find your elizabeth (retreat!)

yesterday we started the christmas decorating process.  and wow is it daunting.  box after box after box to open up and see what lies within, freeing ghosts of christmases past from crumpled up newspaper.  all the current decorations have to be taken down and put away and things cleaned before the Christmas decorations go up.  we spent a great deal of time on this yesterday afternoon, and didn't finish.  there are still boxes to be opened.  there is still a space for a christmas tree.  there are still cards to be sent and things to be bought and packages to wrap and so on.  daunting.

in church yesterday we read from luke 1 when the angel gabriel is talking to mary and he tells her that she is going to be pregnant and have this child.  and its not just that (as if that wasn't enough), but he tells her in verses 32 and 33 that the child "will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the hosue of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."  wow.  such a high dramatic beginning to all of this. 

how do you begin a season that way?  whether it be a pregnancy or a job or a project or just getting ready for Christmas, how do you begin when the bar is set so high? 

mary retreated.  that's right.  she got away.  she got out of town.  literally.  she took the 80 mile trip to the hill country of judea to visit her (also pregnant) relative elizabeth, and she stayed for three months.  we don't know exactly what she was doing there, but it isn't hard to imagine that she was taking some much needed time to get her mind right, to get her heart right for such an overwhelming future. 

what about us?  we might not have three months to retreat (although a three-month caribbean cruise sounds okay to me right now), but we can certainly carve out some time in our hectic schedules to retreat from it all and be sure to get our minds and hearts right for the weeks that lie ahead!  sure there are boxes to wrap and cards to send and trimmings to....trim...but these things will all get done.  and if we take the time right now to retreat to the "hill country of judea," we may find that those activities will be accompanied by joy, delight, wonder and expectation, rather than dread and anxiety. 

my prayer for my family (and yours) this advent is that you will slow down and evaluate your advent; that you will retreat to the hill country, find your elizabeth, and get your head and heart right for Christmas.  do it now, before it's too late. 

psalm 69:30

here's to you having a great day, and not just one in which you fill yourself to the gills with food and fat and blessings of every kind, but also one in which you find a way in your spirit to sing out to the giver of every good gift a song of thanksgiving.  here's to a little time of reflection for each of us today, an opportunity to carve out some space for reflecting on the amazingness of this life of ours.  make up a song.  write a poem.  talk to your creator.  just do something to say 'thank you.'  and have a blessed thanksgiving.

grace|peace,

greg.

an advent of anticipation

just an aisle over from the turkey decorations you can find the stockings and christmas wreaths. it seems that stores continue to start the “holiday” season earlier and earlier each year. and it’s not just the stores:  last tuesday night my kids watched a christmas special on tv!  as much as i don’t like the commercialization, there is one thing i actually enjoy about the early start to the christmas season: it gives us more time to anticipate.
we don’t normally think of anticipation as a good thing, but as advent begins on sunday, i need to remind myself that anticipation is a great thing during this season. advent is a time to eagerly wait for the coming of Jesus into my heart once again. but i don’t particularly like waiting and anticipating. it doesn’t fit well with my “everything now” lifestyle.

i remember when shannon and i were engaged for 14 months, but living 6 hours apart from one another while she finished college and i worked in new jersey.  during january of that year she planned a visit to spend a few days in the great garden state during her break from school.  well, being a bachelor, the house was not automatically ready for such a visit!  i had to prepare!  i vacuumed and dusted and vacuumed and dusted again.  i put all the dishes away and scrubbed parts of my kitchen i didn’t even know existed.  on the day she was to arrive, i lit candles and spent a great deal of time in front of the mirror making sure every hair was in place.  i was waiting for my love’s arrival, with eager expectation.  i wasn’t just waiting, like in a line or in traffic.  i was waiting, making sure everything was ready, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the one i was expecting with great joy.

what about us?  do we approach christmas with the same kind of anticipation?  are we eagerly awaiting the One who is Love to come into our homes and our hearts again this year?  are we getting every part of our lives lined up so that we will be ready for Christ’s arrival?  my prayer as i navigate the aisles of holiday trinkets and the hours of commercialized programming, is that i will seize the moments of advent and use them to ready my life for the coming of Jesus.  i don’t want to just let christmas happen this year.  i want to anticipate it, with eager expectation!  joy is coming!  Love is coming!  Jesus is coming!

thankful for the man-to-man defense

well, monday morning has arrived, and so has my lovely wife from her weekend in atlanta.  beyond the happy reunion of seeing someone you miss, this is significant for another reason as well:  both of my children and (perhaps more significantly) myself survived the weekend.  and by that i mean that we were all alive right now.  maybe a little worse for the wear.  but still living.  i call it success.  it was close as we almost had at least one case of general tso's overload, but we survived that one.  i even got them dressed and to church early yesterday, which was quite the accomplishment!  i thought they looked pretty cute, too!  evidence:

but seriously, this weekend i gave great thanks for shannon and for the man-to-man defense that we normally employ in parenting.  this zone defense was exhausting.  i have all the respect in the world for single parents.  i'm not sure i could do it fulltime.  have a great monday.

ps.  yes, i am ignoring the steelers game yesterday.  don't have the tools to deal with it emotionally right now.  : |

me, my boys, and general tso

its currently naptime here in the milinovich house.  which means i finally have a chance to look at my blog.  its been a crazy day.  my wife left early this morning for hotlanta (i will spare you the "real housewife in atlanta" jokes), and so it is just us guys here this weekend.  which is awesome.  we've been building puzzles and playing with legos and doing all the cool guy stuff.  but it also presents a problem:  what do you cook for such a testerone-fueled crowd, especially when the "chef" has difficulty cooking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?  answer: exhibit a...

i just need to give a huge shout out to general tso right now, whoever you are, if you even are a general.  i don't know what you ever conquered, but i can tell you something right now, you will soon be conquered in my house, because we will all be consuming you in all your mystery meat goodness, with a side of fried rice and egg rolls.  that's right.  it's boys weekend, general tso.  welcome to the party.  make yourself at home. 

a plasma thanksgving

even though the ABC network broadcast a christmas special last night, we still have another major holiday to get to first: thanksgiving.  i love thanksgiving, not so much for the decor (turkeys sort of scare me), but for the actual meaning of the season, i.e., giving thanks for the tremendous array of blessings i enjoy in my life, from the huge ones like my family, to the mundane ones like large-handled coffee mugs.  and everything in between.  so, to get things started off...

a regular reader of the blog, dlm, recently asked us if we would like a plasma tv.  we have been watching tv on the same sanyo television for our entire marriage and, while it worked just fine, it was a heavy, large beast that no longer showed us the whole picture.  while we were content with it, this gift of a new television was wonderful.  but not only that, in order to receive this gift, our whole entertainment center had to be reconfigured in order to house the plasma tv.  so dlm graciously provided time and talent every step of the way, building a bracket and new shelves into our old entertainment center, and even coming to my house to help me install it.  basically, this effectively eliminated the need for me to touch any tools, which is a really good thing for everyone involved. 

so last night the kids watched the madagascar christmas special on our new plasma tv.  and we are all thankful to dlm for his generosity, his time, and his friendship.  what/who are you thankful for today?

my awesome, not awesome day

so its tuesday, and i think i'm ready to talk about it.  but i might not be.  so bear with me.

yes, i went to pittsburgh (awesome) on sunday, and got to see my sister Mary(awesome).   we went to heinz field (awesome) and enjoyed an incredibly warm and beautiful day (awesome).  we got to the stadium early enough to see the team warming up (awesome): 

i'm thinking that they should have stopped right there.  because that was the best they looked all day.  however, the game began and i was screaming my face off.  at one point i looked at Mary and whispered to her that my voice was shot.  this was only 5 minutes into the first quarter.  i'm not joking.  i was worried about not having anything left in the tank for supporting my steelers, but it turned out not to matter because they didn't give me many more opportunities to yell (not awesome). 

it was an ugly football game with both teams just trying to grind it out and with the steelers making more mistakes than the bengals.  even though it was the second most attended game in heinz field history (awesome), the steelers never really gave us something to go crazy about (not awesome).  we mostly just watched the bengals dink and dunk their way to endless field goals while the steelers offense tried every 40-yard pass play in their playbook, to no avail (not awesome).  with about 2 minutes to go the steelers got the ball, trailing by 6 points, and with a chance to put a dramatic bow on the thing and escape with a big divisional win.  but it didn't work out that way (totally not awesome).  everytime i close my eyes since sunday afternoon, i see a different ending, one in which big ben hits hines and santonio on a couple of 10-12 yard slants, mewelde moore scampers for a 16-yard screen, wallace catches a 29-yard pass across the middle and the steelers have 4 chances at the end zone from inside the red zone. 

alas, it ended up not being that awesome.  but everything else about the day was awesome.  just not the outcome.

as Mary and i walked along the river with a huge throng of black-and-gold clad fans, i noticed that it was almost silent.  here you have thousands of fans in a busy city, and you could literally hear nothing but the whispers of people talking to one another.  i whispered to Mary that it felt like a funeral procession.  we all had our heads hung and whispered in hushed tones.  i love steeler nation. 

game time

see that yellow temple of steeler-y goodness? 

that's where i'll be tomorrow.  screaming my throat into oblivion as hines and the steelers hopefully rock the faces off the bengals.  like this...

fall fun

hello readers.  happy friday the 13th, whatever that means.  it is supposed to be dark and rainy all day here in the dirty jerz, so that will at least be appropriate.  although its not the nicest weather, we can't complain really because last weekend we had some of the best november weather ever.  and we enjoyed it by spending a bunch of time outside.  here are a few pics of the kids enjoying the leaves. 

here's hoping you enjoy the rest of the fall as much as these guys. 

happy halloween (i'm a bit behind)

ARRGGHHHHH!!!!  i feel like everything is a week behind in my life right now.  so, sorry about the delay, but here are a few pics from halloween.  hope you're all enjoying the week.  steelers joy all around. 

the best sports year ever

it has been an incredible year for me.  at least as far as sports are concerned.  actually, somewhat unbelievable, to be honest.  let's recap...

on january 8th of this year, my favorite football team, the florida gators, beat the oklahoma sooners 24-14 to win the bcs championship.  the year was off to a really good start.  but it got better...

less than a month later, the steelers wrapped up in an incredible season by winning super bowl 43 and raising the trophy for a sixth time.  a dramatic game that came right down to the wire, this superbowl made me feel so blessed to be a fan of a great franchise.  i even remember saying to shannon that this just might be my year....

and this week completed the hat trick for me as the yankees won the world series of the philadelphia phillies.  as i refleced on what an amazing sports year its been for me, and how rarely the planets must align for this kind of thing to happen, it occured to me that many of you may doubt my real fanmanship (new word) of these teams.  i mean, the gators are good right now, so i could have easily jumped on that bandwagon.  i don't think anyone doubts my love of the steelers, but some may wonder about about my affection for the yankees.  so, in order to silence any potential critics who may accuse me of jumping on the a bandwagon for this amazing ride of a year, i did some research in the milinovich archives and dug up a few gems, which i like to call exhibits a, b, and c.  firstly:

if you can get past the stunning good looks, you'll see that i'm wearing a florida gators hat.  that is actually my favorite hat of all time.  i still have it, only now it is basically gray.  this hat is the reason i love the color orange.  this is a picture from early in the 90's, and indicates that i have liked the gators since i was in high school (thanks to rick, who was a mentor of mine and a huge gator fan).  so that's the gators, what about the steelers?

i don't really need to defend this one.  i grew up in western pennsylvania.  even though i left that area for awhile as a teenager, and then again as an adult, it is clear that my blood is black and gold.  if you question my real fanaticism for the steelers, watch this.   but what about the new york yankees?

now, as you can see in this picture from 1993, i am ice skating (which means i'm in public) and i'm wearing a yankee shirt.  i was also wearing a yankee hat, but you'll have to take my word for that.  this took place at an ice skating rink in lexington ky, where i lived at the time.  in 1993, the yankees hadn't won a championship in 15 years, or since i was 2 years old.  so, i wasn't a bandwagon fan.  i was a high school kid in kentucky (not a lot of yankee-lovers in bluegrass country) who liked a team that was not winning.  i loved the yankees mostly because i loved baseball, and baseball history, and i read everything i could about the greats of the game, so many of whom were yankees.  plus, i loved don mattingly and the way he played the game with passion and integrity. 

so now that i've defended myself, let me be.  let me revel in what must be the greatest sports year ever (i'm not a huge hockey fan, but i generally support the pittsburgh penguins, and they won the stanley cup this year, just as a bonus gift).  i still can't believe it, and know that it will likely never happen again, but, at least for now, i'm one of the luckiest, happiest fans ever. 

the yankees win!

i have a bunch of thoughts about my year as a sports fan, but for now let it suffice to say: congratulations to the most storied franchise in the history of sports.  the new york yankees won their 27th world championship last night, bringing it back to the bronx after a nine year hiatus.  i'm exhausted after staying up late watching all the post game stuff, so i don't have a great deal to add right now.  just, this: 

tttthhhhhheeeee  yyyyyaaaannnnnkkeeeeeeeess   wwwwwwiiiiiiinnnnnnn!!!!!!!

practice what i preach

yesterday was a gorgeous fall day here in north western new jersey, so i decided to take an hour before it got dark (so stinkin' early now!) to rake up some of our leaves.  if you've never been to our house, then you probably don't realize that our house is nestled into a little valley, with a few trees in our front yard, and about 250 of them in the back.  if we don't start raking in mid-october and then keep it up, we often have trouble finding our front door.  i kid, i kid.  but seriously:  lots.of.leaves.  so, i thought i would rake some of them yesterday, thinking that every little bit helps.  so jack came out with me and we worked pretty hard at raking up large piles and putting them on tarps to take up to the road, where they will sit until some leaf-sucking truck comes and carries them to leaf heaven (hell:?).  we were mostly working in the front yard, right along the sidewalk.  after about 45 minutes we had it looking pretty good, and were just finishing up for the day, when a gust of wind appeared, (literally) out of nowhere, and mockingly blew every leaf that had previously been sitting our our roof and dumped them right on the area that we had just raked.  i just stood there, shoulders slumped, a look of shocked disgust on my face.  but then i looked over at jack, who, with a huge smile on his face, just said, "yay!  now we have more leaves to rake up!"

an attitude of gratitude, we always tell him.  that's what you need.  looks like he's been putting it into practice.  looks like i need to practice what i preach. 

thank you, God of color and change, for the things that blow my way; for the way you meet me in the mundane moments.  for work and for play, for children and for crisp air, for the pallette of fall colors and the power of a child's simplicity: thank you. 

one song

as you know, i <3 my ipod.  since i had to have it replaced (hard drive crashed), i've been putting music on it again.  i'm up to about 2,500 songs right now.  which got me thinking about what everyone's most precious songs would be.  so i'm asking you to help me out here:  what ONE SONG should i make sure gets on my ipod?  it doesn't have to be your favorite all time song - it could just be something you're really into right now.  but you can only tell me one song.  c'mon people.  what's it going to be?  what's your one song right now?

weekend without pictures

so, i'm tired this morning.  it is the classic monday morning here at the milinovich house.  it feels less like just another day on the calendar and more like an alex rodriguez swing to the face.  so, if you're going to read this, please have very low expectations. 

had a very good, yet busy weekend.  unfortunately, however, i didn't get much in the way of pictures to demonstrate it.  my parents were here from pittsburgh for a short visit, and so we spent a good bit of time just hanging out with meemaw and pappy.  friday jackson had a little mini-parade and halloween production at school, so we all went to see that.  then i had a wedding rehearsal that evening, before we all went to cracker barrel for dinner (mmm...chicken fried chicken).   saturday included the wedding (the bride nearly passed out - at a halloween wedding!), and trick-or-treating.  luckily the rain mostly held off and the boys seemed to have a great time in their dragon (jack) and doggy (cade) costumes.  then we came home and did the obligatory candy sorting.  and i stayed up until nearly 1 am watching the yankees win game 3 of the world series.  i slept for a few hours and then was up at 5 for a full sunday morning of preaching about moving from fear to generosity.  yesterday we set up cade's big boy bed for the first time and disassembled his crib.  he slept like a little angel in it last night.  i, on the other hand, stayed up and watched the yankees win again.  which was awesome.  but i wish these games started at 7 and not 8.  mornings come too early!

and so, there you have it.  my weekend in a paragraph.  not very creative or interesting, i know.  sorry about that.  i feel low on  creative energy this morning.  i think i invested it all in the dream i had last night about the family of cats that had somehow invaded our house.