the unlikely orange

as i sit inside on this cold end-of-december morning in which i can feel 2009 surrendering to its icy inevitable death, i am very much aware of the rhythm of the years, the rise and fall, and finally, the crushing winter weight of every dozen months or so.  and so another year collapses under the burden of turned calendar pages. but just before 2009 gives its dark virgin birth to a whole new year, i stand again at that annual crossroads, seeing both how far we've come and how far we have yet to go.  and yet, even here, i remember, most of all, that i just want to be present for these moments we have right now, before they become only memories, or worse, are forgotten completely.  i want to be present to the wide-eyed wonder of unopened gifts, and the unabashed joy of an opened toy, glimmering with untouched plastic.  i want to be present to the unrivaled determination of the blades of grass poking up through the dirty blanket of snow.  i want to be presen...

from the milinovichs to you, wherever you are, through this digital space, have a very happy christmas, full of deep belly laughs and full bellies.  most of all, treasure it all and ponder it in your heart: that the God of all creation put skin on to show us a deep, unthinkable love, and to tell us that we are not alone - we are never alone. God is with us! Immanuel is here! Alleluia!

last year i did a video to sort of sum up our pre-christmas experience as a family, so i thought it might be nice to follow it up with a sequel.  its not professional, to be sure, but it certainly gives a sense of both the chaos and the joy of our advent.  the music is bruce cockburn's "mary had a baby," which has been a favorite song here this christmas season.  enjoy!

"the innkeeper"by Kendra Gadzala o busy man, you have no room inn your space for a young woman, pregnant with hope - full of fear - and her worried companion. i know it's a crazy time, and you've got alot on your mind; you've got no room for extra anxiety or excess baggage. but how full do you have to be to turn away your only hope? how busy are you that you can't carve out some space for a savior? -gregory a. milinovich, dec. 2009

i haven't blogged about the steelers much this last month because, well, i really didn't want you to have to wallow in misery with me (in this particular case, misery does not love company, i prefer my misery with a side of solitude).  after 5 straight losses, most against sub-par teams, i had written the steelers' season off as a bad bad hangover year after winning the superbowl, but yesterday, for at least one more game, the steelers kept the embers of hope alive.  using every bit of energy and will, along with every possible second, the steelers found it in themselves to hold on for at least one more week.  just as hines ward was able to catch this ball and hold on before it slipped through his hands, the steelers managed an unlikely win, holding on to playoff hopes for one more week. after the game tomlin used phrases like "not dead yet," and "on lifesupport" to paint a pretty accurate picture of the steelers' playoff hopes.  nonetheless, ...

yesterday we made an excursion to the mall to visit kris kringle.  when we arrived there was no one in line (we went in the morning), and the jolly old man in the big red suit was dozing off in his oversized green chair, snowy chin pressed down to on his brass buttons, mind filled with dreams, presumably of sugar plums.  i tried to snap a picture of him, but then imagined my name appearing on the naughty list and thought better of it at the last minute.  anyway, the kids were pretty great about sitting on a large sleepy stranger's lap. as you can see, caedmon was less than thrilled about it, but he did indeed tell santa what he wants (a big tent).  we couldn't get him to take off his coat or let go of the batman wallet.  he needed whatever securities he could cling to.  jackson did much better than i though, and calmly explained to santa that he had been a good boy this year and that he would like a remote control tarantula.  all in all it was a f...

the other night at dinner my son taught me an important lesson about prayer.  it seems to work this way for me: i learn as much (or more) from my children about what's really important than all of my seminary training and conferences and seminars.  so we were sitting around the table and it was time to say a prayer of thanksgiving over our food, a small discipline that we constantly practice.  it has become routine.  so i bow my head over my creamy chicken, and i expect the standard "thank you for our food; thank you for our family; thank you for this day" kind of prayer, but jack keeps praying.  he often adds this little gem of a line, "Jesus, i love you and everyone in the world loves you."  but on this night he went even further.  more than a year ago (has it already been 18 months?  i'm not even sure), a couple teenagers that we know both became quite ill with cancer.  by coincidence, one's name is eric and the other erica.  so, wh...