All Things Supercinski

The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everyone must conceal his sin from himself and from their fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

He who is alone with his sins is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, not withstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final breakthrough to fellowship does not occur because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers, and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, sinners.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Quite simply, our deep gratitude to Jesus Christ is manifested neither in being chaste, honest, sober and respectable, nor in church-going, Bible-toting, and Psalm singing, but in our deep and delicate respect for one another.

Brennan Manning

The way we are with each other is the truest test of our faith. How I treat a brother or sister from day to day, how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street, how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the anti-abortion sticker on the bumper of my car.

(I lost the attribution on this one, but I think it comes from the The Ragamuffin Gospel by Manning above.

Well, if you didn’t get your entry into the naming contest, you are too late!

Annalise Claire Supercinski
Born 9:02pm gently at home.
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
7lbs. 11.5oz
21 inches long

Mom and daughter are doing great and eating well already.

This video was compiled months ago.

While I don’t necessarily agree that the Fed physically prints money, the Fed’s policies have much the same effect.

Thomas decided last week that he wanted to run in the annual TAMU Roadrunners race, “Run Through the Vines” at Messina Hof this weekend. There is a 5K and a 10K, and it’s a beautiful course through and around the vineyard and along the country roads surrounding it. I had an interesting experience with the 10K a few years ago, but the place holds fond memories for both of us.

Anyway, Thomas hasn’t been running really regularly lately, nor has he run five kilometers at one time since last summer back when we were running together. However, he ran amazingly this morning and beat his goal by twenty seconds! And he was fourth in his age-division. Way to go, Sweetie!

Sorry for the gushing, but I’m so proud of him and amazed at his cardiovascular health.

I made Josiah a sign to hold so he would have a job to do. He enjoyed it, and so did all the runners who ran by him. He liked digging in the dirt better, so he did that more than anything.

Aren’t they the cutest?

We had our first ultrasound today, and there is only one baby in there, unless the other one is teeny-tiny and hiding right behind this one. It was amazing to me the difference in Josiah’s ultrasound and this one. Josiah’s was at 18 weeks, and he was so small and moving all around. This baby, at 25 weeks, was all squished up in there, but we still were able to see his/her face very clearly and the tech was able to get great images of the heart, organs, placenta and other important stuff.

Sadly, we don’t have a scanner, so you can just imagine some fuzzy black and white cloudiness that looks like a baby face with arms right near it. Everything worked out and Thomas and Josiah were both able to be there. Josiah keeps asking to “see baby” now. And no, Mom, we did not see any boy or girl parts. The ultrasound tech couldn’t even see them since everything was so tight in there.

I woke up yesterday morning with a stomach bug/food poisoning. Thankfully, I was able to keep liquids down by mid-afternoon and food down shortly after. I feel perfectly normal today. Yesterday, besides all the vomiting, was a very luxurious day for this momma! Thomas stayed home from work and took care of Josiah so I could rest and throw up without a toddler crying behind me, and I spent the day in bed. I took two naps, read a great magazine, read some books, and caught up on emails. It was like a mini-vacation, except for the parts involving kneeling in front of the toilet.

One of my dear friends from college days spent this past weekend with us. It was such a treat! We were finally able to meet sweet little Judah and I had many hours to catch up with his momma, though I’m sure we could have filled two more days with non-stop talking.

I’m so glad you spent Paul’s conference weekend with us, Julie. It was a pleasure having you here.

I came across this video today, and I think it is excellent! If you have ever talked with us about food, you’ve probably heard our rants about the Farm Bill and subsidized corn and soy leading to the cheapest food with the worst health benefits. This short (10 minute) video sums it all up nicely and is an great introduction into re-thinking what you eat.

We had a small birthday playdate/lunch with a few of Josiah’s friends this morning. It was a ton of fun, and I am so thankful to have such sweet women and their kids in our lives. It was a little nuts having eight kids, ages three and under (not counting the four in utero), together in our living room and kitchen, but it worked out really well and I don’t remember anyone else’s kids having a major meltdown. As you can see, he loves the birthday song! We only had to sing it once today.

Blowing out the candles was a highlight of his party to him. Don’t tell, but I helped from behind.

Most of the kids in one place, enjoying their frosted-whole-wheat-banana muffins

I had intended to have an “arts and crafts” themed birthday party, inspired from an article I read in Mothering Magazine several months ago. However, a cold front and the threat of rain squelched my plans for painting on butcher paper along our fence, so we just did a few little crafts inside. As party favors, I made these little aprons for the young artists/bakers. Before anyone thinks I worked hard on these, they were so easy and there may be some errors–I was in a big hurry! Here is the tutorial I used, though shortened for toddlers.

…

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

…

Read it all at Context Institute.