Ghost Encounters

     My life has been one crazy encounter after another, most of which have logical explanations.  I'd like to tell a few of the encounters which are difficult to explain, and one that literally left me speechless.
     As a kid, I used to follow the same nightly routine.  I would wake up in the middle of the night, walk into the kitchen, and pour myself a glass of tap water.  From my parents' kitchen, I could see directly into the living room.  Before I could finish pouring my water, I would be overcome by an entire body chill.  The hair on my neck would stand up on end, and my skin would be covered in goosebumps.  Then I would see "IT."
     "IT" was a black figure that stood four-feet tall and was so black, IT was darker than the (dark) living room.  I would pour as much water as I could, until I was compelled to run back to my room.  I always felt as if IT was right behind me as I leaned forward- like a world-class sprinter does at the finish line- to avoid IT's grasp.  I never told anyone in my family about my sightings, and I continued to have them until I left home for college.
     One Mother's Day weekend, I came home from Sam Houston to see Glo (my mom).  It was a Friday afternoon, and I was a little tired from my dialysis treatment; so I decided to take a nap.  I was in my old bedroom, laying down, with my eyes almost closed, when I saw a short, dark figure walk into the room.  Everyone in my family is short, so I took little notice of who the person was.  The figure walked in and around to the far side of the bed (where I was napping) and knelt beside me.  Suddenly, every muscle in both of my legs cramped; and I shot up and yelled, "Ruthie!"  I thought that my sister, who stands a whopping 4'10", was the person that came into the room.  To my surprise, there was no one at the foot of the bed.  I bolted across the house into my parents' room, where Glo and Joel (my brother) were watching television.  This time I couldn't hold back; and blurted, "Okay, I've been seeing this thing in the house since I was little; and it just touched me!"  Glo had a look of disbelief; but before she could speak, Joel blurted, "It's about this tall (showing 4' with his hand), and it's black!"  That was the first time we ever discussed the black being, and I was relieved that I wasn't crazy.  I would never see a black being, that size, again.  The other would be much larger and more brazen.
     When I was living in an apartment at Sam Houston, I had so many weird encounters.  I saw a loaf of bread fly off the top of the refrigerator, an ornamental glass full of golf tees fly across the room (twice); and I was shoved across my bed in the middle of the night.  One day, I was packing my soccer gear for an away game; and I saw a man run through the hallway, toward my roommate's bedroom.  I dropped my gear and chased after him.  He was dressed in a red flannel shirt (unbuttoned and untucked), blue jeans, and black, padded high-top shoes.  I was only five feet behind him when he darted into the unlit bedroom.  As I ran into the room, I turned on the light; and he was gone.  I finally gathered enough nerve to march into the leasing office and ask the manager if anyone had reported seeing ghosts in their units.  The manager stopped what she was doing and looked at me in disbelief.  She smiled and said, "You're the third person, today, to ask me that same question."  As we talked, she informed me that the entire complex burned down in the 1980's, but she (supposedly) didn't know if there were any fatalities. Needless to say, I didn't live in that apartment complex much longer.
      Some years after Lacye and I were married, we lived in a condominium that was owned by some very good friends of ours.  They had told us a few stories of strange events that they had, while they were living there; and we had some experiences of our own.  One time, I was in the kitchen talking to Lacye, who was in the dining room facing me as she leaned on the kitchen bar.  As I was talking, I leaned against the wall with all of my weight.  A few seconds later, I looked; and I was 8 inches from the wall that I thought was holding me up.  I immediately stood straight up and carried my conversation into the dining room.
     My biggest encounter in that condominium was on a late Saturday night.  I woke up from a nightmare to the sound of heavy footsteps.  These were footsteps that sounded like they were on a mission.  The steps started at the bedroom door and quickly came around to my side of the bed, where I was now sitting up.  I reached out to my left and felt as if I put my hand inside of the freezer.  The temperature difference was astounding, and my entire body went into a full-on chill.  This wasn't a nice entity; so I started to say, "Je..."  My lips suddenly pinched shut, as if a thumb and forefinger were holding them closed, as if to say, "Don't say that!"  From the side of my mouth, I managed to say, "Jesus!" and the entity immediately disappeared.
     I have learned so much from these (and many other) encounters.  I know that some spirits don't know that they are no longer living and go about their daily lives.  I know that some entities are good and cause feelings of warmth, and that some are evil and fill you with paralyzing fear.  I also know- and am confident- that the name of Jesus has power over all beings, and that allows me the strength to face anything that comes my way.