor in the Ft. Campbell area called to say she’d love to help us find a new home there. As it turned out, she would also be happy to help us find a church home. Grace Bible was a non-denominational church that met in what had previously been a shoe store in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. We immediately felt a connection to the pastor who passionately taught the Word week after week. It didn’t take long for us to begin to develop close friendships and to open our home for ministry once more. It would seem God put “community” front and center in our lives yet again. This time we hosted and led a small group “house church”, consisting almost entirely of couples. Some, like us, had infants or small children. Our roles as parents provided us with fresh insight into spiritual matters. This meshing of spiritual life and physical parenting would prove to be providential. I believe God was teaching us …on an entirely new (and often exhausting) level… how to be better spiritual parents to those we were discipling. Each endeavor required significant investments of time and energy…and each was rewarding in its own way. Not only was I learning how to help our beautiful baby girl feed herself … a messy and time-consuming enterprise… I was also learning how to more effectively help spiritual daughters learn to feed themselves on the Word. Russ also met one-on-one with young men, helping them to grow in faith by learning how to become proficient in handling the Scriptures. In addition, I would be asked for the first time to take on a role in women’s ministry, leading and eventually writing a few short Bible studies. Our time at Ft. Campbell would also serve to grow our prayer lives, as we fervently asked God for a son. We spent many a night on our knees at the side of our bed, entreating God to answer our request. As a testament to His faithfulness and power, we named that son Samuel … which means “God hears”. As I think back to the time we spent in Tennessee, I realize God was teaching us how and empowering us to move the gospel forward amidst all the demands of family life.
