VULNERABLE

A few weeks ago our church was robbed. In the middle of morning service, thieves came in and stole all the monies from the giving boxes in the hallways. Those of us who had checks stolen were advised to close the accounts and open new ones. We went through that process...getting new checks, canceling auto debits from ins. companies and the like, applying for new ATM/debit cards. That was two weeks ago, and our new materials just arrived today.

I was thinking we had things under control when our pastor mentioned that the sheriff had mentioned that we might be vulnerable to robberies since the thieves had our names and addresses, and knew where we were on Sunday mornings. I needed to hear that like a hole in the head.

So today I am trying to do what I can to safeguard some items....I can stash the better jewelry, credit cards, a bit of cash...but in reality, it seems kind of futile. I know the "pros" can think of any place "I" can. I can lock up pertinent personal information in a filing cabinet...but is it really break-in proof? We have a small fire-safe lock box, and that could be carried away. Where do I put all the boxes of financial records, payroll records, investment records that won't fit into the "locked" filing cabinet? If someone wanted to steal one's identity, it wouldn't be too hard. How does one lock up and protect one's life?

I don't like feeling vulnerable, but I'm not going to worry about it too much. What happens, happens, and if so, you deal with the mess it will create and start over. This has been a wake up call. It certainly has me thinking of things we can change....and we'll be doing a few things differently.