It seems like The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has always been a part of my life. I can still remember a van from The Children’s Museum pulling up to my house on Rosewood Lane to drop off materials for my Mom to work on for the Teacher’s Resource Link. I can also remember when my brother Kreig used to volunteer in MAP (Museum Apprentice Program) and I subsequently ended up volunteering and working at the museum for almost ten years. That place is home to me… and perhaps I’ll write more about those memories later.
Today I want to focus on the CineDome. Some of you may remember it because it was one of the biggest construction campaigns the museum had worked on since the 1980s. In 1995, they broke ground for the CineDome which was a large domed theater (think of a mix between a planetarium and an IMAX). In 1996 they completed the CineDome, constructed Festival Park just outside the CineDome/Welcome Center, and also opened ScienceWorks in the old science exhibition area on the fifth floor.
Before each show at the CineDome, they’d show a seven-minute clip called "Imagine Indiana." Even though I worked at The Children’s Museum, I didn’t go to very many shows at the CineDome. But when I came across this video on YouTube, I totally remembered it. It gives the viewer just a glimpse into what Indiana is all about. The quality isn’t the best, as I got this video from a second-hand source, but I really hope you enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t been around The Children’s Museum lately, the CineDome was replaced many years ago by a new exhibit called DinoSphere.
Do you remember the CineDome? What was one of your favorite movies to see there?
Sometimes in our lives we need to be reminded of where we’ve been so that we can hopefully be able to rejoice in how far we’ve come. For me, this moment came on Saturday as I spent some time photographing St. Luke Catholic Church.
For those of you who don’t know, I went to St. Luke Catholic School from fourth through seventh grade. It was a slightly difficult transition for me because I was a non-Catholic in a Catholic school. I made a great first impression during communion when Mrs. Sullivan held up the wafer and said, "the body of Christ" to which I responded, "thank you" and gladly walked off. Fortunately, Mrs. Sullivan tracked down my teacher after Mass and made sure I didn’t take communion until I’d gone through the classes and had my official first communion.
As time progressed I grew in my faith at St. Luke’s. The religious education director of the church, Mrs. Spitznogle, took the time to talk with me about first communion. When I was ready, I went to my uncle’s parish where he was the priest and had my first communion.
Over the next few years I spent countless hours at the church: children’s choir practice on Tuesday afternoons, Mass at least once a week for school, singing in the choir for Mass on Saturday’s at 5:30 p.m. Not to mention holy days, the Rosary, confession.
I tell you all of this to show you what my spiritual life consisted of at St. Luke’s. If you had asked me back then what I was, I would’ve identified myself as Catholic. If you would’ve asked me about my relationship with God, I would’ve acknowledged that I prayed to him regularly and had a great reverence and was in awe of His holiness.
To this day, I will still go to a Catholic church to pray when I really need alone time with God. There is something about the beauty, sacredness, and holiness of the Catholic church that draws me in.
As I wrapped up photographing the church on Saturday, I took some time to kneel on those all-too-familiar kneeling benches to say a prayer. Then, I just sat there and looked up at the mosaic of Jesus on the cross.
My spiritual journey started at St. Luke’s, but it didn’t end there. As I stared up at that mosaic, I thought about how thirteen years had passed since I last knelt and prayed to God at St. Luke’s. I thought about my parents’ divorce, struggling through years of anxiety disorder, my mom remarrying, two of my brothers getting married, graduating high school, finishing college, making friends, remembering friends who had passed away, the blessings that I’ve had in my life, and the darker times I’ve gone through.
As I sat and stared at that mosaic of Jesus, I wanted to weep. Because during many of those years, I fell away from Him. But I can rejoice because Jesus has brought me back into a personal relationship with Him and I have grown so much in my faith because of it. Spending some time at St. Luke’s on Saturday was definitely a blessing reminding me of where I’ve been and how far I’ve come.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." – Deuteronomy 31:6
"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." – Lamentations 3:22-23
This weekend my house said goodbye to an old friend, Spot the Turtle. Spot is preceded in death by his friends: Hyden the Dog, Doodles the Cat, Patches the Cat, Scooter the Guinea Pig and Prince the Finch.
If there’s one thing we can say about Spot, it’s that he lived life in the slow lane. He enjoyed nothing more than basking in the warm glow of the 40 watt bulb while taking a dip in his bowl of water.
Spot lived a simple life. He’d burrow under inches of litter, only to come to the surface when the smell of Velveeta Shells n’ Cheese enticed him. With a grin on his little turtle face, he’d impale the shells n’ cheese with his claws and slowly bring it up to his mouth to enjoy. If you listened closely, you could hear him chomping on his dinner.
Perhaps the most action packed time for Spot came young in his life. According to his friend and owner Ron, this is what happened:
"I can remember one time he was in one of the boys’ bedroom with the door shut .. to kinda get a little exercise .. well one of the boys ran into his room and forgot to close the door. Well .. next thing I know .. I am looking up at the top of the stairs and there’s Spot teetering like a car that’s about ready to go over the cliff .. well before I could do anything .. down the stairs he came like a hubcap .. I should say rolling down the stairs. .. Spot tucked in his shell .. and BOOM … he hit the wall at the bottom of the stairs .. what a ride!"
Spot’s favorite book was Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss and his favorite cartoon was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If Spot could leave one piece of advice for the future generations, it would be to always be comfortable in your own shell.
Today was such a great day! I had been wanting to go back to The Art Institute of Chicago since my last visit in high school. In fact, one of my fondest memories of Chicago is when my advanced photography class headed up to the Art Institute to check out the Irving Penn exhibit.
Well, today I got to go back. I’m in Chicagoland for a one-day workshop, but I headed up a day early so I wouldn’t have to get up super early on Thursday morning. I parked my car at The Museum of Science and Industry, hopped on the Metra, and headed over to Michigan Avenue.
There’s something special about art museums, it’s like the ornate frames are a window into the world of the artist. Everytime I go to an art museum, I feel like Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I’ll stand far away and look at it from a distance and then I’ll get up close and look closer at the details: brush strokes, use of color, the texture of the canvas.
One of my favorite things today was just floating from gallery to gallery and looking at all the artwork: paintings, furniture, decorative pieces, etc. Paintings have a way of drawing me into that world and time. When I look at a work of art, I wonder what’s going on outside of the frame that we can’t see: What sounds are going on around the subject? Are there smells? It’s funny, I know, but these are the things I think about.
As you can probably tell, I love more realism art rather than abstract. As a photographer, I photograph the world as I see it and so I appreciate painters who can do the same. Then there are those painters who can read a piece of literature and be inspired, or have a dream and can take that dream and turn it into a vision for a piece of art.
And while I don’t have an acquired appreciation for decorative pieces like tea sets and furniture, I love to imagine how those pieces were used when they were originally created. And as I look at the date on the placard next to a work of art, I just can’t imagine how many places that piece of artwork has been, how it’s been used, what’s the story behind it?
I walked out of the Art Institute feeling like I spent a couple of hours glancing into so many different time periods, looking into the imaginations of so many artists, and have a greater appreciation for the artists and their work. Yep, it was a good day.
This time of year at Grace is always a bittersweet one for me. First off, we get to be a satellite site for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, which is awesome. But it’s a little bitter because it marks the end of the summer for our interns.
For me, it reminds me of my summer as an intern at Grace in 2007, and little did I know that it would be a new beginning for me.
Where I was in life
When I started my internship at Grace, I was nearing a turning point in my life. I was about halfway through my degree program and had been working at Marsh for the past eight years. I had applied to be JD’s intern for the summer, mostly doing web site related stuff and had hoped to cram in some of my school internship requirements along the way. Well, I didn’t fulfill my school’s internship requirements, but I still had a great summer!
The fun of being an intern
The great thing about the internship program was the leadership of Aaron and Linda. They did a killer job making us feel welcome. One of my greatest memories from my intern summer was the retreat we went on. I had been struggling with anxiety disorder over the past eight years and up until that point had never spent the night away from my house, nor did I let anyone drive me anywhere. It’s funny looking back now and seeing how those obstacles kept me from so many things, but I can only rejoice in the fact that I no longer have anxiety in those areas.
The intern retreat was cool for numerous reasons. One, as I mentioned, I began to overcome my anxiety disorder that summer as I stayed the night with the interns and let Aaron drive us around. Ha ha! I remember going to Beth’s house and having lunch, having fun at the Indians game, staying the night in the Westin, waking up in the morning to go to Holliday Park in the early morning to spend quiet time with God. I remember going to Lynn’s house and watching a "welcome video" that the staff had put together for us. In fact, here’s a clip!
We concluded our intern retreat by going to St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Catholic Church which has a beautiful chapel and we spent time praying over each other, it was a moving moment for me.
The rest of the summer The rest of the summer went by fairly fast. I really loved working with JD in our little office, he had the big desk, I had the little desk.
Now that I work in JD’s old office, I miss having an office buddy. It was nice to just have random talks from time-to-time, to hear his phone play "Linus and Lucy" when his wife called, to be able to ask really random questions. He is also a big tech geek, so it was really easy for me to keep up with technology. Oh yeah, we also waited in line so that he could get one of the first iPhones when it was released… ahhh, bonding times!
I’ll never forget the times we went to McAlister’s with Serena and friends, the way he was honest with me (livin’ out loud!), and his overall cheery self. JD was a good boss and is a good friend.
Where I’m at now
Well, it’s no surprise that I’m on staff at Grace. JD had started to branch out on his own with web development and ended up taking a job at Fishhook where he is the e-strategist. Not long after my internship was over with, I applied for JD’s job. It’s been an interesting journey as I look back and realize that three years have passed and all of the changes that have happened in my life (you can read about some of that here). I wish I could write more about my summer, and perhaps I will. If you peruse through the blog you’ll find bits and pieces of what’s culminated over the past three years since I was an intern.
Looking back, I had a feeling that my life was going to change that summer, I never dreamed I would be where I’m at today or have the incredible privilege to work with the people I do. The people I work with and the people of Grace Community Church are my second family. Every weekend when I go to church, I am so thankful and blessed to be here.
And for your enjoyment… some pictures from that summer.
This time of year at Grace is always a bittersweet one for me. First off, we get to be a satellite site for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, which is awesome. But it’s a little bitter because it marks the end of the summer for our interns.
The rest of the summer went by fairly fast. I really loved working with JD in our little office, he had the big desk, I had the little desk.
