Something A Little Bit Scary Happened Earlier This Week. It Changed Me A Bit.

Earlier this week, there was an incident in our immediate area early in the morning. At the time, I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook. I stumbled on several posts about this situation. As I read about it, I got a couple of texts from our neighbor friends giving me a heads up. Lock your doors. Keep an eye out.

This is one of the many things I love about our neighborhood. We watch out for each other.

Long story short, there was a domestic dispute not too far away. The man escaped and was running and hiding from the police. He was masked and had a machete. The local schools were on lockdown. Several police vehicles were driving around in our neighborhood.

I'm not going to lie. I was a little on edge.

Even though we live in a great neighborhood, we always keep our doors locked. And, as of late, even the side door.

I'm here alone with the kids during the day. I'm not taking any chances.

During the time when the man was on the loose, I closed my workshop curtains. I sat at the kitchen table typing blog columns.

At one point, I heard someone at our side door wiggling the doorknob pulling at the door.

Instant panic. But I remained calm. 

I sat at the kitchen table glaring at our back door and thinking, "Yep. Is this really going to happen today? Seriously?" I was meticulously planning on how to get all of our kids into the bedroom and keeping all of the baby loves safe...both human and furry.

A minute later, shortly after I got up from my chair to put this plan in action, I realized it was one of our neighbor friends trying to enter the side door to leave a bag of containers that we had sent leftovers in the weekend prior.

Big. Huge. Exhale.  

Although I was ready to defend this entire house with all of my being against some crazy dude with a machete, well...

That single moment changed me a bit.

I realized that even though we take great precautions with home security and being aware of what's going on outside, there is always that chance.

In this day and age, you can't let your guard down.

It doesn't matter what kind of neighborhood you live in or how much home security you have, you're always at risk.

That's a scary thought. 

There is always room for improvements.

Situations like this is a humble reminder to pay attention to the details.

It's an opportunity to ask yourself those difficult questions.

Am I doing enough?

Have I given thought to those tiny details?

Do I have a plan of action just in case something does happen?

Do the human kids know what to do in case of an emergency?

If someone breaks into your home while you're home, are you prepared?

If you're outside and someone approaches you with the intent on getting into your home, are you prepared?

Difficult questions yes, but certainly necessary.

Our local police department had the situation under control in less than 2 hours.

When the suspect was in custody, I exhaled a sigh of relief.

I'm grateful that we have such an amazing local police department and neighbors who watch out for each other.

I'm also grateful for the reminder.

Like with most anything, we can do better.

The effort is well worth it for so many reasons.