I Lost My Car

The title of this post might be more accurate if I said: "My Car was Viciously Stolen From Me" but that seemed too long. Either way you say it though: the fact remains - my car is no longer in my possession. It was the weirdest thing in the world. I woke up that morning doing really great! I was really on top of things - I remembered some random things I wanted to take to work, I was up early enough to take the trash out to the curb, and I was all set to be ON TIME FOR WORK. I walked outside and didn't see my car. I walked further outside to see if I had just parked it in a new place... Nope... Then I called my mom... I think I said something like "Mom I can't find my car..." as if I had just misplaced it or something. Then I called the tow-company that patrols my complex, my mom, the police, my mom, my insurance company, then my mom, and then my mom again, and again, and again.

FAQs: (by insurance and people curious in my story):

• What happened to your car? It's gone.
• When did you last see it? 11:30 p.m. on 9/29
• When did you notice it was gone? 7:15 a.m. on 9/30
• Where was it(was it in the ghetto)? It was in the exact some place I have parked it for the last 6 months that I have lived here. 
• Does your complex have cameras? Nope - and no gate either. 
• Did you lock your car? I always lock my car. Always. But I can't remember specifically locking it that night. Hopefully habit took over.
• Did you have anything inside it? My Garmin. My mace. My jumper cables. My Reba McIntire tape. 
• Did you have the keys with you? Yes. All keys I have for that car are in my possession. Dirty rotten scumbags apparently know how to hot-wire a car.

The thing I tried to do right away was look for the blessings in this situation. This is something I think I learned to do the last time I thought I couldn't cope with something hard (my transmission going out a month a go, loosing the keys to someone else's car and my own work keys - if nothing else Houston has taught me to be resilient). I've keeping a mental list, but even though it's been less then a week since the incident the list is already fading from my mind, so I'm recording it here with you now.

BLESSINGS OF HAVING YOUR CAR STOLEN

• Insurance. I can't say this one enough. I'm not all done dealing with them yet, but so far I've been soooooo impressed with Geico. I called them they took all my information - and had a rental that they are paying for already for me to go by the time I got off the phone. I can't get over what an amazing blessing insurance is! I'm soo glad I got it - even though right before my car was stolen I was thinking how maybe I overpaid and maybe I need to adjust my coverage -- never again folks - it's just soooo worth it.
• NOT HAVING MY IDENTITY STOLEN. I've been running after work and one week before my car was stolen I had my social security card AND birth certificate all hidden in my car at a park because I was going to get my passport on my lunch break. I thankfully had all those things removed on the night it was gone. My identity is still in tact! 
• Not having my license stolen! When I go to that park to run - I always hide my license, phone, and wallet in three different places so in case my car is broken into I'll still have at least one part of my life still - smart right?? BUT because the place I had my license is sooo sneaky I had been leaving it in there. Then last week sometime I said to myself (or more likely the Spirit whispered to me)- I should put that back in my wallet and I did! So my license is till with me.
• Answered Prayers/LOVE! I had been thinking this week that I would like to more fully understand the love God has for me. I'd been feeling a little far from Heavenly Father and I prayed for that very thing. Little did I know that that outpouring of love would come because of my car getting stolen. But honestly everyone's kindness and love made what should have been an awful no good horrible terrible day one of the best days I've had in a long time. EVERYBODY WAS SO NICE. Everyone in my family called/texted/prayed and cared about me that day (except Todd of course). It was amazing. I felt soooo blessed to be surrounded by sooo many wonderful people.  I felt soo loved and so taken care of. It was just such a great out-pouring of love that after the initial shock and after I'd done everything I could have done - I was actually feeling really good. I mean there's only so much you can do. The thing happened and then it's over and then you have to move forward. I just got to move forward surrounded by the best people in the world. 
• "I still have my legs!" The day my car was stolen, I was talking to my dad. I wanted to go for a quick run and that's what I said to my dad as I was getting off the phone - I may not have my car, but I can still get around! I'm really glad that I got my car stolen -- while I wasn't anywhere near it -- so that I can continue to be safe and have all my body parts!

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as blessing go, but I wanted to get the major ones down! Since it is Sunday I also wanted to say that I feel that lots of these blessings are related to the tithing. I studied a talk in Institute about a year ago that talked about the compensatory blessings of obedience to different laws. The idea is that you may not be blessed in the way you think (i.e. more money you think you need), but in the ways that the Lord sees fit (i.e. you are able to mange the money you already have).  I feel very blessed in ways that I didn't expect and I feel that the Lord's hand is in those blessings!