Seasons of Life — The Journey

From the Archives: Winter 2011

Written by Mindy Coatney

There was a season in my life, after getting the call from the Lord to go into education, which I felt had come to a dead end. I felt lost and depressed. To me it seemed that God had brought me through so many rich experiences, and then He dropped me. After college was finished, I thought He had forgotten me. The truth is I dropped Him.

God Answers Amidst Uncertain Season of Life

It was during this time God called me to a very serious place with the Holy Spirit. He called me to pray and fast from food for three days. At that moment, He clearly called me to renew my focus on Him. I don’t think I ever strayed from the Lord completely; I believe I was simply overwhelmed with options and uncertainties. The situation finally came to a head. I was doing nothing, which caused me to feel “let go” by the Lord.

After praying and fasting for three days for the first time in my life, an opportunity opened for me to work at Samaritan’s Purse. Before the interview at SP, I never thought God was pointing me in that direction, but I was hired and spent five years with the organization. I worked with Operation Christmas Child for three years and with the Children’s Heart Project the last two. That was, without doubt, God’s answer for that season in my life.

God Breaks the Chain of Divorce

Another struggle in my life was choosing a mate. I’m not a decision-maker and my decisions regarding boyfriends were often not good. I wasted a lot of effort on my wrong choices. I began to sense that God had someone totally new in my future, someone I could feel confident that He had picked just for me.

I prayed specifics: that it would be clear to both of us that this was God’s plan, and that things would happen quickly. That man, to my delight, was in the Samaritan’s Purse cubical next to mine. His name was Carson Coatney.

We dated for two weeks, and I told him that I would say “Yes!” if he asked me to marry him. This was really different from my past indecisions. At the end of two weeks, we were engaged on Easter Sunday on the back porch of his grandparent’s home in Kentucky, and married in 4 months.

God had so clearly answered my prayer for a husband. It was the first time in my life I had no doubts. I knew I was marrying the right person. I came from a divorced family background, and I desperately wanted to avoid that in my own life. We believe God broke the chain of divorce with our marriage.

As I look back at that time of fasting and prayer, it is easy to see God undoubtedly leading and perfecting me. But I had an on-going responsibility to get real with Him. It was a true signpost in my life when I fasted and prayed those three days. Without that time, I may have missed God’s calling.

Bakers of Bread, Builders of Community

One way that we felt God leading us was in starting our own business. We loved our time with Samaritan’s Purse. Carson worked with Operation Christmas Child as I had, but we both wanted to start a family and Carson had always wanted his own business.

Neither Carson’s degree in economics nor mine in education gave a hint that we would become bakers of bread.

But in 2000, we stumbled into a bakery in the Washington D.C. area, and we thought the concept would work well here in Boone. We also believed God put the seed in our hearts to start the bakery.

Owning your own business can be a scary thing. Things aren’t always perfect; people aren’t always happy. It keeps us before our Lord. We made decisions early on to reflect our desire to serve the Lord with all that He has given us, like setting aside a day of worship, rest and family time on Sundays.

God has proven to us that this is a ministry to our community, our customers, and our employees. The bakery is a way for us to be part of other’s lives in many ways and build community.

Our Door Is Always Open

Another season of life has come upon me. It’s a season of focusing on my family (we have three sons) and making our home a place where our family can thrive. It’s a focus on simplicity.

Our home is also a place where people can come and feel comfortable. Coming into such an environment can help ground people. We live right in town and our door is always open to employees, friends and family.

Our home is available to the Lord to use as He desires. It’s the season to minister and befriend all those who come through our door.