eric, nick, luke and spence...thanks for the memories

i have already had a soda and two cups of coffee and i'm just about to start on another diet coke and it's just 9am. yes my friends, i am that tired. last night i stayed at church until midnight - brilliant since i get up for work at 5am. but i had to say goodbye to my good friends, future of forestry, before they headed out into the world of full time touring and doing that rock band thing. i'm so proud of them and who they are, where they've come from, and where they're going. but last night as i was sitting listening to eric's voice leading out and the church singing along for the last time, i was so dang sad. i tried to make it a memory, to capture it and lock it away so i wouldn't ever forget it. but i know that i'll never hear 'oceans' again. they wrote that for us and they won't record it. we won't be dancing to 'palibe' on easter or making faces at luke so he laughs and then has to turn around so no one can see that the bass player is cracking up at girls making the weird faces in the third row. nick won't be there looking like he's intently worshipping in some weird way when it's actually that he's playing his theramin. there won't be any more frozen over snowboarding adventures with spence, or laughing with the small asian man with blond hair riding a horse at crew retreat. i am so thankful for those memories though! and i am so thankful that these great guys are not just my worship leaders, but rather my friends. and i'll be seeing them all again soon enough. at the very least, luke is stuck with me since he and kat live within walking distance. but still, last night was the end of an era, and i'm sad to see this change happen. change is often less than fun, and this is no different.
and so, luke, nick, eric and spence, thanks for your friendship, your worship leading skills, for helping to make flood what it is, and for 5 years of living life together. it's been SO great and you guys are SO awesome. but if you think i'm going to start paying to see you guys now, think again. but i will totally help sell merch anytime you need it. :)