All Things Supercinski

In the post below, from last year, Jollyblogger (via challies.com) makes some important observations about Reformation Day.  It’s okay if you celebrate Halloween, but why not celebrate the Reformation all the more?
JOLLYBLOGGER: A Reformation Day Meditation

But even the vast majority of those from protestant traditions, who believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone, have little, if any, appreciation for the Reformation. Here in America these same folks will celebrate national holidays like the 4th of July or Memorial Day or Veterans Day with the gusto they deserve while neglecting to remember the Reformation. This is a shame because the things that transpired at the time of the Reformation were world shaping events, whereas the national holidays that people from countries around the world usually have particular significance to particular nations and peoples. The Reformation has a significance that transcends national concerns.But more importantly, the Reformation has a spiritual significance which transcends these lesser matters of life, like the affairs of nations. This is because the Reformation marked the recovery of the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. It marked the recovery of the gospel. While it is true that these things are taught in the Scriptures and that no reformer or other human being should be given credit for the doctrines themselves, it is also true that these precious truths had been all but lost before the time of the Reformation. In His providence, God chose certain men at a certain time in history to recover the very gospel itself. It is this gospel by which we are saved. And we who confess the evangelical faith in our day are remiss in forgetting this important aspect of our history.

Thomas is out of town and tonight we will spend our second night apart since I was 3 months pregnant with Josiah. It’s been interesting spending a weekend without him. Props to the single moms out there doing this every day. Josiah definitely senses that something is amiss, especially around bedtime. He’s in his crib now banging his pacifiers around, but it’s okay, we have an extra hour hanging around.

Anyway, all that to say that I’ve been surfing the web a bit more than usual and I stumbled across a wonderful article about childbirth. We had a wonderful birth experience and went to lengths to avoid much medical intervention, and thankfully we didn’t need it. This article in The New Yorker lengthily discusses how birth has evolved through the years with the invention of forcepts, Caesarean sections and the transition from home births to completely drugged hospital births. It is subtitled, “How Childbirth Went Industrial.”

His discussion of the extremely high rates of C-section deliveries was interesting. He writes:

And yet there’s something disquieting about the fact that childbirth is becoming so readily surgical. Some hospitals are already doing Cesarean sections in more than half of child deliveries. It is not mere nostalgia to find this disturbing. We are losing our connection to yet another natural process of life. And we are seeing the waning of the art of childbirth. The skill required to bring a child in trouble safely through a vaginal delivery, however unevenly distributed, has been nurtured over centuries. In the medical mainstream, it will soon be lost.

Skeptics have noted that Cesarean delivery is suspiciously convenient for obstetricians’ schedules and, hour for hour, is paid more handsomely than vaginal birth. Obstetricians say that fear of malpractice suits pushes them to do C-sections more frequently than even they consider necessary. Putting so many mothers through surgery is hardly cause for celebration. But our deep-seated desire to limit risk to babies is the biggest force behind its prevalence; it is the price exacted by the reliability we aspire to.

I am thankful for medical marvels like the C-section; without them, I might have lost a few dear friends in childbirth. However, it is noteworthy that our national C-section rate is almost 30%. I know that 50 years ago, before it was so common, we didn’t lose even close to 30 percent of infants or mothers in childbirth. That many women elect to have them out of fear of childbirth or wanting to schedule it is even more alarming.

Something that I discovered during pregnancy is how little we all know about birth, making it shrouded with fear. What I appreciated most about our childbirth prep classes was that we watched a video of birth almost every week (including a C-section). This helped remove the unknown and fear surrounding it, and by the time our due date approached, I was truly excited to experience birth. Back in the home-birth-midwife era, women didn’t need videos to be comfortable with birth. They “tended” one another during labor and birth and were all familiar with the nitty gritty of it. I guess all that was to say that if you are expecting, become comfortable with your body and the amazing things God made it to do. Educate yourself and perhaps it will help alleviate your fears as you learn more about your Creator’s creativity. And stay tuned, if there is ever a BabySuper2, perhaps we’ll live-blog it so you can all participate–ha!

We recently rented The Second Chance from the library (for free) mostly expecting a good laugh at the expense of Christian film, which, sadly, tends to be subpar and overly preachy. After viewing the trailors of the film, we didn’t have our expectations too high. However, by the time the credits rolled at the end, we were both pleasantly surprised.

The Second Chance is a film about two men - one from a white church in the well-to-do suburbs and one from a black church in the inner-city projects. Although founded by the same man, each church manifests its mission in a very different way. This film authentically tells the story of how a rebellious son and a street-smart pastor struggle to bridge the gap between their respective churches and cultures. More importantly, at its core, The Second Chance is about being willing to step outside your comfort zone and serve where you are called. (from TheSecondChanceMovie.com)

In his film debut, Michael W. Smith plays the guy from the church in the suburbs. His acting is rather forced and stiff, but, as the movie goes on, it becomes easier to overlook it, or he just got better as they shot the film. Jeff Obefami Carr plays the black pastor in the inner-city church and delivers a much better performance.

I found the movie to be quite moving at times–I even cried twice. The contrast between the mega-church in the suburbs and the inner-city church was striking. One church is full of pastors signing their books, sitting in plush chairs in board meetings, and a service that is quite the show. In the other they are getting prostitutes off the streets, kids out of gangs and feeding the homeless. I found it to be convicting, thought-provoking, and made me consider how I am serving the needy. In all, I think it is a sweet little film with some really moving scenes. So, check it out and I don’t think you’ll be too disappointed, especially if you already have the bar set a little low in regards Michael W. Smith’s acting.

Much to my delight, Josiah added a new sound to his vocabulary: “ma ma”! He tends to only say it when he wants something, but I’ll take what I can get. His current vocabulary now exists of ma ma, ba ba, da da, and blah blah, not to mention shrieks and shrill sing-song voices.

He has also added another sign, but it took us a while to figure out that he was doing it. He added “finished” which is signed by shaking your hands, from toward your body to palms out one time. However, Josiah does this sign by furiously waving one of his arms around. He has been doing it when he doesn’t want to eat anymore (which we assumed that he was attempting to fling food off of the spoon), when he wants out of his high chair, when he wants out of his car seat, etc. He is at such a fun age, and it is really neat that he can communicate with us.

NPR: Ivory Coast Tragedy Exposes Toxic Flow to Poor

One of our sweet friends let us borrow this learning table for Josiah. He loves it and has gotten so much better at sitting and standing while he plays with it. This is seriously the only toy that he has touched (at our house) for the past two days. He can even stand long enough for Momma to take a picture!

You should also check out Josiah’s photo album. There are some hilarious photos of him pressing his face on the toy window.

This is probably one of my favorite things that Josiah does: after he’s done eating he picks up his high chair placemat and holds it over his head and plays peek-a-boo. I finally got it on video to share with you, our internet viewer. I hope you enjoy it! Sorry it is long, I don’t feel like messing with editing.