Wednesday we went to the park to say goodbye to Jacob and his mom Nicole. It was a very cold and rainy day....very miserable!! Jacob was in my 4 year old class, and his mom subbed with me a lot when Melody was out. They are moving to Wilmington in two weeks. Nicole also became very special to me because I feel that God sent her to me at just his timing. I always talk to all the moms of the preschool children. Some you feel a connection too and some you wish would hurry up and leave, but I do talk to all of them. We were in the process of trying to get into Hilltop Christian which was 18 miles one way. I was set on it and just waiting for the enrollment to open up to new members. Nicole walks in one day to pick up Jacob and she had her daughter with her. I remember asking if she was sick and Nicole told me they had a half day. I thought maybe she was in a Wake County School and Nicole proceeded to tell me that she went to Southside. We started talking about it and I realized that is where Jenine Davis taught, so we had some common ground. I told her I knew about the school, but knew you had to be a member of the church. She told me how enrollment was going on now and they opened it up to other people of other churches. I didn't think much about it. In fact, I brushed it aside. Something told me to call the school. The lady told me they had one opening left for Joshua's class and they had already had several applications. Again, I figured what the use. I called again, spoke to Jenine and arranged for a visit. Jenine had a lot of input getting us in. She told the board members "this was the kind of family you want in your school" (I hope we live up to the expectation). God opened and shut doors for us and I know most of it was because of Nicole being in the right place at the right time. Without her, we would have never known that the school was opening up to the public. With gas prices at close to $4 a gallon and no relief in sight, I thank God that I don't have to travel 36 miles twice a day (too early to do math). It also just brought to my mind how God can use you at any time at any place, even when we do not know it. Nicole had no idea that God was using her to open and shut doors for us. Sometimes we will never know either. Since then, Nicole and I starting forming a friendship and I will never forget her. I will miss seeing her around next year!
