Podcast Transcript: Episode 3

COURTNEY MOORE: Welcome to the Women & Work podcast, the show that inspires you to confidently step into your God-given calling and view your work as meaningful to the Kingdom of God. I’m Courtney Moore.

MISSIE BRANCH: And I’m Missie Branch. No matter if you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, on staff at your church or a stay-at-home mom with little ones wrapped around your ankles, your work matters, and God wants to use you right where you are for His kingdom purposes.

COURTNEY MOORE:Thanks so much for joining us today.

GUEST INTRODUCTION: 

COURTNEY: Today we have Michele Coats on the show with us. Michele is the founder and principal of El Paso Christian school which was established in 2016.  She is a former public school teacher and she was an administrator in the public school for 4 years after teaching for 14 years in school. She is a wife, mom of 3, and she is also a wellness coach. Friends, I am so excited because Michele and I- I actually know Michele personally in my own real life and we are sitting in the same room together. My kids actually attend El Paso Christian school and that is how wek now each other and I think our listeners will be really inspired by her story. There’s so much to talk about with your life. 

MICHELE: I am grateful to be here Courtney, thank you so much.

MISSIE: Michelle will welcome to the show. One of the first things we like to do with all of our guests is to ask them three rapid-fire questions… Are you up for this?

MICHELE: Sure!

MISSIE: Question one. As a kid, what did you wanna be when you grew up?

MICHELE: I wanted to be a veterinarian for the simple fact, I had a dog [named] Sam. He was my very best friend, and so whenever we took him to the vet, I loved the way he took care of my favorite person in the world, so I always wanted to be a veterinarian growing up.

COURTNEY:  So sweet. Alright, second rapid fire question. So what was your very first job?

MICHELE: I actually worked at a pizza place down the street when I was 15 years old for seven years, and I absolutely loved it… It’s a great place to work when you’re in high school. A lot of memories and a lot of friends I am still in contact with. That was a place called Pizza Pros.

MISSIE: First job is always the best, they always leave a lasting impression on us don’t they?

COURTNEY: And you’re from and grew up right here in El Paso, Texas- is that right? 

MICHELE: Yes I did

COURTNEY: Alright. Okay, and you’ve been here your whole life?

MICHELE: Right down the street.

MISSIE: Ok and the last question is, what kind of work do you wanna be doing when you’re 80 years old?

MICHELE: When I’m 80, I will not be working for anyone but the Lord and serving and volunteering however I can, but I’m definitely not going to having a 9-5 anything other than a grandma..

INTERVIEW

COURTNEY: Awesome. Well Michele, we mentioned that you taught in the public school system and now you have founded this Christian school. You taught for 14 years. You said you mainly taught middle school science, right?

MICHELE: Yes, that’s right. 

COURTNEY: And then after four years, you switched over and did administration. So one might hear that and think, “Wow!”-almost 20 years in public school. I think that’s almost a-It’s like 25 years for career status and you were not very long away from hitting that 25-year mark, and then you made this switch to start El Paso Christian School. What caused you to make this switch or was it something you were kind of unsettled within the public school system, or what was going on in your own heart and life for you to make this change?

MICHELE: When I was in public education, I loved every moment of it with the kids, never anything wrong with that. Towards the end though, I really felt that there was a switch in the school -it was more of a business entity and not really caring for children, and there was so much pressure on the teacher, so much pressure on the students, and I personally just felt that students were test scores and nothing more, and that was their importance and that was how they found their value and her self-worth- It was how well they do on these tests.  that we’re making little kids do. And that was very disheartening. 

When I left the public school, it wasn’t to open a Christian school, it was because I really felt the Lord wanted me to be home to raise my last child, my boy Michael who is now six. And so, I’m sure we’ll probably get into that later, but… I resigned from the school district to be a stay-at-home mom, is what I thought. 

COURTNEY:That makes sense. 

MISSIE: Wow. It’s so amazing how the Lord will allow us to start with one journey and really guide us to a whole other one – that is so interesting. Well, Michelle, one of the things that I read in your bio was that you came to Christ 13 years ago, so that meant for part of your time teaching in the public school, you didn’t know the Lord, and then when you. did you were still there in the public schools. How did.- this might be two parts- but how did- I hear you say you had a passion for these children, how did your new view through the lens of Christ to change that or even add layers to that passion, and did you have any believers in the public school system that you were able to go to to help influence you and grow with them?

MICHELE: I grew up in a Christian home, and if you are up, you went to church. The only reason to not go to church as if you were physically sick as you were walking out the door. So it was perfect attendance in Sunday School and perfect attendance at church. But I did not have a relationship with the Lord, so I knew him, but it was not a relationship until in my 30s, I realized that something was missing. And going to church every Sunday and checking that off the box did not mean that I was saved and I would have gone to hell had I died at that time. 

I grew up thinking you had to work your way to heaven, and that if I was good enough and didn’t do certain things, then I was going to heaven, and so in my mind all these years, I was heaven bound because I was the typical good girl and followed the rules and got good grades and listened to my parents, but I was in San Diego at the time and was invited to a church and started to question and realized that there was so much more. And thank the Lord that somebody invited me so that I could build a relationship and see what I was missing and just be saved! And not because my mom said I was saved, not because I got baptized when I was 10, but because I had the relationship with him. 

In San Diego, I was at a school at the time when I was baptized and saved and just on fire for God, I can’t say that there were other- I know there were- but I can’t say I had conversations with any other Christian teachers at the school. It was a huge middle school, and we kind of kept to ourselves but when I was there with the kids, it was a different kind of passion. And I saw each child the way that God sees me, and I knew in most of their lives, I was the only person praying for them, and that became such a huge responsibility. And so I can’t say I had teachers or anybody that influenced me while I was there, but I knew I was a big influence to the kids that I was around when I was in the public school system.

COURTNEY: So when I hear you talk about You worked around- possibly Christians, you’re not really even sure. It’s hard for me because I grew up in a really small town in the Bible belt, and I went to a public school growing up from kindergarten to my senior year of high school, and my town was so small that most of my teachers I knew from church. They were believers, and so it’s hard for me- now I’m talking Bible belt to San Diego- so there’s a lot of difference there. 

But it is wild to me to think that there are probably even women listening to this who work in the public school system who know the Lord, are even listening to this podcast because of their desire to incorporate their faith into their work. And I wonder- the idea of evangelism, of how these women- with just their coworkers- speak the gospel and just be a christian light to the women in staff meetings they are rubbing shoulders once a week or once a month. Or who they sit next to to in the cafeteria, if they don’t have to sit with their class or whatever, but I don’t know that blew my mind.

To hear you say that there really was not a particular influence for Christ within your teaching experience among the women, and I guess men too, that you worked with. I hope women teachers listening follow the Lord and speak the Gospel. 

MISSIE:  I hear you say, you said God brought you home so that you could homeschool your kids, how did you go from (Or just be at home. I don’t know if you said home school, but I just assume as an educator, that just happens to be) but how did you go from feeling like you were supposed to be home to then starting El Paso Christian school?

MICHELE: It was three or four months after I resigned and I had, before resigning, I had done my due diligence and gone to several places in hopes of finding a daycare to leave my child. I had found a small Christian school to take the girls to ’cause they were older, but my son was in need of daycare services, and I just was not content. Every place I went, I just was not settled, so eventually, as I said, I resigned and thought I was just gonna stay home and be mom and be with him, and raise him until he was ready to go to a small Christian school, like the girls were going to. 

A few months in, though, I really felt the Lord telling me, “I hope you enjoyed your vacation, but this is why you resigned  and this is why you were unsettled about places that you visited for your child.” And I cannot say-I know people say they have these big encounters daily with him and they feel him every single day, and meeting them- [but] at no time my life have I ever felt his presence and just so clearly been directed as when he told me to open the school. It wasn’t anything on my radar. It wasn’t anything I thought I would ever want to do, be asked to do, have the opportunity to do. It was a shock and at the beginning, I was very resistant because all of the things you think you need to do that I didn’t have. 

I didn’t have the time to do it, I didn’t have the money, I didn’t have a building. A mom with three kids. So all of the things that I thought you needed to start a business to open a school, we had none of those things. And so at first I was walking in faith on the surface, and of course that moved my heart, but I was afraid and I was doing the little things like, -Oh, let’s find the name, Oh, let’s pick up the school colors- all those things that don’t get you where you need to be. And finally, I stopped and just prayed to God, “if this is what you really want for me, I’m all in… Tell me what… Tell me where I… Tell me how… Because there’s no directions for someone that says “Let’s open a Christian school!” in North East El Paso- it wasn’t there.

So day-by-day He just revealed what I needed to get through that day, and it was literally just step of faith, step of faith, step of faith. Doors would close very quickly, which I was grateful for, and then doors would open. So what  I decided, because we did not have an income to just go buy a building or rent at a storefront, was the best thing would be to go to churches. I assume we’re all on the same mission field, the same team, winning souls for Jesus so go to churches, and seek permission to use the classrooms that typically, I would imagine, are vacant during the week. So I started doing that and in my heart, I knew that that would be the best place for us. But as I was going and visiting pastors, it kind of was disheartening at their view of Christian education. Their view of  letting somebody else use their building that didn’t go to the church that I was asking permission to use- so it was lots of heart lessons that I learned and was very, very interesting. Well, I say it like that, but eventually the Lord brought us here to, at the time it was called Skyline Baptist Church.  

I presented to 14 or 15 other churches before this one, and even this one happened in the middle, and at the time, I was living on a different side of town, attending church in a completely different side of town, and the school that we’re at right now, the location was not where I thought God wanted a school to be. But then he very much so made me aware that where we  were, in this area right now, was where he wanted us to be. And the rest is kind of history!  The church voted to allow us to come and we are very grateful  for the beautiful classrooms that we lease, and so we finally had a place. And then it was just getting the word out and praying for teachers and praying for families that we could serve.

COURTNEY: Wow. So you guys have been in this building for 3 years? 

MICHELE: Yes. We’ve been here for three years. 

COURTNEY: And you see, the other thing- you might not even know this- this is kind of a personal side of this story. When my husband and I were asking the Lord whether or not he wanted us to move to El Paso for my husband to serve here in church, one of our big things, we always just really desire for our kids to have not just a Christian education, but a classical education. And friends, and if y’all don’t know what that is, we’ll drop a link in the show notes and tell you all about classical education if you’re curious. 

And so, of course, we Googled all the Christian schools in town and saw several good ones, but El Paso Christian stood out because it said it was a classical school. And so we thought “Oh my gosh, moving to El Paso might be an option for us because El Paso Christian School exists.” And I have chills saying that because it is actually true! I could not wait to learn about the school; I could not wait to hear the story at the school. We came here to visit, tour the church and did all the interviews with the church, and we actually drove up here.  Our church is on the east out of town (this might be more information than you actually want) but the school is in the North East. So we drove up, we saw the school and were like “Oh my goodness, this could be our place.” Right?

And so as soon as we got home and got back, I called the school, I talked to Michelle, and just hearing the story she just shared- of her journey of faith and how God had led her in this. I can’t tell you how the Lord used her faith story to confirm that this was the city God wanted us in. And so you just never know how your step of faith is going to affect strangers you’ve never even met. And what God is doing in someone else’s life, that someone is praying something somewhere, and you have no idea that the step of faith you’re about to make is gonna be the Lord’s confirmation of “yes” for them. 

And so I cannot tell you- I think I’d probably shed tears when I first met you, ’cause I was so happy to meet you Michele and so grateful that you obeyed the Lord because my family is blessed by it and now the school has grown. I mean, you guys started out with just a couple of families and now, especially with the coronavirus, how many students do you guys have now?

MICHELE:  We started with nine kids, and three of them had no choice ’cause they were mine, so now we are at 86 students in just 3 years. So he has grown us tremendously and just along the lines of what you were saying-  it’s wonderful how you see all of these pieces come together in ways that you never expected. And similar stories with the families finding the school, there are stories of teachers literally driving from where they are to El Paso and happen to come across our website and look to see if are we hiring and they have classical experience and want their kids to have this education.t It’s amazing from from 9 to 86-  so many pieces all have come together to have this beautiful tapestry that we have created here.

MISSIE: Michelle, how has this grown your faith through this process, to watch God do this incredible work using you, but then letting it grow beyond you with you at the helm, how has this really propelled you in your relationship to Jesus?

MICHELE: In every way possible, Missie, is the easy answer. The things that I have seen him do, the difficult times- and there were several. I wasn’t anticipating it to be such a rough road because I knew it was from him. All of the obstacles, the speed bumps, my own children being affected with how much time I was spending at the school and getting it ready. Then once we opened the school, they were still [being affected]. We were here from 6-30 AM to 6 30 PM for an entire year, and I wasn’t anticipating how difficult it was on them, but through that God has just been so faithful because we have been faithful. At the beginning, it was all just honestly, fear-based. I was afraid. I knew this is what he wanted me to do, and I was very afraid of what would happen if I didn’t do it, ’cause as I said, I knew with all my heart for the first time ever that he was declaring and claiming this and giving me this vision and I was afraid to do it, but I was more afraid of if I don’t do it. And I know this is what He has for my family right now. 

So it has just grown me out of a fear-based life and just walking by faith and every day knowing the next step is going to be revealed, not having to know everything in advance, which is my nature. I wanna know what’s gonna happen today, in five years from now, and 20 years from now, for myself and my kids and their friends, I’m very much a plan ahead. So with this, it’s very much taught me that day by day, in His time and His way -and not my way. So I had to get out of my own way and just pause and listen to his voice telling me what to do and being okay not having all of the answers, and walking by faith anyway.  

COURTNEY: I feel like there’s been so much provision. I’ve heard you speak about this in the past, even the desks that you guys have. Tell us the story about how you got.-I can’t remember all the details of it- but you said you had been praying and asking and then someone was getting rid of some desks, I can’t remember- tell us about that.

MICHELE: There was an auction for our huge school district that we live in, and we probably furnished the entire school, and we still have a surplus of desks that we’re waiting for beautiful children to occupy. It was 150.00 basically for probably 500 desks and chairs, and that just really was like “Here you go!”

You don’t have money, kids need a place to sit, obviously to do this [school]. And I went to the auction- I had never even heard of it. And my brother works for this district and he said,” Well, I know they have these options, I don’t know if it’s anything that you need, but you might as well just go check it out” so I went not having a clue. And it was just so much fun! And even that day, the Lord was there because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had these people that surrounded me and they were telling me and helping me in Spanish. (Spanish is not my native language) It  was just amazing the people that God literally put right next to me to tell me, “No, that’s too high, no, wait, just bid on this.. no” to that, and they’re showing me all the hand signals to use. It was so much fun! And at the end of the day, God provided everything beyond what we needed. 

It was just amazing, like I said, a miracle in every way. 

COURTNEY: Now, and if you guys don’t realize the Spanish is cracking me up because in El Paso, if you haven’t thought about it, we’re just right here on the border.  So there are a ton of Spanish speakers all around us. I can just see it in my mind- these  spanish people talking to you in Spanish,  telling you “no, don’t buy that”.

MICHELE:  They were just loving on me, and we made it work and we got it all done. it was awesome.

COURTNEY: Amazing

MISSIE: Well, tell me, this is a good segue. Tell me about the community where the school is and how the missional impact you guys are able to have on this community.

MICHELE: I’m sure you’ve gotten kind of a clearer picture there. Our city is separated into: You’re on this side of town, this side of town, and this side of town. So the side of town our school is on, it’s not the place that you would think most people would open a classical Christian school, just because the crime rate in our area is a little bit higher than the other sides of town. The economic levels of the families here typically are not as high as they are on the other sides of town, and so on paper, this would not be the place that you would expect to find a classical Christian school or just a private school in any case. So again, it was really just the Lord.

Originally, after this church had said, yes to allow us to use the space. I told them no, that I didn’t think this was the place for us. I said, No, thank you and left. Then the Lord brought us back. We were having an event announcing our school location, and it was going to be on the east side of town, and literally the day that the event took place, the pastor called me and said, “Michelle, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re not gonna be able to use our church anymore”- that day that we were announcing in the address to everybody! That same day in the pastor here where we are currently said, “Michele, I just want you to know the offer still stands if you haven’t found a place and our church would like for you to come here” -on that same day! And so I was like, “Alright God, I guess this is our new address”  Thank you Lord.

And I love our school because it’s just like heaven’s gonna be. There’s all shapes and sizes and colors, and it’s beautiful. It is absolutely beautiful. It is rare in our city to see such diversity in one location. When I went to school here, there was not a lot of diversity. I was usually the only African-American in my class, and then everybody else had similar skin tones, and I kind of stood out at our school. 

It’s just beautiful, every race is represented and it’s the melting pot, if you could call it that, of the Northeast. Everybody is here. We have people that drive 45-50 minutes to come to school. The Lord has just blessed us with heaven and everybody all together doing life together, serving him, regardless of what your income level is, regardless of the color of your skin. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful thing to be a part of.

MISSIE: It was the Lord. Isn’t it just like the Lord to allow such a high caliber, high quality education and such a passion and heart for people to come to the least of these- to the space where we would say, “No, we’re not gonna go there..” But that’s exactly where God has you.

MICHELE: Yes, such a time as this. 

MISSIE: So Beautiful.

COURTNEY: Missie, I love what you just said. I think that is so true. The heart of God to care for this community. He hasn’t forgotten this community.  Michele, He is using you to love on these families and these children.

MICHELE:  Where I grew up! I grew up here, and then I had moved away to the West side of town and got married, and it was a drive trying to get three kids here at 6:30 in the morning. So we prayed and decided to move closer to the school and [we have] such peace with that decision- I absolutely love it here. Just to be so close to all of our families and to see them Walmart and driving around- it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing that we’re all here together. 

HEALTH JOURNEY

COURTNEY: You have had a not only career, vocational shift- you have had a pretty huge health shift as well! Over the last year or so, you’ve lost over 80 pounds now, right? 

MICHELE:  Yes in just a year. I just found as I was going through opening the school (I had lots of excuses) stress, and sleeping maybe three hours on a good night, I just let everything else go.  I was using food to fix everything. And I could justify why. If I was tired, I would eat so I could stay awake to finish the paperwork and do all of these things. If I was happy because “Yay the contractor came in!” then I would eat. If I was bored, I would eat. It was just, you name the reason, and food was the answer. I had completely let myself go and it wasn’t a physical appearance thing. I had no energy. We were here 12 hours a day, every day, even on the weekends- just getting things done, and by the time I got home, I had nothing to give to my kids. I was done. Because I was overweight, it was hard to do almost anything. 

I’ve had seven knee surgeries so my joints are shredded. The energy and physical ability to do all the things that I knew God had in store for me, I wasn’t people to do. Finally, it was last January, I had not prayed about that issue because I knew if I prayed that I would have to change. So I wanted to lose weight, yes, but I never shared it with anybody. It was a secret battle and I tried everything, and then finally in January it was like “Oh Lord, I surrender. If you help me find a way, I will follow through and I will restore this temple, but I just need you to show me ’cause I’ve tried on my own and nothing has worked.” So He brought this program into my life and just changed everything. 

The way I come across to my kids now, the way that…you know,its so interesting, When I was first looking at the school or locations for the school, I was severely overweight, looked unhealthy, looked very tired and weary, and that’s the way I was presenting myself to all these churches that I was praying would partner with us. Now, going back to some of these same places for other things, now THEY’RE asking for the school to come. 

The same people that told me no and who am I to think that I could open a Christian school as a woman- I had heard it all. These same people that just judged me for what I looked like on the outside were now, as if they didn’t even remember… I thought, “Do you remember that we had this conversation three years ago, and this was not your attitude?”  It was just interesting how the confidence and how people perceive me now-  I’ve not changed on the inside, but there’s been a very drastic physical change on the outside.  In every way, things are different, and I feel like I finally have control over the one aspect of life that I didn’t. 

In ministry and teaching, I spend all my time at church or at school, and in those two places, food is definitely always available and encouraged. The snack list on Sunday- “oh my goodness nobody brought snacks! Somebody run to go get donuts.” It was like the focus of all of our social events at school, all of our social events at church and I feel like it’s the one thing that nobody wants to talk about. 

As a woman, I have to hide- my husband doesn’t even know what size of clothes I wear. I was not ready to put that part of my life out for anybody to help me with. I think so many of us, we are not okay with our temple, but we’re embarrassed or we don’t know how to get better, at least it’s how it was [for me]. At church, it’s never brought up- you just… You don’t have conversations about weight. We had small groups of Made to Crave, and let’s read this together, but then at the small group, there’s donuts. So it’s just like, “Alright, Lord, I know I’m not the only one struggling with this. Just fill my life with people that need what I have, and let me help them restore their temple so that they can do everything that you have created them to do – so that this is not a hindrance.” This was the one thing you have complete 100% control over is what you put in your mouth, and I decided to take control of that in a good way and not let it be my stronghold as it had been for so many years.

COURTNEY: I’m showing our friends on Facebook- she posts these beautiful recipes and beautiful pictures of her grilled chicken and all these delicious vegetables. How are you managing with your time- to commit so fully to all the different areas of your life: running this school, being present for your husband and your children, whatever involvement you have in your church, and then on top of that, devote the time to to be intentional now [with food]. Mentally, the mental space, and this is my downfall, the mental space I feel like it requires to go that extra mile- I just easily give up. How did you get there?

MICHELE: It was hard, and it still was hard. It was very much baby steps and praying every day: Lord today let me make good choices.Honestly, I focused on my health journey first and I got to where I needed to be and I could feel great about being with the kids and having the energy.

COURTNEY:  We hope you listeners have been encouraged with this conversation with Michele as much as Missie and I have been today. As we closed out the episode, we had one more question for Michele. Listen in as she shares the one piece of advice she would give to women who want to honor God through their vocational calling. 

MICHELE: Coming from the public schools, and again, nothing against the public schools. I think there are a lot of times that teachers feel because they can’t pray in class, can’t have their Bible out and they can’t do all these things- but if God has chosen them to serve in the education sector, there’s a reason. It’s a heavy heavy burden and responsibility that we have as Christians to be the light and be the witness and the example. I want people to know that you don’t have to preach and  stand in front of the class with the Bible to give a sermon. Your life is the sermon. They see God in you. Some of them don’t know what it is. I’ve had some come and tell me “Your different, Miss. What’s different about you?”  And it touches my heart. They get it. They can’t put a name on it, but they know.

I have taken kids to church on Sundays. You can be a light and you can be a vessel, whether you’re carrying a Bible and preaching to your students and praying in front of them- that doesn’t stop you from serving the Lord and being a light to them. They see it and they want it, and they know you’re different. You can preach to them without having a Bible and your life, it’s the sermon that they’re going to remember and they’re going to follow for years to come.

And I would just say for anybody that you feel the Lord telling me to do something- sometimes it’s a gentle nudge, sometimes with me it’s like a good kick- follow. It’s not always going to be easy, but he’s always going to provide a way for you. There’s going to be struggle and stresses, but those miracle moments that you see- only God moments- are amazing. So whatever is calling you to do, whether it’s comfortable or not comfortable, whether it’s in the private sector or the public sector, just do it with all of your heart. and know he is going to be there leading you to what He has called you to do. 

COURTNEY:  Perfect Ending. Perfect, thank you so much for joining us, this has just been so good, and I know this conversation is gonna be a real encouragement to women who hear it. I am so glad to know you, and thankful that you’ve been obedient in following the Lord and faithful. We just pray even more blessings on your life.

MISSIE: And thanks to our listeners for joining us today. As we mentioned at the top of the show, make sure to head to womenwork.net to download your free copy of this month’s Women & Work Going Deeper Bible study. That’s where we take content from today’s episode back to the Bible. Where you will study and gain a Biblical foundation from the show’s topics.

COURTNEY: While you’re there, don’t forget to grab your copy of the Women and Work podcast discussion questions. Again, our vision is to help lead you and your friends from work or your neighborhood or church into a meaningful conversation, and that will help you take the next step of faith into your calling. 

MISSIE: If you were encouraged by today’s show and don’t want to miss an episode, please subscribe in Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

COURTNEY:  While you’re there, take a minute to rate and review our show.

And with that we hope you’ve been inspired to more confidently step into your God given calling and view your work as meaningful to the Kingdom of God. Thanks!