Thursday, November 20, 2008

Farewell, Encounter

tonight is the night. encounter comes to an end (on this side of the world) after 7 years. for those of you who don't know, encounter is the weekly meeting of grace campus ministries in auburn, al. my sophomore year of college, i started going with my roommate carol. the next 3 years, i enjoyed one of the greatest communities God put on this earth. upon graduation in '06, david and i went to work for grace. for 2 years we worked with our friends who became a family. we will miss encounter. it provided something for the campus of auburn that was not there before, and i'm afraid will be sorely missed.

in honor of the awesomeness of encounter and what God did through it, i have compiled a top 8/bottom 4 and a montage of pictures...so on with the first...

top 8:
1. learning what grace was really about
2. meeting david...and coming up with bogus "events" to tempt him to hang out
3. mine and carol's cupcake fight (back when encounter was small enough that we provided snacks for everyone afterwards)
4. leading 21 college students to swaziland and meeting some of the most amazing people i have ever had the privilege of knowing
5. getting so hot in the middle of december (back in the au chapel) that you would be dripping sweat from jumping to crowder tunes (hey! it was '03)
6. ice cream socials at the crayola house
7. counting the donations the night invisible children came
8. waffle house after encounter

bottom 4:
1. all the awkward moments that happen when 12 people share one office and one bathroom (which happened to be behind my desk) - this really could be a top 8, though :)
2. the summer that me and courtney were the only staff in town for girls (there is a reason we had desk jobs...awkward)
3. the day we rode our bikes to the office and almost died
4. getting home from encounter at 11:30pm and getting up at 3am to drive to phenix city every week of my internship


matt and josh @ a softball game...josh was just a wee thing


the aforementioned cupcake fight


ahhh, my husband


karen, me, hanna, carol, diane, and erin: 2004


encounter fall retreat: 2005 - i think...whichever one jason morant played


passion '06


remember caleb's baby shower?


josh took this picture


oh the band trips...


did i mention the band trips?


swaziland with kriek and dennis


walking home in swazi


in honor of the happy couple getting married on saturday!


our last encounter...


despite what the freshmen might believe, this is and always will be the encounter drummer


...

7 comments:

Queenie said...

.....seeing the first Encounter at Auburn in March 2002. Having fellowship with all of you, our extended family. Relationships that bonded. Matt, April, Josh, Caleb & Luke. Watching the band grow each year with each person God called to be a part. All of the dinners at the Blount cafe on Wednesday nights. All of the dinners at AUMC, not just eating but preparing with our precious volunteers. Going to all of the weddings of those who worshiped together at Encounter. Being eternally grateful for each of you who have loved us!

jäk said...

That there is one more the 8th of December,

Biscuet said...

i'm so thankful to make two of your photos in the montage. that makes me feel special. All the reminiscing about encounter makes me a little sad and homesick. But, despite the emotions that come with remembering, i never want to forget those days... absolutely some of the best days of my life.

rebekah said...

hahahaha...thanks jake! wasn't aware. but we'll pretend this is the last one so i don't have to repost this. :)

Queenie said...

......and watching God changing lives that will carry on for eternity.....that is awesome!

han said...

love it. will miss it too. i sobbed the whole time last thursday. And, yes, there will be another one, but it was still nice to hear you remember...

Katie B said...

retreat 05/morant one: riding on the golfcart (?) i think we weren't really supposed to... and killer bees coming out and 'someone' cussing in front of the kiddos... hahaha... hope you are having a great week bek! miss having you around!