Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium

27 June, 2008

Mick Miscellaneous , , 1 Comment

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.  They offered free admission for the entire week, and I wanted to take advantage the great deal.  Who would not want to go to the world’s largest aquarium for free?  So we packed a lunch and heading to Chicago for a day.

After missing the exit and turning around several times, my party finally arrived to our destination.  Parking was still being charged, but we had anticipated the cost simply because it is Chicago and parking is never free.  So there was the first $15.  We arrived early, so the lines were short.  No waiting is almost always a good thing.  That is when we discovered the aquarium was not entirely free.  Only the first floor exhibits were free, which means we had to drop another $15 per person to see anything exciting.  The cost is now just under twenty dollars per person.

Twenty dollars is still not a bad price, in fact it will probably be the cheapest fee for admission that I may ever pay.  However, it was unanticipated and somewhat shrewd.  They really were just trying to get more people in the doors.  After driving and paying for parking, what else were we supposed to do?  I felt as if someone had just cheated me out of money, and that never feels good.

I will probably not be returning to the Shedd Aquarium until I have children and they are old enough to know what is happening.  The experience was enjoyable, but would probably be much more enjoyable if I had my own four year old running around telling his older brother all the awesome animals that are just around the corner… DWEW!!! DWEW!!! COME HERE DWEW!!!

Chicago Skyline Silhouette

20 May, 2008

Mick My Thoughts , , , 1 Comment

My first painting since high school is now complete.  My in-laws bought me a paint set for Christmas, of which nothing has been done until now.  Hopefully this is the first of more to come. 

We wanted something for our apartment, so I put together a silhouette of the Chicago skyline.  Here it is:

a painting by mick

Exponential Community Groups

24 April, 2008

Mick Community , , , , , , Leave a comment

Currently, I am revisting the past couple of days while sitting in the lobby of the Wingate Hotel, drinkinga luke-warm cup of hotel coffee.  Half of the staff from Crossroads are down in Florida for a new church conference called Exponential.  Guest speakers such as Rick Warren, Dave Ferguson, and Andy Stanley have come to help encourage and teach all sorts of church planters across the nation, while at the same time offering some rest for those of us who have been going at it for awhile.

One thing that has resonated will is the importance of building up a network of community groups within our congregation.  My role at Crossroads covers both creative arts and community groups, and I have greatly lacked in the latter.  Part of this is due to the task of getting a worship team started, and now that we have a pretty solid team, I can focus otherwise.  When we get back I really want to start developing a plan to get our groups jump started with a plan to multiply exponentially.  If you read this, please pray that God will help in this process.

Keep the faith.