The Events of Last Night

It feels like it was just a bad dream, but seeing the policeman downstairs I know it really happened.
Around 3 in the morning Steve got a phone call. It was Nora, telling us that someone was prowling around in our house and that we should stay in our rooms and pray. We heard the girls next door also getting calls and then the sound of moving furniture. They put a desk or two in front of the door just in case. There's nothing worse for your nerves than doing nothing, but nothing was all we could do for the moment. So Steve and I stayed in bed ears tuned for the slightest noise. He sent a few texts to Jim to make sure Laura was okay. Laura was using Noah's room and his room doesn't have a lock. So we were very worried about her. Then Steve got dressed, put his shoes on and sat on the bed to wait. We heard a car coming and the first thing I thought was, "Oh no, first they send someone to scout out our house then they come with a vehicle and take everything away!" But thankfully that wasn't the case this time, our sweet neighbor had come to our aid with a flashlight and a little hand gun. Our front door was open (from the thief(s)) so he just walked right in. He went around the whole house to check, but whoever they were, they were gone.
Calls had already been made to the police and we got a text that it was safe to come out of hiding. Steve went ahead downstairs and I didn't want to stay alone in our room so I went too. Liz and the two older kids were gone for a mini vacations. We saw that Liz's drawers had been taken out and sorted through. There was one in the classroom and one in the hallway. They were probably looking for money and jewelry.
Everyone by this time had congregated together at the foot of the stairs and people shared their different sides to the story. We discovered that he had broken into the bar door and left through the front door. Janet was the first to discover the intruders as she heard them trying to open her door then Gabe and Nora's door. Janet usually doesn't lock her door but she did last night! When she first heard the noises she thought she was just imagining things but she sent a text to Gabe. After a while and more noises she finally called Gabe. Gabe woke up with the call and set off the alarm. Only those in the central part of the house heard the alarm. Those of us on the balcony didn't hear anything. Gabe then called Jim and the rest of us to alert us to the danger. The intruder must have run after hearing the alarm, since he was nowhere to be found by the time our neighbor arrived.
Someone stayed in the living room to keep guard since the bar door couldn't lock. The rest of us went back to bed. After all this excitement it wasn't easy to go back to sleep.
Anyway, happy ending to this story--we're all okay, no one got hurt, and nothing too valuable was stolen. I love you. Thank you for keep us in your prayers!