Issue #20
Spring 2008
Joy in the Journey...the very long journey!
by Carol Taubl
For some of us,
the holidays are a time of nostalgia - looking back to the good old days when
the children were smaller and so were their problems. This year, while in
Tennessee for Christmas with my parents, we took an amazing trip down memory
lane with some of the cutest home movies that you will ever see. Watching
the three girls in their first ever public performance in December, 1992 brought
tears to all our eyes. Annabelle was a five year old, blonde haired cherub
at her teeny tiny harp, and Emily's dimple was an accent to her mischievous
brown eyes. Gretchen, serious as always, had that same golden touch on the
violin that has since moved so many listeners. Then there were the early
days of Jack, precocious and verbal, always shooting at something with whatever
was in his hand. Sam, only two years old when those twins were born, was
always trying to make a statement of some kind, usually with his naughty
behavior. But his adorable smile and doe eyes would bring out the
forgiveness in even the most hardened sibling. And then came the twins - I
got tired just watching those movies. Oh the memories...
But there was one part of this trip that made me
glad that I wasn't ten years younger, and that was the 1100 mile drive each way.
As I sat in the passenger seat of our big white van and heard nothing in the
back but a little light snoring and the muffled sounds of an MP3 player with
headphones attached, I was thankful for the amazing young people that God
has blessed us with. The early days were certainly fun and full of
adventure, but these days are wonderful in so many ways as well. And the
inevitable analogy to life begins....
We started our journey on Sunday morning, after
arriving home around 2am the night before from our exciting concert at Mechanics
Hall. The beginning of the journey was of
course familiar territory, but after a few hours, the scenery changed and we
passed the miles more quickly looking out the windows and imagining what life
must be like in the hills of Appalachia. Some parts of the journey were
exciting, some not so exciting, some filled with anticipation, some down right
dull. But eventually we got where we were going and we quickly forgot the
painful distance.
As the pages turned and we started the chapter of
2008, I must confess a sense of relief that 2007 was over. It was not an
easy year, or a particularly joyful one and there are many unresolved issues
that remain to be righted. But it is all part of the journey.
There are very few things in life that are
completely within our control. I would certainly change a lot of things
about myself if I could, and about others if I could, and about financial
matters if I could. But I can't. So I have to deal with that.
But there is one thing that I can control. And that is my reaction to the
bumps in the road on the journey. Will I be joyful, or will I be angry and
depressed? It is my choice! And what I choose will color the days
and months ahead beyond what is obvious at first glance.
I have always been a person that thinks ahead,
always trying to be extra prepared and on time for every occasion. But the
one downfall to that is that you never really enjoy today, right now, this
precious moment in time. It isn't just about the destination, it is also
about the journey. Our children will grow up and figure out life just as
we did, and if we spend every waking moment of their childhood trying to
carefully guide their way, I fear that we will miss the joy in the journey.
Each section of time should matter, not just in getting us further along, but
also in bringing a smile to a face or a blessing to a hurting soul.
So we survived the long trip, 2200 miles of it,
and we came home refreshed and ready to begin a new year of meaningful moments
and fabulous family time. No matter where you are on your trip, the day
can be glorious or it can be dismal. The choice is yours. Choose
wisely!
(I am just reading a fabulous book by John
Ortberg entitled It All Goes Back in the Box. Ortberg's humorous style
and deep understanding of the human heart have given me much to think about.
I highly recommend it!)
Fall Ball Champs!
There were a few
miracles to report in the fall of 2007, and I know it was the prayers of some
twelve year old twins that might have helped them along. In September,
both James and Jeremiah began attending the pre-college program at the Mannes
Conservatory of Music in New York City. This, like Juilliard Pre-College,
is a Saturday program and it seemed to be a sane and logical thing to have all
the music taking place on Saturday, giving us some semblance of normalcy for the
rest of the week. The twins were very excited at the prospect
of starting such an ambitious program, but there was one dark cloud looming over
the whole thing - the fall baseball schedule!
In the fall, the New Haven Little League combines all their teams to form one
team of all-stars that compete in a league in Branford. James and Jeremiah
have been on this team for two years now, and have really enjoyed it. The
games are only on weekends to avoid school conflicts, and that was always great
until this year. They reluctantly agreed that they would have to miss the
Saturday games this year, and that was fine until the play offs began. We
talked to the powers-that-be at Mannes and they agreed that missing one Saturday
for baseball would be ok. So the weekend of the playoffs came and they
stayed home from New York. Trouble was, the weather didn't cooperate, and
late in the morning (after the New York decision had long since been made), it
began to rain. And shortly there after, the game was postponed until the
following weekend.
There were some really sad faces in our house that week. Everyone
knew that the team's chances of winning the championship would seriously be
diminished by a no-show for the Taubls, but they couldn't possibly miss two
consecutive weeks at Mannes! What were they to do?
We had one hope - was it possible that it might rain out the game again?
We watched the forecast all week and there was little or no chance
for rain on Saturday. But Thursday afternoon, there was talk of a mild
hurricane coming up the coast. And then on Friday, raindrops showed up in
the squares for Friday when the weather guy was doing his predictions! Too
good to be true? Maybe...but the twins kept praying.
Saturday morning dawned and everyone was up early to head off to New York.
There were dry roads as we started heading south on the Merritt Parkway, and
hope was fading fast. About 1 hour into the trip, around 8am, the cell
phone rang with the report that the game had been postponed until Sunday!
People driving by must have wondered why that little Jeep was bouncing around so
on the highway. The boys were ecstatic!
Sunday turned out to be a bright and beautiful day and the twins were up early,
eating a good breakfast and psyching themselves up for a long day of baseball.
They had to win a playoff game first in order to make it to the finals.
That game turned out to be a bit of a nail biter, but they pulled it off.
Jeremiah caught most of the game, but came in as a relief pitcher in the last
inning. The players had a quick bite of lunch between games and then had a
strategy talk with the coaches for the championship game. James would
start on the mound with Jeremiah behind the plate. This had been a winning
combination during the year, and they were going for broke here in the big game.
James pitched the game of his life. He struck out 16 batters, a league
record, and managed to pitch 5 full innings. The team went on to win the
championship game, a first for the New Haven fall ball team. It was quite
a day!
And guess what the name of the hurricane was that miraculously caused the
postponed game...Noel! Funny isn't it?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Miss Van Rooy 2007
When Emily decided that the Hartt School would be her
choice for school this fall, she had her eye on the prize - so to speak.
The Hartt School annually hosts a competition for its undergraduate performance
majors, sponsored by the generous gift of the Van Rooy famiy, for whom the
competition is named. Emily was quite excited at the prospects of entering. The sheer
joy of music, the satisfaction of learning new music, the thrill of sharing with
an audience - and the $10,000 first prize (mostly that) led her through the
grueling days of practice and preparation. Finally the week of the
competition arrived. She had to make it through two preliminary rounds before
she was even eligible for the finals. But that went well, and when they posted
the names of the six finalists, Emily's name was there!
The finals were held on Sunday, November 11. Her
program included a movement of unaccompanied Bach, the first movement of the
Haydn Concerto in C, and the Chopin Polonaise for cello and piano. She was
a nervous wreck as she waited in the wings for her turn to perform, but once she
reached the stage, all that faded away and
and the music took over. It was a magical moment, but then it was time for
the hard part - waiting! There was a nice reception in the foyer at Hartt
while the judges deliberated. While Emily was nervously chatting with
family and friends, many audience members came up to her and assured her that
she was their first choice. That was very nice, but what did the judges think? |
|
After an endless wait, the announcement was made that the
judges were finished and all assembled in the Mallard Auditorium at Hartt.
They first announced
 the three who had not won a prize, and when Emily wasn't
among those, she knew that she had at least captured a place among the top three
(and some prize money!) Third place was named, then second prize and you
guess it...Emily won the top prize! Mayhem ensued as the family and
friends assembled showed their support.
The judges comments were so overwhelmingly
positive and included comparisons to a young Jacqueline du Pre. When the
festivities were finally over, the conductor of the Hartford Symphony came to
congratulate her personally and offer her a solo performance with the orchestra.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the whole experience was the fact that Emily
had not really practiced or competed since leaving Yale in 2005 and wasn't sure
that cello was even in her future. Truly, God had a different plan, and as
with all his statements of direction, He ended this one with an exclamation
point! Check out the
New York Times article featuring Emily and her
Van Rooy win. It was in the December 9 edition. |
Celtic Eventide
The latest Discovery House project featuring the Taubls has recently been
released, and if you like beautiful hymns performed in a Celtic style, you will
love it! The girls recorded part of it in Prague last spring, and then finished
it in Nashville this past summer. Some of the highlights of the recording
are Gretchen's fiddle version of 'My Jesus I Love Thee,' Annabelle's hauntingly
beautiful chant of Psalm 91:1 'He who dwells in the secret place...', and
Emily's 'Be Thou My Vision.' There is much more to be enjoyed and you can obtain
a copy by visiting the
Discovery House website.
The video of the project, recorded at
St. Clements
Castle is also available. Check the
RBC website
for more information.
Don't
miss it!
The Taubl Family and Trinity Choir
June 29
at 6pm
No
tickets required - Free will offering will be taken.
|
