Last Weeks

All of a sudden the year is coming to an end, and with it, a desperate attempt at saying 'goodbye' well and documenting these last days at Asbury.  While transition is an inherent aspect to life in campus ministry, this year it's especially bittersweet.  

On Wednesday, I woke up with no voice at all.  At. All.  Of course, Wednesday was a day that it would have been really nice to be able to talk.  Student Development threw us a farewell reception, along with another couple who works on staff.  They gifted us a print of the student center under a signature mat.  Wow, a really neat gift we'll treasure always.

From that reception we went back home and prepared for our appreciation dinner for our senior cabinet members.  I have been in an especially sentimental mood (I wonder why?) and it was very photo driven. ;-)  I made a bunch of prints for everyone to take home with them of various memories together over the past few years.  I also made a photo scrapbook (thank you Shutterfly!) as their outgoing gift.  Nathan, Jonathan, Bryan, and Josh made a music video (a parody of a popular sitcom theme song) with a verse for each graduate, and we read tributes to each senior from everyone not graduating.  All in all, we tried to let them know they are loved, appreciated, and will be missed greatly!

As per tradition, we laid hands on the seniors and prayed for them.

Below, last year's cabinet and this upcoming year's cabinet...  They gifted us with a solar-powered globe with a William Carrey quote enscripted on the base.

Saturday we spent the morning sprucing up the grounds with the special help of 7 guys on cabinet.  (We bribed them with hamburgers on the grill).  The sidewalks were edged, beds mulched, volleyball court edged and tilled, geraniums planted, and a lot of other little things that added up to big improvement (just in time for this flurry week's of graduation visitors).  Sorry I have no photos of this!  We were busy!

Sunday night we had one final Global Cafe`.  While we normally don't have one the night before finals week, you can't blame us for finding an excuse to do it just one more time.  We set up the chairs (and Reni ran his laps up and down the rows)...

 ...the worship band warmed up one more time...

 ... and we got to say some final words.  We also got to hear from Jonathan and Faith, the special folks who will be moving in after us, and pray for them.  We have the utmost confidence in them and know that God will really use them to touch the lives of students. The Powers' gifted us with a notebook of messages from former cabinet members spanning the 13 years we've been here.  What a priceless gift!  It was also very fitting that the Barkers were in attendance last night too.  They are retired missionaries from Japan who served a stint as directors of the center from 1981 to 1993.

 Then, because it was so nice outside (and the grounds looked so great after Saturday's work), we played some volleyball and hung outdoors for a bit.

The photos don't do justice to Ellie's joy at capturing a butterfly (with 2 plastic cups!).  Going to bed last night she told me her next goal was to capture a bird!

Then, for one last time we pulled the tables together and had our Sunday night meal with our cabinet (I opted for carry-out Chinese so I could enjoy more fellowship time after the service).  One of the things we'll miss most...

Thanks for humoring me with this extra long post.  It won't be the last of my transition posts. Though it's finals week, we're eeking out every hour to create more memories with our friends!