"Hallelujah, For All You've Done"

What a hard, wonderful, tortuous morning.
Thursday Bro. Mike and his family will leave for their new roles as over-seas missionaries. Since this was his last Sunday, he asked if our youth music group would lead the music service this morning so he could see and hear us together one more time.
It was also our last time to play together as the group we are - Austin, Archer, Julia, Simon, Law, and me. This is Archer's last week-end home before leaving for university this week.


I took my little camera, two memory cards, and my tripod, and set it up to try to video this bit of our history. I was going to get Trissy to run it, but Ava saw me setting up and offered to do it, since she sits closer to the front than my family does, and might could get a better/closer video. Sweet Ava. I gladly accepted.

As Sunday School was letting out and people were beginning to fill up the auditorium, Austin, me, Archer, Law, and Simon (Julia had gone to get or do something, I don't remember what) gathered in a little circle over in the left-hand corner of the stage before the service began. Before having prayer together as we always try to do before we play, dear Austin spoke to us for a moment, charging us with the importance of what we were fixing to do. Not only were we to play, as is always the goal, for the glory of our God, but today we were also honoring Bro. Mike, who'd stood by us and poured so much of himself into the youth of the church, and Archer who, with Austin, had co-led the group and who'd been with us so long and who now was moving on. This would be our last time to play together. "This is for Bro. Mike and Archer. Let's play our hearts out."
And I think we did.

The songs we did were a reflection of our history together - perhaps unintentionally, but I noticed it later - and fitting for the occasion. 
"I Saw The Light", a wonderful toe-tapping spiritual,
"For All You've Done", praising the Lord for His goodness and kindness,
"Beneath The Waters", proclaiming our faith in God and telling the story of our salvation,
"10,000 Reasons", praising God for His goodness in the past and asking for His grace to serve Him in the future, and the
"Revelation Song", simply worshiping our awesome Lord. Also, Austin had sung the "Revelation Song" on the Sunday before he left for an almost-year-long mission trip in a dangerous over-seas country, three and a half years ago. This is the Sunday before Bro. Mike's family leaves for an over-seas mission field.
For the 'invitation song' after Bro. Earl preached, we did
"Sometimes", which is simply a cry from a weak human heart, admitting fear, yet expressing a joyful abandon to the whirlwind of God's plans. One of the lines is "Where You go, we will follow, oh, God send me!". Pretty fitting I thought.
For the 'leaving song' as some of them call it (when the service has been dismissed, and the musicians just play a little bit as people begin leaving or milling around talking to each other), we did one that some of us really like and others of us really don't, but it sounds good and it's fun to play :) .

So, a variety of our favorites, gathered from our months together, and a last tribute to those who've encouraged us, to each other, and to God Who put us together and blessed us with this time of our lives.

Austin had said, "Let's play our hearts out. This is for Bro. Mike and Archer." And Archer, in his characteristic mix of kindness and matter-of-fact cheekiness, stated, "But for Jesus mostly."

Amen. Always.