The Perkins Family- A journey of faith: January 2014

Beautiful View from our balcony

We are enjoying this quiet restful snow day in Raleigh. Ginny enjoyed the day off yesterday "waiting" for the snow to fall which didn't start until late evening! Chip is enjoying the benefits of classes cancelled and only having to work to pay staff and then headed home this afternoon to play!

Just a quick update on our process:

We had 2 parts of our home study this past weekend and it went very well. We enjoyed our time with our social worker and were encouraged by her. Our next steps are Training, Training, Training and more paperwork to complete. I am actually excited about the training as it is right up my ally. I have spent my snow days reading through The Connected Child as one of our requirements and it has been very informative as to behaviors that we will have to deal with as we bring our child home. Some behaviors are minor but some could be more serious so it is great to have this training. As I read through this book, it opens my eyes to many of my students needs also, so it has been a good refresher of my classroom and also my soon to be child.

We also spent some time listening to Aaron Ivey and his story. This is a great sermon for all people to listen to on orphan care. Especially those that are close to us so that you may have a better understanding. He points out that adoption is a glorious sadness, it is full of joy but also marked with strife and heartache. We are reminded that the gospel is not glamorous, its the unglorious story of a king suffering for ungrateful sheep, but built on grace, truth, and unconditional love. Our king suffered for us, so that we may become sons and daughters of God. We are reminded that our story is one that says we have surrendered, given God our life, and said God, have your way with us, we count the cost and embrace it as we spend ourselves risking, loving, serving, and suffering alongside the orphan.

In Romans 8, Paul says "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." We pray that we will remember this as we spend our lives on those joyous moments such as bringing our child home into the airport, first hugs with family and friends, and then as we go home and the heartaches and troubles that may come. Adoption has more of a cost than financial and we need our community to walk this journey with us.

Here is the link to Aaron Ivey if you would like to listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTpS8ij06M8&feature=share&list=PLnn3qlkV1eYwWN-uGToxmBtf0l7_3iPsz&index=3

Do you love Coffee?? Will you pray??

You can help support our adoption by drinking coffee and praying for us! We would challenge you, if you purchase JustLoveCoffee, that every time you have a cup, to please pray for us.

Pray for our process to run smoothly without delays/problems in paperwork

· Pray for patience as we await what the future holds (child, jobs, homebuying, and many unanswered…)

Pray that we will be faithful to follow Christ wherever he leads.

· Pray for diligence with time-filling out paperwork and completing training

· Pray for the financial needs; that we will continue to trust God as he provides

· Pray for our agency as they prepare documents and the social workers on our case

· Pray for our child, waiting for their forever home; pray for protection and health

Make sure you click this link and click the Shop and Support button for us to get the credit.

https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/perkins/

The Mission of Just Love Coffee

At Just Love Coffee Roasters, our mission is to bring out the unique qualities inherent in each coffee bean. We do this by taking a small-batch artisan approach to all of our specialty coffees. We don’t use automation or computers during the roast process, but instead carefully roast every batch to perfection using smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste. We’re always searching for the best Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee beans available.

And as passionate as we are about creating outstanding artisan coffees, we are equally passionate about helping those in need. Every delectable cup of Just Love Coffee you drink has a portion of its proceeds go to someone who could use a helping hand. In our first two years of business we have given over $200,000 to adopting families, non-profit organizations, and the arts.

Make sure you click this link and click the Shop and Support button for us to get the credit.

https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/perkins/

The link is also on the right side of our blog. Please share with other coffee lovers you know!

Well we are a couple of days into 2014 and I am catching up from being out of town and going back to work. We had a wonderful week in Richmond spending time with family and friends. It was so good to catch up with many we don't always have time to see when in town. As always, its hard to say goodbye to family but we are happy to be home in Raleigh.

While we were in Richmond we had a phone conference with our homestudy social worker and China Social worker. Its always a joy and an encouraging time to talk to these two ladies who love the Lord and adoption. We answered many questions from why we were adopting, our pasts, our courtship and marriage today. It was amazing to see God work through our conversation and answer some unknown. We then spent time in prayer with them. We continue to feel love and support from Lifeline Children Services

We have felt very blessed this Christmas with some very generous financial gifts that were given by loved ones. We cannot say Thank You enough and the part that you play in this adoption by living out James 1:27. We were not at IDC to hear Brian's message, but after returning and spending time with our growth group, we were reminded of Matthew 6 and God's provision in our lives.

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?²⁶Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^[g] ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Just when we began to worry and ask God how this was going to work, he shows how He can work through others and will always take care of us. We continue to be reminded in many ways that we are answering His call in our life. We can't wait to know more about the child God has picked for us.

Just a few highlights from our holidays: