mysteries & mercies

Remember when I thought I lost my wallet back in January? That caused quite a load of stress & anxiety. Recap: my wallet went missing, I called & cancelled all my plastic, froze my bank checks, flagged my credit for potential fraud, & prepared to replace my Driver License & temple recommend. Then, miracle of miracles, later that week I found my wallet in my car. Everything was still in it; I had just misplaced it.

I knew at the time that finding my wallet again had been an answer to my stressful, tear-filled prayers.

What I didn't know is that the whole incident of thinking my wallet was lost back in January was an answer to a prayer for strength which I just made last night.

Confused?

Let me explain:

Someone smashed into Clint's car last night. We went hiking up Big Cottonwood Canyon and my purse was in his trunk. No one saw me put it in there - the purse had been stored away before heading up the canyon. So it didn't even occur to me that Clint's car would be targeted for robbery.

We park. Head up the trail. 3 hours pass. We return to the parking lot and something like this comes out of my mouth: "Oh no, did we leave that window down in this rain? ...wait...a second..." As we get closer the millions of shattered glass shards expose the situation for what it is.

Clint's backpack is gone from the back seat. His watch from Papa, his journal, his glasses, an old ipod, his ipod-radio converter. We realize the low-life may have accessed the trunk from the back seat.

We pop open the trunk.

My heart didn't drop, I didn't cry, my stomach didn't lurch. Nothing happened. My eyes fell & rested on the empty trunk.

No purse.

Since then I've made a list of the following inventory. The thief has: my house key, car keys, flash drive containing pictures & original poems, keys to work, debit & credit cards, bank checks, driver's license, health & dental cards, temple recommend, ipod, my LOTR book, cosmetic bags, library cards, prescription pills, & not to mention the purse itself which was one of my favorites.

We knew what to do. Luckily I didn't leave my cell phone in the car, and my first call was to the bank. Closed my card & froze my accounts, right then. The thief had already made $500 in purchases at Ross Stores, Panda Express, & some others; but those charges are being disputed since I was able to confirm the last purchase made by myself.

We drove home as quickly as possible with the rain blowing in through the shattered back window. Hoping. That the thief wouldn't have added up the home address on my driver's license with the car keys to my unattended Neon or heaven forbid the house key. Luckily the violations stopped with what was in Clint's car.

But once home I was still in 'machine' mode. Taking care of business. Calling, calling. I think I've been on the phone nearly non-stop since 8:30 last night. My cards are all cancelled & my credit is flagged for security alert again. I had all the bank paperwork & Customer Service phone numbers at home - ready, organized, handy. Among which was an invaluable bank checklist of what to do & who to call when your IDs are snatched, which I acquired back in January when I only thought I lost it all.

There is more missing this time. More irreplaceable things. Locks & keys must be changed. Money spent. But to me it is quite clear that I would not have been able to take care of business so quickly & efficiently or with such a clear head if I hadn't have gone through all this back in January. Some of what was stolen may be replaced. Certain careless mistakes will never be made again. And I have perspective. It's no use stressing over what can't be controlled. Clint & I are already coming out of this thing okay. We really are.

I don't know why it had to happen to us. Right now. But one mystery I have figured out is that there is a reason.