So today I got my first bad taste of the city. I was invited to come to a movie night for Christian students studying at U of Calgary, by the campus pastor ( a dordt grad:)) So I decided to go. So I got transit directions, planned my route, and set out.

However, the journey was destined to fail from the beginning. I realized that I had forgotten to write down the house number, or the phone number. So I got to the destination, and I hoped I remembered the right address, but I failed. So I went home, got some groceries(including chocolate cake), and had a night to myself. But it was ok.

Other than that, not much else is new. I sold a nice digital SLR to a couple who turned out to be a Christian couple who do a lot of ministry work overseas. And today I talked to a lady at church who spent time in Africa, serving there, and I was encouraged to look deeper into using my photo and design skills to produce material for organizations that work over there. A few days ago I got a message from Jim at Africa Inland Missions that there is possibly a position like that over in africa with them, so hopefully that will develop for me:) Cool huh?

I am going to bed now, my eyes hurt. But before I do, here is a recent photo I have been playing around with. It is of my Cousins daughter, Brianna. She is very friggin cute. Kinda shy, but that makes her even cuter. I do a lot of work for them in the summer, so I know them pretty well.

Mall thinking

When working in a shopping mall, one begins to ponder lifes meaningful questions. Today, for instance, when walking by one such womens undergarment store, this question popped into my mind: Does underwear fall under the category of form or function? Does this depend on gender? Or physical attributes? Share with me your opinions, friends, I want to hear some underwear thinking

God Answers Prayer

Anyone else been experiencing this lately? Have any cool stories? If you do, let me know, I want to hear about it!
A while ago I found this pretty cool church that I have been debating about attending more often or not. The reason I said debating is because the church seemed a little over the top at first, for me anyways. I have always gone to conservative CRC churches, and this one well isnt. But its good. Its a CRC church plant, called New Hope, and it meets in a commmunity center gym. Its pretty upbeat, and very visual. THe pastor preaches on real-world, current events topics. One such Sunday there was a new childrens hospital opening, so he talked about finding God in hard situations, and showed clips from the TV show House as examples. Its pretty cool.
Another reason why I have been debating is because the people arent terribly friendly, at first anyways. The first 2 times I was there, no one said a word to me, only 1 girl because the toaster was broken(they have bagels:)). Anyways this Sunday I was there early, and so I was in the washroom, and I asked God that he would let me make some friends today, so I would know if I am supposed to be a part of this church or not. Well I was browsing around the information booth, and the lady working there started talking to me, and I told hee there wasnt a whole lot of college-age kids around. So she ended up intoducing me to 2 sisters (Josiah and Sancha- crazy names, I know), who I talked to and sat with in the service. After the service, I met some of their friends, and the one friend, Sarah, invited me over for Thanksgiving Dinner! So I went to her house for the day(along with 3 exchange students they had over, another guy, Jon, and of course her family), and basically sat around, ate, and played games all day! Then we went to another church at night were she was playing piano for worship, and ended talking to other people around our table and sharing times such as our most vivid memory of God, and when he felt closest to us. Good stories I had, but I wont share them now, this is gonna be too long already.
I was also talking to her friend Jon, and he mentioned something about the past, and basically said the past is great, there is no reason to forget it, but dont dwell on it. Well that is something I have been doing for a while now, and I realized I needed to stop. I loved my time at Dordt, and I miss all my friends there terribly, but I also need to look ahead and get excited about the future! Who knows what God has in store for me?
Also I got transfered to another camera store(same company), but this one in another mall, and apparently it is busier to I can sell more and have better hours, which will be nice.
Dont forget to tell me your stories, and share whats going on in your life! Jon Schmidt this means you! I havent talked to you in AGES!
Mark

I must apologize

My apologies to you all for meaning well, and trying to upgrade my blog to the new google version. Well it wasnt much of an upgrade, in fact it was a downgrade. Now I cannot post comments on any elses blog who hasnt upgraded, which was pretty much everyone. So I try to post a comment, and I try, and I try. But I cannot do it. I fail everytime. So in case you have happenend to notice a lack of comments, well I am sorry. There are lots of comments stored up in this pea sized brain of mine.

In other news, I have been looking for a new job. I mean selling cameras is pretty fun, (yeah not really, its pretty boring), and I want to do something more meaningful. So I have been emailing around, and we'll see what comes up.

Thats all for now, I am going to bed. I must admit I like my $50 air mattress, almost more than a regular mattress! Try it, its a very cheap alternative to a real bed(but probably not good for sex I should think)