Jasmine Judy Spurling

Video Link
January 16, 2007 at 4:20 a.m. Paraguayan time.

She weighed in at 7.59 lbs and with a length of 19.7 inches

Karen experienced a totally natural childbirth. In the initial stages the doctor asked us if we wanted an epidural. Karen never said that she did so we (the doctor. and I) understood it to mean that she didn't. About 40 minutes prior to Jasmine's entrance into the world, Karen asked the doctor if the other doctor was there to administer the epidural. To which he replied... "Would you like me to call him?" To which Karen responded, "Call him!? What do you mean call him!? He's not here!? You were supposed to CALL HIM!? YES! CALL HIM!" The Dr. with the epidural arrived when Jasmine's head appeared. But, Karen is proud of her accomplishment and her road to recovery will hopefully be quicker.

Thank you all for praying. We are praising God that we have another healthy and beautiful addition to our family.

Love,

J (Karen, Jeffrey and Jasmine) Spurling

Preaching in Spanish

“In Phase 1, God providentially works foundational items into the life of the leader-to-be. Personality characteristics, experiences good and bad, and the time context will be used by God.”
“In Phase 2 an emerging leader usually receives some kind of training.”
“In Phase 3 the emerging leader gets into ministry as a prime focus of life.… The major activities of Phase 3 are ministry.”
“During Phase 4 the leader identifies and uses his or her gift-mix with power.”
“During Phase 5 convergence occurs. That is, the leader is moved by God into a role that matches gift-mix, experience, temperament, etc.”

The above five phases are the development phases in the life of leaders as described in the book “The Making of a Leader” by Dr. J. Robert Clinton. Before leaving the states to begin our missionary career I would have placed myself at level 4. However, today I’m probably more along the lines of a strong 2 (sigh).

Yesterday I preached for the first time in Spanish. The theme was “Who is important to God?” taken from 1 Corinthians 12:22-24. For a first time experience it went well. I definitely need to develop my ability to preach without reading (but as my wife reminded me, “Johnathan Edwards always read his sermons). And I need to work on my pronunciation. But, all in all it was a positive experience. I was encouraged that the people present told me that they understood everything that was said. And I was able to see them apply what was said as they congregated outside and communicated their appreciation one for another.

Thank you to all who have been praying for me concerning this experience. Please continue to pray as I work on improving this and as I work on improving my fluidity in sharing the Gospel.

After the sermon I told Karen, “O.K. I’m ready for the baby to arrive now… whenever you’re ready.” So far, she’s not ready (smile).