A couple days ago I got a called from CootieGirl. Except it was CootieBoy on CG’s phone.
“Why are you calling me from CG’s phone?” I asked.
“Well, funny story. I lost my phone at school today.”
Clearly his definition of “funny” differs from mine.
He went on to explain that getting off the bus at school that morning he put it in his backpack but didn’t zip up the pocket zipper. Then at the end of the school day he went to pull it out of the pocket and it wasn’t there. So it could have been lost (or stolen) at any point during the school day since his school doesn’t have lockers and requires students to carry their backpacks all day long.
The main reason I didn’t yell or panic or lecture? I knew I had insured his phone and could get a free replacement (after deductible, of course).
We tried the “Find My Phone” option for iPhones, but because he didn’t have that function turned on, we had no luck. I contacted AT&T directly to see if they could track it, but because we were not using AT&T Family Map, they could not see his phone either. At that point, all we could hope and pray for was that someone would find the phone and turn it in to the school’s lost and found.
Yesterday while at work, I was sitting at my desk around 9:00 a.m. (long after school started) and thought about the phone, and lifted up a very quick 15-second prayer. “Lord, I know it’s late in the morning but I pray that CB can find his phone.”
About a minute later I got a call from a weird number I didn’t recognized, but picked it up anyway.
“This is CootieBoy,” he said. “I found my phone. Someone turned it into Lost & Found.”
“Hallelujah! That’s amazing! I’m so glad!”
A little bit later I got a call from a strange number but didn’t answer before it went to voicemail. A few minutes later when I went to check the voicemail, it was from our accountant letting us know our tax returns were done and ready for pick up.
I called to ask if we were getting a refund, but after the first ring of the phone, I hung up. “Lord, you were so faithful to CB, I am going to trust you’ll be generous with us a second time.”
Denis and I have been trying to figure out what our tax situation would be for 2018’s returns. Last year we got a HUGE refund – crazy high – because we did some meddling and increased how much we were taking out in taxes AND it was a wonky year due to him getting laid off. But this time around, we had no idea. In 2018 we both started new jobs, I cashed out a very small 457b that as not worth keeping (but as a safeguard I had a lot more taxes taken out than necessary), and I even got some $$ from my old job even though my last day was officially December 29.
There was no telling, really. In 2016 we owed a couple thousand. In 2017 I seem to recall it was nearly a wash – we owed in Federal taxes as much as we got refunded from NC. In 2018 we got the massive refund. There was no telling what this year’s results would be – but we were secretly hoping for a modest refund. Enough to pay for a new power washer. Or enough to maybe cover a weekend away with the kids this summer. Or maybe enough to buy a new sofa since the $75 used sofa I bought at the end of 2017 was really worth about, well, $75 (it was all we could afford at the time and was in decent shape – but it was a cheap sofa NOT built for 2 humans and a dog to sit on it every single night).
In talking about our expectations, at some point recently Denis said he thought we’d owe about a grand, and I was optimistic and said we’d only owe $500. But my secret prayer was that we’d get a refund of some kind – but if we owed, I was okay with that too because I knew that God would provide any funds we might need.
In the end I arrived at our accountant’s office and sat in the chair with baited breath.
“I have good news,” she said. “You are getting a refund from both Federal and state.”
Thank you, God, I prayed under my breath. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
