Michelle Socha’s journey of faith through the unexpected
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. —Isaiah 55:8-9
Often, the straightest line between A and B is not the route God chooses for us. We may set off confidently toward a goal, only to have God change our direction. Many lose hope in these defining moments, but trusting God’s plan can yield unexpected joy and profound fruit. Michelle Socha of Holy Family Parish in Poniatowski shows that walking an unexpected path with God can become an incredible adventure.
Growing up in Lower Michigan, Michelle never imagined living in rural Central Wisconsin, much less raising her family on a farm. Her life had a very different trajectory before God changed her direction. She attended Northern Michigan University in Marquette, where she earned an accounting degree and met her first husband, Derrick. After graduation, the couple settled in Bessemer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1998 and welcomed their daughter, Serena. There, they planned to take over Derrick’s family accounting business.
A Life Redirected by Loss
Shortly afterward, Derrick was diagnosed with cancer. The next four years were filled with travel, treatments, difficult conversations and a reimagining of life. On July 1, 2003, Derrick passed away—but not before, as Michelle recalls, “one profound night while he was on hospice,” when he made her promise to become Catholic and raise their daughter in the Faith.
At 28, Michelle became a widow and single mother. Her future looked very different.
Michelle had grown up Methodist. She was very involved in her church and, at one point, even wanted to become a youth pastor. But shortly after confirmation, she said, “God got me pointed in a different direction, and I ended up leaving the church. I was desiring something different.”
She had some exposure to Catholicism while spending weekends with her grandparents and attending Mass. “I was drawn to and entranced by the rituals, which were far different than what I was used to.” Even during her teen and young adult years, Michelle always felt Jesus’ presence.
After Derrick’s diagnosis, the couple began attending St. Sebastian Parish in Bessemer. Michelle wrestled with many fears and questions during those turbulent years. Reflecting on Derrick’s final request, she said, “I felt like he understood my struggle and that yearning to come into the Catholic Church. I didn’t know at the time what the yearning was, and I think he recognized it.”
Two close Catholic friends supported Michelle after Derrick’s death. They encouraged her to stay involved with the parish. Michelle found comfort in the St. Sebastian’s community and entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) later that year—just as her daughter began first Communion preparation.
A Defining Moment with the Eucharist
Michelle fondly remembers her RCIA experience at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Ironwood, Mich. She was welcomed with open arms, gently guided through a season of grief and met with patient answers to her questions about the Faith.
During a pre-Holy Week retreat centered on the Eucharist, Michelle experienced a profound turning point. “I wept,” she recalled, “as I finally understood the yearning I had carried throughout my entire childhood. It all came down to this: all I ever wanted was the precious body and blood of Jesus.”
At the Easter Vigil, Michelle and Serena were baptized, and Michelle entered full communion with the Church. “I felt like I was at home. There was a fire inside me, and I came out of there thinking, ‘OK, what’s next?’”
Growing in Faith and Leadership
While continuing to learn the accounting business and raise Serena, Michelle felt called to deepen her faith life. At the prompting of her friend and sponsor, she attended a Koinonia retreat in Hurley, Wis., in the fall of 2003.
At the retreat, she met her table leader, a man from Edgar. “His smile reminded me of Jesus,” Michelle said. That man, Patrick, would become her husband the following year.
Michelle and Serena moved to Patrick’s fourth-generation family farm near Edgar, where the family still lives. The couple have three more children: Erica, Isaac and Lucas.
Koinonia remained a meaningful part of Michelle’s life. She eventually served on the Diocese of Superior’s board of directors. The retreat’s mission—celebrating the Paschal Mystery in community and living it daily—resonated deeply with her. Many fellow retreat leaders went on to serve in lay ministry. Michelle saw how their formation transformed them. “There was a joy they expressed. You could feel it, see it, and I wanted to be a part of that. But we were having children, and it wasn’t the time.”
While Patrick tended to the farm and worked as a school bus driver, Michelle kept a full schedule. She did tax preparation until 2020 and now works as an office aide at Edgar Elementary School. When she moved to the area in 2005, the parish’s deacon recognized her willingness to serve and invited her to become a lector and extraordinary minister of holy Communion. Her roles grew to include sacristan, bookkeeper, secretary and, eventually, office administrator.
Michelle’s Yes to the Lay Formation Institute
As her involvement deepened, Michelle felt called to serve in a more intentional way. She had long been interested in the Diocese of La Crosse’s Lay Formation Institute (LFI).
When Father Tom Huff was pastor at Holy Family Parish, Michelle asked if she could pursue LFI. He supported her discernment. Later, Father Alan Wierzba told her, “Yes! You need to do this!” Her Koinonia friends echoed the encouragement: “It’s going to change your life. It’s going to change your perspective.”
In September 2021, Michelle began the two-year LFI program, which consists of one Friday evening through Saturday each month, September through May.
“The Lay Formation Institute broadened my insight and knowledge of my Catholic Faith. It gave clarity to the mysteries I hadn’t understood. It solidified what I’d been learning all along.”
She described the formation process as building concentric circles around her faith. “I came in with a little bullseye. I knew I wanted God in the center of my life. But going through lay formation added layers—Church history, Scripture, the Catechism, prayer, Theology of the Body, discipleship, evangelization.”
One of the final pieces of the program involved discerning her spiritual gifts—her “charisms.”
“You’re not supposed to keep them to yourself,” Michelle said. “You’re supposed to give them to the world. It’s like a vocation within a vocation. And when I figured it out, I was ready to go! I knew where God needed me.”
Michelle discovered she was already using her gifts of administration and small group leadership at church and in her job. “But I didn’t realize the joy I got from using them was what He wanted. God wants that joy for us. He wants us to strive to be saints.”
She added with a laugh, “Sometimes people have to bring me down from the clouds and say, ‘Hey, come join the rest of us.’”
A Life of Prayer and Service
Michelle found a powerful spiritual anchor in the Liturgy of the Hours, which was prayed regularly during formation weekends. “This beautiful devotion, now my favorite, helped me connect with my classmates and with a global community in prayer.” She continues to pray the Hours—sometimes joined by her son, Lucas.
After completing LFI, Michelle continued with Lay Leader of Prayer training. That formation equipped her to lead Communion services in nursing homes, various devotions in the parish, and other forms of prayer outreach. Though her parish work mostly takes place in the evenings and on weekends, she helps coordinate nearly all aspects of parish operations.
“What I do here at the church doesn’t feel like a job. It feels like something I’m meant to do.”
“Our parish is truly blessed with people who love to help,” she added. “And I’m blessed with a family who tirelessly supports me—especially when it comes to the parish’s needs.”
“Lay formation has changed me in many ways,” Michelle said. Her family agrees. Together, they tend the farm, participate in Scouts and 4-H and stay involved in parish life. They treasure their time together—praying the rosary, watching movies, hiking and visiting the Great Lakes. On their travels, they often stop to admire Catholic churches.
Michelle encourages others to consider LFI: “Read about it, ask questions and talk to people who’ve done it. And if you see the face of Jesus in them—give it a try!”
More information on the Lay Formation Institute can be found at www.diolc.org/lay-formation.
Story by Amy Eichsteadt
Published in the Summer 2025 edition of Catholic Life Magazine