Apparently we really do live in a big city

After a wonderful temple session last night, I came out to find my car window broken and my purse stolen. AAAAA!! It took a few moments for me to take in this information, but then I was fairly emotional and upset. The good news (there is a lot of it) is that my wallet wasn't in it, but was with me. So they didn't get anything except my cell phone, a little bit of change, a few grocery store cards, and some stamps. Unfortunately, I also had one check in there, so they have access to our bank account. Mine was not the only car they broke in to: apparently there were at least four others. Steve talked to the police and the temple president for a little while, and they thought it might be some organized crime. I did file a police report, but I doubt I'll get any of the stuff back.

So, Steve and I spent the morning trying to clean up the mess. We went to the bank, canceled that account and opened a new one, went to the T-Mobile store to buy a new cell phone (which, fortunately, I was able to get the exact same phone for free!), called the Auto Glass people to replace my windshield, and then sat down to count our blessings.

Our blessings:
1) My wallet was not in the car. I still have my ID, my recommend, my library card, and my debit card.
2) We were able to get a new phone for free, due to the upgrade process.
3) I wasn't hurt in any way, nor was there any additional damage to my car.
4) The Auto Glass company is coming to our house to fix the car, which means we don't have to drive it anywhere with no window.
5) They only took my purse, leaving an Mp3 player, a violin, and various nonvaluable items alone. I am especially grateful that they left the violin, as that would be much more difficult to replace than my purse!

The moral of the story is, don't leave your purse in your car, even when at the temple. Also, I am going to need everyone's phone numbers again, since I always forget to back up my contacts list onto the computer. Grrr.

It's raining in Ohio . . . so what else is new?

So I realize it has been almost two months since I've updated this blog. That's pathetic. That's about how often I've been writing in my journal too, which is also sad. You'd think, with how busy I am most of the time, I would find more to blog about, but somehow I don't.

Today we learned about the tender mercies of the Lord, and I would like to share a couple. The flowers in the above picture were given to me by my wonderful husband (who has always been a tender mercy). Last Wednesday was a rough day in the Yerka household. We received some fairly bad news that made us both quite sad. However, the Lord loves us and he takes care of us, and somehow, even though we were sad all day Wednesday, when we woke up on Thursday, everything was okay. Not that things had changed, exactly, but our hearts were filled with peace. And then Steve brought flowers to my work, and made my whole day. I love flowers! Especially ones that come with great amounts of love.

Riley is another tender mercy. She and her family have been such good friends to me. She was my first piano student here, and very talented. Here she is, dressed up for mismatched day. I especially love the two kinds of stockings she is wearing.

This is a blanket I made for Steve's mother, my wonderful mother-in-law. I actually finished it on the Thursday of Peace (see above), and it was so wonderful to use my peaceful, spiritual feeling to do something good for Mom. I love her so much, and she is such a tender mercy in my life. Being able to serve her makes me so happy, it added to the peace I was already feeling. Even if Kiley beat me to it!

The Lord takes such good care of us. Even though my life hasn't been turning out exactly how I wanted or expected, he has let me know we're in the right place, doing the right thing. He has put us in the Marble Cliff ward, where we have made some wonderful friends. People take such good care of us, even when we sometimes feel lonely or depressed. I wish everyone could feel the happiness and peace that I have felt for the last three days, even with all the trials that I have had. I encourage all of you to turn to the Lord no matter what you are going through. I have tried it both ways, but this way is better. (Hopefully I'll remember that the next time I choose the other way.) Love to all!