Violated - Part 3

Unfortunately, the police did not catch him. But even if they had, they could only charge him with criminal trespassing. Big deal. The police questioned both of us. And did a sweep of our house and yard. They weren't there very long, maybe a half hour. Thankfully, the kids slept through the entire thing. Praise God! They still don't have a clue that any of this happened, so please don't tell your own children if they have contact with mine! I don't think Ryan would be able to sleep at night, knowing that this happened.

After the police left, I put my face in my hands and cried into Tripp's chest. I hadn't cried yet. He just hugged me and kept saying he was so sorry.

We figured out that he hopped the fence by our RV gate. There is a two foot raised planter box right there, that would give easy leverage to hop the fence. He then removed the clips on the gate and opened it so he would have an easy escape.

We sat down and talked. I said, "what in the world was he after? He knows we're awake, all these lights are on, he isn't armed. What was he doing in our house?" Tripp said, "Honey, if he followed you home, he probably wanted to see if you were alone. He was after you."

I don't know why I hadn't thought of this until Tripp said it. My stomach did a flip flop and my whole perspective changed. Being violated like that is one of my worst nightmares. It's right up there with someone taking my kids. We continued to rehash the night's events and then I remembered the squeaky sound I'd heard just before he came into our house. That sound was him opening the RV gate!

Tripp and searched for scripture to ease our fears. We also called friends who could pray for us. We knew we wouldn't be getting much sleep this night. When we finally did head for bed (we were inseparable the whole time, even while Tripp showered, I sat just outside the bathroom, on the phone with my friend), it was about 1:30am. We prayed and left lights on. We cuddled together, I needed to be touching him at all times. Tripp eventually fell asleep but I layed there, wide awake, most of the night. I may have drifted off for a few minutes here and there.

I couldn't wait for the sun to come up. When it finally began to light up the sky, around 5am, I finally felt a tad bit better.

We spent the next few days together as a family. We were apart very little. Tripp was able to take work off on Saturday, which I was so thankful for.

We went to Home Depot to price out security screen doors and a new front door. We got locks for our gates and extra locks for our sliding door. We went to Cabella's to price tasers but the salesperson discouraged those as protection because if the probe you shoot misses, you're out of luck. You have to reload a new cartridge every time it's used. She reccomended a hand gun. I don't know how I feel about having a gun. I've always been against it. But there is a place here that offers free shooting for women so we will go so I can try it out.

We also talked about getting a dog. And tomorrow, we have someone coming to talk to us about installing a home security system. Along with taking measures to physically secure our home, we are having people from our church come and pray over our home for spiritual security.

I don't know when I will be able to sleep alone in my house without Tripp. The thought of it makes my stomach do a flip flop. He's working today, but the kids and I are having a sleep over at my in-laws' house. Not sure what we'll do on Friday when Tripp is supposed to work again.

So if you are a person who believes in the power of prayer, please pray for us! Pray that my fears would subside and that I could feel safe and secure in my own home again. Pray what my friend Carrie's husband prayed for us, that this man would forget that he was ever in our neighborhood. That he would never try to seek it out again. That his mind would be wiped clean of the memory of where I live. Also, pray that because his plans were thwarted, that maybe he'd let God get in and change his heart. That he would realize that he has a problem and needs help.

Like I said in the beginning, Satan meant this event for evil, but I will do everything I can to give God all the glory in this situation. There will be good to come out of this.