GOD'S ORCHESTRATION MAKES BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

My day started out usual with some expectations. By 10:00 pm Paul would be home and the Goebel Family would be complete again! Well, the first call came at 11:15 am when Jamie said that Paul was already at the Columbia airport and had been bumped up to an earlier flight. There was no guarantee that he could get an earlier flight out of Charlotte but she just wanted to put us on standby.

Tollie came home for lunch and we left as usual to go work. On the ride to work, Paul called to say that Jamie’s work phone was on the blitz again and he would call me to let me know if he got on the flight. He was second in line so he just didn’t know. There was a good possibility that if he got on the flight, his luggage would not make that flight!

At work, I checked my e-mails and made sure I e-mailed Jamie to let her know I had been in contact with Paul and he knew about the phone situation and would be calling me. I would let her know. Dad and I should be able to take off work earlier, much earlier than we planned.

I was working along, doing my usual thing, and I hear from Paul, “I made the flight. We are off.” I immediately e-mailed Jamie. It was 1:45 and he would arrive in Houston Intercontinental at 4:36. That meant she would need to get my e-mail, leave work, pick up Ashton and Emma from their classes at school, go to her house, leave her car and grab the stuff to make signs. We would drive the 25 minutes to Sour Lake, pick them up, head to Houston that usually takes about an hour and 45 minutes to the airport. Then we would park, walk to the baggage claim and we might get there about the same time! Whew! We would try!

I told my boss my situation and he understood. I would work tomorrow to get out a letter he needed to go this week. No Problem! Tollie’s office is right down the hall from mine and I ran to see, was he ready? No. He had just ordered a computer online with Dell and was waiting on the call for them “to pick up the inventory.” He was frantically doing what had to be done. I went back to my computer and printed out the flight status to get the terminal and gate numbers. Sure enough, it showed flight status as “departed” and arrival into Houston at 4:26.....ten minutes early!

I went back to Tollie’s office. He had to tell his boss, who was eating lunch with his family, we would need to leave early. We explained our situation and as we were ready to depart, my boss (the father of Tollie’s boss) started telling us a story. We politely stayed there and listened to it and then quickly made our exit. When we got to the van, Tollie immediately pronounced we were never going to make it in time.

We needed to contact Jamie and suggest to her that we pick up the girls and she go to the house and get the sign making stuff. I assured him she was probably already getting the girls and we would make it in time! There were just so many “ifs.” If she got the e-mail, if she did that, or that! I called Jamie on her cell and sure enough, no answer. Could I even be certain she had gotten my e-mail? Maybe there had been an emergency with a student and when we got to Sour Lake we would not only need to pick up the girls, but first go to Jamie’s school to get her! My mind was running ahead and I was getting dizzy! But I still knew we would make it in time! How? Don’t know that answer. Just knew.

About half way to Sour Lake, Jamie calls and tells me she already has the girls and is on her way to the house. Where were we? Were we at the house already? No, well we will meet there. Got to Jamie’s house, everybody peed, picked up water bottles and sign making stuff and loaded the van. We are off. It is 2:15 and we will barely make it in time, but we should make it.

On our way to load up the van, Ashton said, “This is the greatest day!” She was all smiles!

We left Sour Lake and I promise I did not speed. Well, not more than my usual 4 miles over the speed limit! We were getting closer, through Liberty, now through Dayton! The girls are so excited. They are almost finished with the poster. Ughhh, Emma is getting car sick, better stop drawing. Where are we now? Are we still in Beaumont? No, oh I see an airplane. Could that be his? No, not yet. It was great to hear the chatter going on in the back of the van between the girls!

We make it to Atascosita and I make the turn south toward the airport. Thank you, Lord! We are at the airport! Now! Where to park? We watch the signs and fortunately already know the terminal and gate number. Good thing! None of us saw “U.S. Airway” on the signs at the entrance. We would not have known which terminal!

Parking in my large van is always scary in those parking garages. There never seems to be enough space between the roof of my van and the garage structure! But we squeeze by. No parking down that aisle, none down that one. Ohhhhh, there is one. We park. Emma says, “I’m feeling funny in my stomach.” I think it is just the excitement of seeing her daddy. Ashton repeats that this is one of the best days of her life!

We ride the escalator up to the ticket counters. We have heard that they might let us go to the gate if we ask. Jamie finds the first bathroom and takes Emma. She is fine. Right across from the bathroom is the US Airway ticket counter. Tollie, Ashton and I are waiting for Jamie with the signs. A gentleman walks past and sees the sign. He asked Ashton if she made the sign. She tells him her daddy is coming home. I suddenly realize he has a US Airway badge and boldly ask him, “who do we see to ask about going to the gate for her daddy’s arrival? He is in the military.” He asks me where he is flying from. I give him the flight number and town. He starts his keyboard pecking. He is asking for our ID’s. I run to the bathroom to get Jamie’s. He is writing on a boarding pass, GATE PASS ONLY. While writing on these three boarding tickets, he is telling us that this is highly unorthodox. He hopes they will let him do this. He suggests we lay low, find a quiet spot and when we hug and kiss him, make sure it is out of the way of the other passengers! Then hand us the passes “Now, get out of here, before I cry.”

We are on our way to the gate and stand in line for the inspection. I notice that our “boarding pass” has our name printed on it, but we are heading to Las Vegas through Phoenix? The first lady looks at the boarding pass with a quizzical expression. I explain we would like to meet their daddy arriving. He is military. She sees our signs. She broadly smiles and says thank you, putting her initial on the pass. We take off our shoes, put them in the buckets and let them pass through the x-ray machine. Tollie has the camera, shoes, wallet, Carmex, keys, three thumb drives to put in a bucket and is behind all of us girls. I walk through, Ashton, Emma, Jamie......Dad forgot to take his belt off. He has to go back and start over. We have made it through, got our shoes on and watching for him to come through. I get his stuff-- the camera, shoes, wallet, Carmex, three thumb drives and keys. He finally makes it through and has to get on his belt and shoes and re-stuff his pockets. I comment to no one in particular, “it is a sign of our times that we have to undress to get through the airport” and sigh!

We have plenty of time. It is only 4 pm and his plane should land at 4:26. We are through inspection and gliding our way to gate A19. We find seats right across from the gate entrance! How cool is that?

As we wait, several see our signs and smile. The girls are antsy and excited. Jamie tells us that if Paul calls, we will tell him we are waiting in the baggage area. Sure enough, Paul calls Jamie’s cell. The plane has landed and they are taxiing to the gate. Jamie sits there and tells Paul we are waiting in the baggage area. When she hangs up, I say, “liar, liar, catch on fire.” We all giggle!

Tollie starts to video all us girls with the signs and a young man offers to take the video and get Pops in as well. Pops hands over the video and we all smile for the camera.....while watching the door. More people come off. He is coming? More people come off. I tell Jamie that he is probably on the last seat as he was probably the last one on the plane. Dad says he sees him. Paul spots Jamie. I can tell because a big grin spreads on his face and tears start to pour. Jamie contains herself and waits for him to pass all the other people and come to us. They embrace and then the girls grab their daddy by his legs. It is a special moment. One to remember -- one to cherish. They are a complete family again. We all hug and kiss and I have to say I am a little disappointed that he does not have on his fatigues. The army did not want him traveling in his fatigues for his safety! There are too many against the war!

Many in the crowd realize he is probably military and smile and watch the drama unfold but it was not the cheering homecoming I was hoping for. All in all, a very emotional time anyway. In fact the young man, who offered to take the video camera, told Paul a little later, “Thank You.”

As we were standing outside the bathrooms again....Paul this time!........Ashton begins to cry uncontrollably. I embrace her and we all let her know she can cry all she wants. She has held in her emotions for so long, she just cannot contain them anymore. She is crying and trying to say at the same time, “I just missed my daddy so much. I am glad he is home.”

We walk to the baggage area, hoping his bags made it and sure enough, some of the first to come out of the tunnel! Wow, thank you again, Lord. My only regret is that we did not go back by the US Airway counter and thank the man for letting us go back to the gate.

Tollie and I are in bed by 10pm. And let me tell you, God’s orchestration made some beautiful music today.

Sorry the video does not have sound, technical problem! But you will get the gist of happy homecoming!

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Tollie, my husband, friend, lover and companion of almost 38 years is off to Russia. Individuals in our con-gregation support children in an orphanage in Sharya, Russia (near Kostroma, northeast of Moscow) through the Hope Chest organization. Hope Chest has told us that we are one of a few churches that support a whole orphanage, especially for the size we are. There are about 26 children in the home and nearly all of them are supported by someone in our congregation or has been associated with our congregation in the past. So….every year, we send a team over to interact and work with the children.

Russia has too many orphans. Each year there are over 40,000 orphans added to the orphanages. There are many reasons for this but often the reason is simple economics. A parent or parents cannot afford to house and keep their child and therefore they become a ward of the state. It is sad and many of these children are not true orphans but are bunched in that group. Hope Chest now runs about 40 orphanages, helping approximately 2400 orphans. The children range in age of pre-school of about 4 or 5 to about 15. When they turn 15 or 16 they are sent to a Resource Center in the town of Kostroma (for our orphanage, this is the place they go to) to learn skills and living independently. Otherwise, they would be turned out on the street and become drug addicts and prostitutes. Hope Chest is trying to change the life of the child to be independent and able to make a living. That is why sponsorship is so important to these children. But sponsorship only takes care of their physical needs and that is why we send a team to interact with these children. We hope to help their spiritual and emotional well being also and give them the ability to deal with life in those terms.

It is the responsibility of each team member going to Russia to raise their funds for travel. Unfortunately, this year, the costs of the land package is more and now it costs each individual about 2800$ to travel to Russia. Tollie has raised almost half of his support and is working on the other half. If God places it on your heart to help these orphans in a special way, you may send money to Christ Covenant Church, 6390 N Major Drive, Beaumont, Texas 77713 and indicate it is for Tollie Corder. I know you can pray for these orphans and please pray for the team traveling in March to touch the lives of these kids.

While my love is gone to Russia, I am planning to travel to Bethany, Missouri to spend the same amount of time with our baby daughter, Mindy. I arranged my flights to correspond with the Russia team so that I can travel to Houston with them and back to Beaumont. Tollie and I will be apart for over a week and I have a birthday in that time frame as well. So, please pray for us as we are apart. The only reason I can stand for us to go in different directions is my love for him and these kids, and my daughter!

I am looking forward to spending this lengthy time with Mindy and Trent. Mindy is planning to take a day off work and I plan to take some hand work with me and spend time cooking and enjoying Bethany and the surrounding area. Also, Mindy plans for us to attend a Women of Faith Conference in Omaha, Nebraska while I am there. I have never attended one, nor has she and we both are looking forward to this time of worship and fellowship with sisters in Christ. I am also excited as I have never been to Nebraska and that area of the country. I am already impressed with the beauty of Northern Missouri……as a place to visit! I am trying to pack for the 30 to 40 degree high days and of course lower at night temps. That will be hard to deal with as I am already enjoying 60 and 70 degree highs here and putting in our garden already! No planting there for another month or so! How do you pack coats, sweaters, handwork you are working on and gifts, all in one suitcase? I am trying though.

I hope your Spring time is going well and you are enjoying the Son at EASTER!