I've always been fascinated with the paranormal, but as a Christian, I am very careful not to venture into the dark side. I have never wanted to open the door to anything that might be associated with evil. Unfortunately, not everyone shares my commitment. I learned that, even though I was a believer, and we were a Christian family, evil is very powerful and no one is ever completely safe.

A few weeks ago, my son, Cam, had a friend over for the weekend. It was early June in California so the nights were still fairly cool. Cam and Mike pitched a tent in the back yard and hauled sleeping bags, hot rod magazines, and video games outside and put them in the tent. Cam ran an extension cord to the patio and hooked up his Xbox, and the television that we kept in the den. After dinner, we watched a movie, then everyone got ready for bed. The boys headed out to the back yard for their campout. I checked on them throughout the evening. I could see the flickering of light from the video game until well after midnight. They went to sleep long after I dozed off.

The next morning, I called the boys in for breakfast. I smiled as they slowly crawled out of the tent and dragged themselves to the back door. I expected them to be tired after staying up most of the night, but, as everyone took their places around the table, something didn't feel right. We asked blessing over our meal and started to eat. Everyone was talking and laughing, except Mike and Cam. I listened to my eight year old twin daughters as they argued over which Disney movie had the prettiest princess, and my husband and our other two boys as they discussed their upcoming fishing trip. But Cam and Mike were quiet, and they barely touched their food. I couldn't remember the last time Cam didn't dive into a stack of pancakes.

After breakfast, everyone helped to clean up and the boys headed out to the back yard. My jaw dropped when I saw them taking the tent down and folding it up. When they came back inside, I asked Cam if something was wrong; he smiled and said everything was fine. I asked him why they had taken the tent down and he said they had decided to sleep inside that night. I decided to let it go for the moment and talk to him later.

After church, on Sunday, we took Mike home. I finally had the chance to talk to Cam. I asked him what had happened between him and Mike and he said they had argued over a game. He said it was no big deal and they were fine, that I had nothing to worry about. Cam seemed happy and back to his normal self by the time we got home, so I didn't push it. After lunch, John went outside with the kids and I headed for the den. I loved having my kids home in the summer, but I had the tendency to spend time with them and put important things off, like paying bills. A little peace and quiet should have me caught up, and in the back yard, in no time. I sat down and switched on the computer, getting our "unpaid bills" folder out while I waited for the computer to come to life. I logged onto our bank and got to work. As I scrolled down the page, making sure everything looked correct, something caught my eye. There was a grayish splotch at the top, right hand corner of the screen. At first, I thought something was wrong with the monitor, but as I looked closer, it disappeared. Chills ran down my spine and I felt like I couldn't log off and get out of the den fast enough. As I sat outside with my family, a few minutes later. I laughed at myself for being so ridiculous. Whatever it was certainly shouldn't have given me the creeps. I really needed to stop reading books on the paranormal.

That night, I found it difficult to sleep. When I did sleep, I had horrible nightmares that someone was taking my children. In the middle of the night, I awoke to a strange scratching sound coming from the foot of the bed. I rolled my eyes and climbed down to the foot of the bed, expecting to see our 110 pound German Shepherd, Max, scratching himself too close to the bed again. I looked over the edge of the bed but nothing was there. I crawled back into bed and, just as I started to lie down, I saw red eyes, staring at me from inside our bathroom. I jumped back and screamed, waking my husband. When I told John what I had seen, he got up and checked out the bathroom, but nothing was there. About that time, Max came into our room from the hallway. John insisted that he had found the culprit, saying that Max had probably been patrolling in the bathroom and the nightlight reflected off his eyes, making them look red. Happy with his rationalization, he climbed back into bed, and before his head hit the pillow, he was snoring. Being married to a civil engineer could be fascinating, but there was no arguing with the fact that they were rational thinkers, and in their black and white minds, there was a logical explanation for everything. As I lay there, staring at the ceiling, I felt something cold and wet touch my arm and I about jumped out of my skin. I looked down at a very confused, and visibly frightened, Max, who whimpered at me before jumping up on the bed. He wasn't allowed on the bed, but I scooted over and made room. We both knew I wasn't making him get down.

I was awake long before the alarm went off, relieved that it was finally daylight. I jumped into the shower, ready to start my day. As I stood under the stream of hot water, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Through closed eyes, a large shadow blocked the sunlight that spilled through the window. I quickly opened my eyes, hoping that my husband had come into the bathroom, but no one was in there with me. I finished my shower, without closing my eyes again, and stepped out. I could hear the slow and steady rhythm of John's snoring in the next room.

Throughout the day, I felt as though I was being watched. As I worked around the house, I kept seeing movements out of the corner of my eye. Each time I passed a doorway, movement in the room would catch my eye. But nothing was ever there. I went through the house and closed all of the doors, to every room. I made a point of hanging out wherever the kids were playing, or asking for someone to help me do a chore so that I didn't have to be alone. When everyone went outside, I panicked a little, knowing that I would be in the house by myself. Max always followed the kids, so since they were going out in the back yard, that's where he would be. I left the back door open and closed just the screen door. Somehow it made me feel safer...

As I stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes, and watching the kids play outside, I noticed that Max was acting strangely. He would go out and lie down next to where the kids were, then come up to the back door and peer into the kitchen through the screen door. He would stand there a few seconds, listening, with his ears perked up, then, apparently satisfied that everything was okay, would go back out to the kids. As I watched him, it brought me a bit of comfort, but I was also frightened of whatever it was that was making him nervous.

I was watching the girls play with their Barbies, and the boys, as they helped Cam change the pedals on his bicycle. At ten and twelve, they wanted to be a part of everything their big brother did. I noticed that Max had placed himself between the children, but he stared at the house on full alert; ears up, as he listened to every sound around him. I dried my hands and went over to the screen door. As I looked outside, I felt as though someone had come into the room with me. I turned around, but no one was there. Max began to bark fiercely, and I quickly turned towards the back yard. In an instant, Max was standing at the door, hair up on end, barking ferociously at something behind me. I let him in and he ran past me, sniffing around the room. He stood there a few seconds, listening, then came over and nuzzled my hand. He went back to the door, whining to be let out. He didn't wait for the door to be open all the way before running through and going back to his position between the kids. He stayed close to them but his eyes never left the back door.

I went back to washing dishes but just a few seconds later I felt the presence again, as though someone was standing right behind me. My heart was racing as I stood there, scared to death. I tried to get the nerve to turn around, but before I could, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't cold, and it wasn't warm. It felt like nothing touching me, but somehow, I knew it was a hand. I tried to scream but couldn't, and just as my knees threatened to buckle, Cam burst through the kitchen door. The feeling disappeared, leaving me shaken and scared to death. Cam grabbed some snacks, threw me a grin, and ran back outside. Whatever I had felt, was gone, but I couldn't handle being alone; I decided to go outside with my children. As I closed the back door, I heard laughter, deep and low, echoing behind me. I slammed the door and practically ran over to where the kids were. The thought occurred to me that maybe it wasn't safe for my children to be inside... but I didn't have a clue what to do. We stayed outside until my husband got home. Once he had said hello to everyone, I pulled him aside. Knowing how crazy it all sounded, I told him what had happened that day, and how scared I was. I waited for John to start laughing, but he didn't. He asked a few questions and suggested I talk to our pastor if anything else happened. Why hadn't I thought of that?

Over the next few days, everything seemed to go back to normal. I started to wonder if my imagination had been playing tricks on me. But, the way Max had acted that day in the kitchen... that was him at his most protective. I hadn't imagined that. And the night I had seen... whatever it was, in our bathroom, had my big, fierce, fur baby scared, too. I didn't know what to think, but I was glad that whatever it was had decided to leave. At least I thought it had.

The last week of June is Vacation Bible School for our church. I had been helping with VBS since Cam was three years old, but this year, I had to miss the first day to wait for the air conditioning guy. At least our A/C had decided to go out before it had gotten horribly hot. I dropped the kids off at VBS and went back home. As I unlocked the front door, I could hear Max inside, whimpering and barking. He wasn't at the front door waiting for me, as he always was, but somewhere in the back of the house, instead. Hearing me call him, he began to bark louder. I found him in my bathroom, the bedroom door, as well as the bathroom door, closed. As soon as I opened the bathroom door, Max shot past me, running down the hall and searching room to room. For what, I didn't know. I stayed next to my bedroom door until he came back and sat next to me. My first thought was that someone had broken in, but Max never would have let them lock him in the bathroom. I knew I hadn't closed my bedroom door that morning, and I was certain that my bathroom door was open. Besides, Max was at the door when we had left for the church. I didn't know what to think.

I tried to stay busy while I waited for the A/C guy. John had a birthday coming up and I wanted to get him a new set of drafting tools. I went online and started searching. I found the set he had described to me and read the reviews. Concentrating on what other folks had said about the tools, movement at the top of the screen caught my eye. A gray, shapeless cloud floated towards me on the monitor, starting at the top and getting larger as it filled the screen. It was the reflection of something, and it was right behind me. Too scared to turn around, I froze, closing my eyes and hoping that it would go away, but instead, I felt an icy pressure on my shoulder. I jumped out of my chair and as far away from the desk as possible. No one was there... I was alone in the room, but I knew that I had seen and felt something. I ordered the tools and logged off the computer, then left the room as quickly as I could. Max liked to be outside during the day but he was waiting at the back door, when I went to let him in. There was no way I was going to be alone in the house.

When I finally got the call that the repairman was on his way, I let Max out back. He could be rather intimidating and most people were terrified of him. I would have felt a lot safer with him in the house with me, though. Unsure of what to do with myself, for the next few minutes, I grabbed a basket of clean, folded laundry, and set out to deliver stacks of clothing to the kids bedrooms. As I started down the hallway, something caught my eye when I passed the den. The door was only open a few inches, but as I walked past, I saw movement in the room. Hands shaking, I grabbed the door and closed it.

I moved on to my girls' room. As I pushed the door open, a shadow hovered in front of the window, then disappeared. It happened so quickly that I wasn't sure exactly what I had seen, or if I had actually seen anything. It was gray, shapeless, and translucent, and though it looked like a shadow, I knew it wasn't. I was terrified, and alone, and whatever this thing was, it knew I was scared. I looked straight ahead as I made my way to the end of the hallway, set the basket in my room, and left, not looking back. The clothes could wait until the kids came home. I tried not to run, as I quickly walked towards the living room. As I passed Cam's room, I could feel someone watching me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up on end and chilly bumps covered my arms and legs. I could have sworn I heard a man's voice, but couldn't make out the words over the thudding of my heartbeat in my ears. Just as I stepped into the living room, the doorbell rang. I've never been so happy to see a repairman in all my life!

Unfortunately, the A/C was a quick fix and the repairman was there for less than an hour. As soon as he was gone, I let Max back in. Together, we sat in the living room and waited for noon, so that I could pick up the kids. As much as I wanted them home, I was worried about them being in the house. What if this...thing, tried to hurt them. I remembered John telling me that it might be a good idea to talk to our pastor. That advice was becoming more and more sound. Not wanting a repeat of that morning, I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. I didn't need to say a word to Max; he ran out the door and to the Suburban, waiting for me to open the door. He jumped in and went straight to his spot in the back seat.

As I drove to the church, I went over what I planned to say to our pastor. I didn't see how it wouldn't sound crazy to him, because it sounded crazy to me. I finally decided that crazy or not, I needed to tell him exactly what had happened. He was a pastor, a man of God, he had to be nice. Still, as we pulled into the parking lot, my stomach knotted and I started to shake.

I spotted Cam and got his attention. I told him I needed to speak to the pastor real quick and asked him to make sure his brothers and sisters got loaded up. I left the air on in the Suburban and set out to find the pastor. As always, Pastor James greeted me with a big smile and a handshake. His smile started to fade as he realized something was wrong. I didn't have to ask; he led us to his office and closed the door. His look of concern intensified as I described what had been happening. As I spoke, my uneasiness dissipated. He didn't think I was crazy.

Pastor James asked a few questions, then reassured me that I had done the right thing in coming to him. He explained that evil did exist and that somehow, it had found a way into our home and it was feeding on my fear. He said that even though we were strong Christians, this kind of thing could be very dangerous. He asked if I had any idea how this entity had come in... which of course I didn't have a clue. He also asked if I had prayed for God's protection when these things were happening... I shook my head, embarrassed that I hadn't. I prayed, all the time, but each time something had happened, I hadn't thought about praying. His smile was comforting as he explained that he wasn't surprised. He said these things had a way of way of making you forget to do the things that were as natural to you as breathing. He also said that he could help me to get rid of it. He wasn't able to come over that day, but he would be there Tuesday, after VBS. I was flooded with relief when I left his office.

I plastered a smile on my face and headed for the parking lot. I didn't want my kids to know I was afraid, or that there was anything in our home to be frightened of. We just had to make it through tonight. Pastor James would be there tomorrow and everything would be okay. I hurried to the Suburban, sure the kids were starving and ready for lunch. As I put my seat-belt on, I decided that we would go through a drive-through then go to the park to eat lunch. I was in no hurry to go home. After lunch, I put Max on his leash and walked him around where the kids were playing. Just as I sat down in the grass, Cam ran up to me and said that John had called while I was talking to the pastor. He apologized for forgetting to tell me. Cam said that his dad was on his way to the airport and would call before he boarded. As Cam ran off, I grabbed my phone from my purse and sure enough, I had a missed call from John. His voicemail said that he was getting on a flight to South Carolina and would call me when he arrived. The hurricanes that had swept through the area had left the integrity of several bridges and buildings questionable and John's company was sending a crew to check it out. He said that he loved me and the kids and he was sorry he hadn't had the chance to talk to me. I smiled, though I wanted to cry. It was going to be a long night.

The day flew by and before I knew it, nighttime was upon us. I avoided going to bed for as long as possible. I played games with the kids, folded laundry, and flipped through several magazines. But, bedtime came, whether I wanted it to or not. I read the Bible for a while, which usually offered me comfort, but I couldn't concentrate. Finally, exhaustion won, and I closed my eyes. Immediately, I saw dark, disfigured faces and formless bodies of black, floating around me. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I closed my eyes again, and shadows, dark and ominous, surrounded me. Though they had no real shape, and no face, I was terrified, because I knew they were evil.

I must have dozed off, because sometime after midnight, I awoke to someone calling me. I opened my eyes and listened, trying to figure out if I had actually heard one of my children calling me or if I had been dreaming. I heard it again; Cam was calling me. I jumped out of bed and ran towards my son's room. About halfway down the hall, I ran into Cam. He said that he had heard me calling him and was coming to me. Scared to death, and unsure of what was happening, I started to walk my son back to his room, ensuring him that everything was okay. We were almost to Cam's door when I got the feeling that someone or something was near me. Chills ran up my spine and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. In the dimly lit hallway, I could make out shadows floating towards us. I pushed Cam behind me to protect him from whatever it was that was terrorizing us. He was shaking uncontrollably, so I knew he saw the shadows, too. Gray figures surrounded us, and it felt as though we were in the middle of a tornado. I could barely breathe as the dark swirls closed in tighter and tighter, squeezing us together. I backed us into Cam's room until I could reach the Bible that I knew was on top of the bookcase near the door. I didn't know what to say, but I held the Bible close and prayed for protection. I prayed and asked God to protect us from the evil that surrounded us. The words flowed even though I had no idea what to say. As I prayed, the figures disappeared and we were alone. The evil was gone and Cam and I stood there, holding onto one another in the dimly lit hallway. As I stood there, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened, I realized Cam was whispering something. He just kept saying he was sorry, over and over.

After a few moments, I was able to get my hysterical son to calm down and tell me why he was apologizing. Cam told me that when his friend Mike had spent the weekend, he had brought a game with him. It was a homemade Ouija board that Mike had made out of construction paper and cardboard. My heart sunk as my son told me about the game and how he had told Mike that a game like that was dangerous and was an invitation for evil. They had argued over it and Cam had taken the game and torn it up into little pieces before throwing it into the garbage. He didn't realize that evil spirits could have already made their way into our home. The events of the last few weeks were suddenly making sense. I reassured Cam that he had done the right thing and that everything was okay, now, but he should have talked to me about the game. I told him to go ahead and get into bed while I checked on my other children. Everyone was sound asleep, though I didn't see how it was possible. Max was curled up at the foot of one of my daughter's beds and barely raised his head as I peeked in to check on the girls. Some watch dog he was! When I got back to Cam's room, he was in bed, covers up to his neck, and his Bible next to him on the bedside table. I offered to stay in there with him, or for him to come sleep in my room, but he said he would be fine. We prayed together, and I sat there with him for a while, then went back to my room.

Restless, I got up and checked on everyone again, made sure the doors were locked, then went back to bed. I left the hall light on, this time, just in case... Our bed felt huge, and very empty, without John there. I thought about calling him, and I knew he would be okay with me waking him up, but there wasn't anything he could do, and it would make it harder for him to be away from us. Besides, he needed to be able to concentrate on his work. I was also anxious to call Pastor James in the morning. Somehow, even though the evil entity was gone, I felt uneasy. I knew I would feel better if Pastor James came over and... did whatever pastors do in a situation like this. I closed my eyes and prayed, then turned off the lamp next to my bed. There were almost five hours until daylight. It would be the longest five hours of my life.

Tossing and turning, I finally found a comfortable position and drifted off to sleep. A strange growling sound woke me out of a sound sleep. I tried to open my eyes but couldn't, then realized my eyes were open but the room was pitch black. The growling got louder, and it was coming closer. I tried to scream but there was no air in my lungs. I was on my back, and it felt as though someone was sitting on my chest. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult. I couldn't see anything but I felt something around my neck, squeezing until I couldn't get any air. All I could think about was that my children were nearby and I needed to protect them. I couldn't let this thing kill me. I couldn't pray out loud but I began to pray silently, begging for God to protect me, and to rid our home of this evil. I reached for my Bible that was always on the bed stand, but I couldn't reach it. I was starting to feel lightheaded and knew I wouldn't be able to last much longer without air. I reached again, and my fingers brushed the edge of the cover that protected my Bible. With all the strength I had left, I reached again, finally able to grasp the cover between my thumb and forefinger, and pull it to me. I wrapped my arm around my Bible and prayed for God to protect me. I felt the grip around my neck loosen and drew in a shallow breath. The weight on my chest lessened and I was able to take a deep breath and started to pray out loud. I closed my eyes and prayed for God to wrap His loving arms around me and protect me from the evil that was trying to harm me. I prayed that He fill our hearts and home with His love and to rid us of this evil. I prayed that He protect my children and fight this battle for me. Each word I spoke brought peace to my heart. I found myself reciting Romans 8:37 and 8:38, verses I didn't remember learning. "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord." I prayed until I could feel that I was in God's loving embrace, and I knew I was safe.

When I opened my eyes again, my room was dimly lit from the light in the hallway, and I felt peace like I had never felt. I checked on my children, so thankful they were safe and sound, and fast asleep. I went back to my room, got down on my knees, and prayed, thanking God for protecting me and my children. I know that evil is alive and well, and that being a Christian doesn't mean that I will never have to deal with the darkness that evil brings. But, I take comfort in the fact that God and the devil cannot occupy the same space, and that I have put my heart, hope, and life in God's hands.