A Quiet Life

I once heard a story of an elderly lady commenting, on the saying  "God doesn't give us more than we can stand" with the reply, "Nope, but sometimes He sure can bend ya double."  I had a good chuckle and didn't give it further thought.

While I don't want this blog (still dislike that word) to become a place of moaning and groaning, I feel  I must share recent events as a cautionary tale.

Due to my husband's crazy work schedule we had H & R Block do our taxes this year.  They were wonderful to work with and I highly recommend them based on the service they rendered us.  We scheduled a time to come in and sign everything and have our taxes electronically filed....all went well.  However, there was one little question  needing to be  answered and it was recommended  we call the IRS directly.  I still feel ill just thinking about that phone call.

As expected, my husband had to go through a verification process before the IRS agent would speak to him.  It was during this process that we discovered our identity had been stolen.....and the people who stole it had filed our taxes back in March!  I immediately felt sick.  What information did they have?  Obviously, Paul's social security number, but did they have mine?  What about my children's?  Our oldest will be 18 this December, would he have pre-made debt waiting for him?  I'm so careful with our information, how could this happen?

We filed an affidavit with the IRS, a police report in our hometown, filed reports with all three credit reporting agencies, filed a report with our bank and credit card company, etc...  Now we sit here and wait.  The waiting is the hardest part, but I know there is nothing I can do at this time.  How could this have happened?  I never give out personal information, I shred everything, and  we keep the security updated on our computers.  We don't know how they got our information, but they got it nonetheless.

I wish I had words of wisdom for this situation.  I have nothing; nothing, but a desire to return to a quiet life.

Prayer by George Frederic Watts (1817-1904)

"Mid all the traffic of the way,

Turmoil without, within;

Make of my heart a quiet place, 

And come and dwell therein."

~ Unknown