Quote of the week

"Another world is not only possible, she's on her way. On a quiet day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her breathing."

from Another World is Possible

Update: Ryan informs me that the quote is actually a quote from Arundhati Roy...from her book, The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile.

Reminding myself of the gratitude inside me

The last 3 weeks have been a sort of blur or haze. We have a two year old and a newborn sharing the house with my wife and I these days. We've had family visiting on and off. We've stared out the windows at the cold and rain. We put up our Christmas tree and decorated it (well, mostly Andrea did after Kayla and I proved ourselves to not be up to the task...). I drove around Northern California with Mark for three days speaking about living lives of compassion as a part of a class put on by the U.S. Center for World Missions. We all got some sort of weird stomach flu, and then we all got a nasty cold. So, that pretty much took the wind out of the rest of life. We've been tired and cranky, and we're sick of being tired, and we're sick of being sick. Kayla is going crazy running around the house in circles, while Andrea and myself can both get a little stir crazy when we are stuck at home.

Yet, I remind myself that we are so blessed. Our baby Chase is, in the grand scheme of things, a healthy, wonderful and beautiful little boy. Kayla absolutely loves him and loves the big sister role. "Chase, don't cry! It's okay...I got you!" She pats him on the belly with a big smile on her face. Andrea and I have to keep reminding ourselves that through the sleep deprived nights and achy backs and puke on the ground and on people's clothes, something good is happening here. We have been given the family we have always wanted. We are reminded that these children are our most precious gifts, gifts that not everyone ever receives, and we choose to seek to love each other another day (and hope that January is a little easier...I have the Counting Crows in my head...it's been a long December...)

Quote of the Week

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist." - Hélder Câmara

Thanks to Will for the quote

Here's Chase

Family of Four...

with the addition of Chase Daniel Millheim, weighing in at 8 pounds 1 ounce on November 16, 2006 at 10:05 AM, after a valiant effort by his Mom without the utilization of pain medication.

Looks like the boy is coming...

Andrea woke me up at 3:45 and then told me to go to sleep and wait and then woke me up and now we are heading to the hospital. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers...may not update on the web for a while though...

Waiting...

Andrea is officially due to give birth tomorrow. I'm pulling for tonight and hoping she's not a week late like she was with Kayla. It just feels weird to wait...I'm going to take a few days off when we have the baby boy, and I'm not feeling motivated to do anything else but get ready to have a family of four.
We are also still working on a name for the boy. If anyone has an idea, feel free to reply to this post. Actually, I'm sick of people telling me in person, so please do post here if you have an idea. Ideally, it should have meaning and sound cool (even with Millheim after it)

The Cobalt Season in early December

Poem for Middle Schoolers

I tried to write a really simple little poem about Jesus as Teacher for Life for middle schoolers we're hosting this weekend...I think it's a little cheesy but I wanted to make it at a 7th grade level...


Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

We like to use his name
But is it just a game

Bumper stickers and T-shirts
But will we follow when it hurts?

We watch the movie that Mel made
But what about after it’s played

A necklace with a cross
But are you ready for a loss

Give your stuff to the poor and follow me
But I’m afraid that might not make me happy

We like to pray that prayer and sing those songs
But MySpace is where my time belongs

All that stuff He said about love
That’s harder than me becoming a dove

But I tell you there is a better way
A way to live above the fray

The power that Jesus has thrown out to us
Power that can overturn the bus

The bus that heads to selfishness and fear
The bus that makes you call someone queer

When they need your love and care
But you don’t know if you can bear

But I say that you can
You can live by the Jesus plan

You can live in the way of the Son of Man
You can, You can, You can

The love revolution has begun
And I’ll tell you it’s a lot more fun

Than you may think
So let’s rethink

Reimagine our lives
How we love our brothers, sisters and wives

Love the homeless man in the gutter
And the weird boy who tends to stutter

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
More than a name or a game
More than a way to gain fame

A way to live and move and breathe
The only way to weave

Weave our fractured lives and make them whole
Yes we all have a special role

Today it is about more than fun
May your Kingdom come your will be done

I think I've become the Dad who is convinced his daughter is so adorable everyone on earth should look at a picture of her every day...