Throwback Thursday: The Legacy of the FLOCK

It's Throwback Thursday!

Today, I'm throwing it back to my college days at the University of Wisconsin. 

In college, I was involved in the ministry of Cru (the same ministry I work for now). It was sort of a tradition for people from Cru & the Christian community in general at UW-Madison to live in houses together on campus. Most of these houses gave themselves a name to identify their house (The FLOCK, The MOB, The Satellite, The Commune, etc.) All of these names had a significant meaning to the people that lived there, but it was also helpful in identifying where ministry events were taking place (i.e. "the party is at The MOB", "women's time is at The FLOCK," etc.)

My junior & senior year of college I lived at the FLOCK. The FLOCK stood for : Females Living Out Christ's Kingdom. It was a pretty big house with 17 women living in it. Yes, 17 women in one house!! It's as crazy as it sounds. (But, also as amazing as it sounds.) :)

I recently found out that the FLOCK will no longer be a Cru or Christian community house on campus. After 12 years, they are putting it up for another tenant to rent out. The FLOCK has an amazing legacy, one that goes way beyond the time I lived there. 

This brings some sadness that it is ending, but mostly great memories of the two years I lived there.

FLOCK photo shoots were a must :)

The house is located directly across the street from the historic Camp Randall Stadium where the Wisconsin Badgers football team plays. (ON WISCONSIN!)

Every home game, the FLOCK held an epic (non- alcoholic) tailgate party. (Dancing on the roof, sometimes included.)

You never truly experienced a FLOCK tailgate until you danced on the railing. 

You could say the first tailgate of my senior year was pretty epic. 

There is no better atmosphere than Madison, WI on Game Day! 

We held lots of other events & parties (once again, nonalcoholic :)) our house throughout the year.

My favorite memories, however, include just the time spent with my college roomies!

This picture totally describes the antics of the FLOCK! ;)

That one time we had a Ke$ha party! 

Christmas time at the FLOCK! 

Roommates turned into best friends :)

Graduation day at the FLOCK...

Like I said, dancing on the railing was our thing :)

No matter what, we will always have a bond like none other. 

FLOCK girls at our roommate Sarah's wedding 

If I'm being honest, our house was totally jank (falling apart), we definitely had to catch bats (believe me, I died) & we often had conflict over dirty dishes (passive aggressive white board notes anyone?!), BUT I would not trade a minute of my time spent living in that community.

I totally cried (& laughed) when looking through all these pictures & remembering all the crazy times we had. I realize that a place like the FLOCK is really hard to come by. There were 12 years of God glorifying friendships in that house. Countless Bible studies were held in that living room. That house made an impact for eternity & the fact that I was a small part of it, makes me feel extremely blessed. 

To my fellow FLOCK ladies -- I love you all & am so thankful for the time we lived together! 

Do you have a favorite memory from the FLOCK? Please share!

Click here to read another post my roommate Brynn wrote about the FLOCK after we graduated. 

What are some of your favorite college memories? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Thursday!