For over twenty years, Michelle DeMann carried a dream she didn’t know how to name.

After speaking to women’s groups for two decades, sharing her story of redemption and hope, she knew there was more she was meant to give. But that “more” felt stuck inside her—like a piece of gum on the bottom of a plate, she says—something she’d pull out and examine when the yearning came, then tuck away again as life took over.

Working as a Behavioral Care Assistant and caring for her terminally ill father, Michelle kept searching. She looked into Moody Bible Institute. She talked with a chaplain. She counseled friends who sought her wisdom. But the confidence to step forward? That remained just out of reach.

“I was constantly searching,” she remembers. “I wanted to serve in a capacity I was unsure of. I just needed something, but I lacked confidence deep inside.”

Then came the divine appointments.

First, a neighbor invited her for coffee and mentioned she was a Christian Life Coach. Michelle had never heard of such a thing. The neighbor wrote down a training school’s name on a sticky note. Michelle put it on her desk… and left it there.

Months later, a new friend—a counselor—asked her directly: “Why aren’t you a Life Coach?”

That was all it took. Michelle found the sticky note, discovered Peacemaker Christian Coaching Institute, and jumped in.

But the training wasn’t what she expected.

“At first I was frustrated and thought, what on earth did I get myself into?” Michelle admits. The work was abstract, incredibly hard. She reached out to her neighbor friend multiple times for encouragement.

Then came the breakthrough: surrender.

“It was finally when I surrendered to myself and let go of my logic,” Michelle explains, “and allowed God to work in all of this—molding me again, taking off the hard, crusty, sharp edges of my character—building me now to be softer and gentle.”

The transformation rippled through everything. Michelle learned to be almost invisible, to hear with her heart, to be all there. That skill—being fully present—became her sweet spot.

Today, Michelle uses her coaching skills with family and friends. When her granddaughter struggled for years to move out of her apartment, lacking motivation and confidence, Michelle met with her. Through questions and gentle accountability, even when the first apartment fell through, her granddaughter gained the courage to keep pursuing—and succeeded.

“To say those words out loud—I am a Christian Life Coach—seems surreal,” Michelle says. “Coaching has changed how I look at people, how I respond and react. I know now how to get myself out of the way, and how critical that is.”

The woman who once chewed on her dream in quiet longing now walks in it with clarity.