Sarah Atchley – From Addiction and Darkness to Healing and Purpose

Some stories remind us that no one is too broken for God to restore.

In this powerful conversation, Valerie Peterson sits down with Sarah Atchley to share a testimony of addiction, surrender, healing, and God’s redeeming love.

Sarah opens up about growing up with deep pain, a spiritual emptiness, and addiction in her family background. From a young age, she felt a void she could not explain. By 12, she began self-harming, and by 13, she took her first pain pill.

For the next 16 years, addiction became the way she tried to numb the pain.

Her drug of choice became heroin, and for many years she lived through homelessness, legal consequences, broken relationships, overdoses, and deep hopelessness. After six rehabs, Sarah believed she might be too far gone.

But God was not finished with her story.

While sitting in jail, Sarah began attending Celebrate Recovery. At first, it wasn’t because her heart was fully ready—but God used even that small willingness. On Christmas Day, she genuinely surrendered her life to Jesus and asked Him to take over what she could no longer manage on her own.

That surrender changed everything.

Sarah eventually entered Path of Grace, a two-year program that became the place where God rebuilt her life, restored her identity, and taught her how to live in freedom one day at a time.

She learned that healing is not always instant—it is a process.

Through daily surrender, community, accountability, and time with God, Sarah began to see herself differently. What once felt like stubbornness and brokenness, God transformed into passion, strength, and purpose.

Today, Sarah is using her story to help other women find the same hope and healing she found. She now serves with Path of Grace and is stepping into full-time ministry, helping broken women discover that they are loved, valued, and never too far gone.

Her story is proof that God can restore the years addiction tried to steal.

Sarah encourages listeners to:
Stay surrendered daily.
Get into God’s Word.
Find a church community.
Walk in accountability.
And never believe the lie that your past disqualifies you.

Your pain can become your platform.
Your story can bring hope.
And God can use even the darkest places to reveal His greatest restoration.

What is one area of your life that God may be asking you to surrender today?

Contact Sarah Atchley:
📧 delicatelikeabomb@gmail.com

For more information contact us at
rtrdestiny@gmail.com

Transcript

Welcome And A Life Rebuilt

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well welcome. This is Road to Redemption, and I'm Valerie Peterson, your host for today. Thrilled you've joined us because we have an amazing woman in the right in the studio. And the verse is in Micah 7.8 where it says, Don't gloat over me, my enemies, when I have fallen, for I shall arise. And Sarah Ackley is just an example of getting back up and living life to the fullest. So welcome, Sarah. Thank you. I'm I'm pleased to be here. I'm very excited. Thank you, Miss Bow, for having me. I'm so glad you're here. Can you share with us a little bit about you today and what you do before we go into your testimony? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

So uh I sell shoes um here on Grand Boulevard. I've really enjoyed that. I like to think of myself as a comfort provider. Um and also on Sundays, I work at Path of Grace, but I'm very excited. I'm about to move forward and start to transition into full-time ministry with Path of Grace, which has always been the calling, it's always been the prayer, and God is uh answering that. And I believe it's because I've been faithful to his will and been a good steward of his will, and I'm just super pumped to help more broken women the way that I was broken.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah, love it. Love it. You know, I look at you and Sarah, it's like God trained you up in active addiction. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. And here you are today. He he's taken your pain and literally made it her platform. Can you start and share with us about when you were a little girl and what life was

Childhood Void And First Escapes

SPEAKER_00 1:40

like?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah, so uh both of my parents, biological parents, were predisposed to the disease of addiction. So they weren't around a lot. Um, I I believe that that made me predisposed to the disease of addiction because I got it on both sides, right? And some of my earliest uh childhood memories, I remember feeling like this raging void inside of me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I knew that something was was missing. Um, I realized, you know, hindsight's 2020, but I realized today that, you know, I have a disease and that I had a spiritual sickness going on. I um had a heart problem. Um, and so growing up, I did have this huge chip on my shoulder at uh 12 years old. I self-harmed for the first time. That was my very first drug of choice because it numbed out that pain and that void for me. 13, I took my first pain pill. Um and from 13 to, you know, for 16 years, it was like that's what I did uh because it numbed out that pain for me. You know, it was temporary, so I continued to have to chase it. Uh, there was a lot of consequences to my actions. Uh, you know, I lost relationships, uh, I had legal consequences. There were uh a lot of damage done in those 16 years, and I really was at a point where I felt completely destitute and desperate, and I didn't, I really truly thought that I would die this way, that I could never have hope, a future, or anything.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

I I just I can't imagine what you walked through. How old were you when you got treatment?

Seven Rehabs And Why Two Years

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Uh, so I actually went through six rehabs and uh Pack of Grace was my seventh. So I um had been in and out of, they were all short-term programs, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. I think that it took the two years for me because I had done, I was, I had done such a good job at uh destroying any self-esteem I had, right? That it was like it took two years to build up that esteem in me, to realize that, you know, uh I could go out and I was capable of being a contributing member of society. I was capable of having integrity and I was capable of being kind and loving and caring.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

You know, I always say that what has happened in our life didn't happen overnight, right? In healing, folks, it is a process, not an event, and you had testimony to that, that you gave yourself the time, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:07

And yeah, it was that you stayed the full two years at Path of Grace, and then I uh went on be at the suggestion of uh Eddie, who is the director of Path of Grace. Um, his suggestion was to go to uh their transitional programming, which is a wonderful program, by the way. Um, it's a year long, um, and it's like a small community of sober living little homes. And so you're surrounded by people with the same mindset, the same mentality, who are trying to grow and like uh basically transition back into uh the real world from being in a uh rehab for two years. And so I went and did the uh year at transitional, and that was a wonderful experience. And I believe had that not been in place, I might have relapsed because it is hard to go from uh being in this positive, holy environment, right? And now I'm uh thrown back out into a worldly secular environment. It's like if I didn't have that community, I don't know where I would be today.

unknown 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

So that's an option for people, right? Absolutely that it really is an option. Can you talk about, like in your darkest years, what was your drug of choice?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

So uh my drug of choice was heroin. Um, I was an IV drug user for uh about 10 out of the 16 years that I used. Um, it's a terrible drug. I know it's an epidemic right now. Uh a lot of people are dying, and I'm lucky I didn't, you know, I overdosed many times. Uh, was brought back with Narcan. Um, you know, I had done the methadone deal, you know, um trying to get off of it. I had done Vivitrol, I had even done Suboxin. So I went and and seeked out all different routes before I tried Jesus. And uh what I found out was it was all just a uh band-aid over a bullet hole, okay? And it it didn't help me get clean off anything, it really just got me addicted to something else. And so uh I went on a lot of side quests trying to find a shortcut. Um, and the shortcut don't work, you have to put in the hard work.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

You really do. Can you tell our listeners when was it that you really understood there was a heavenly father, a God that loves you?

Jail, Celebrate Recovery, And Surrender

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Yeah, absolutely. So uh I was actually in uh jail. So I uh of course found more consequences to my drug use, right? And as I sat in jail, uh I started going to celebrate recovery. And don't don't get it twisted, it wasn't because my heart posture was right. Um, I really just wanted to get out of one box I was in 24 hours a day and go to another box, you know, once a week. But the that's the cool thing about my higher power, which is God, Jesus Christ, is that uh he's such a cool dude, man. He'll use that little bit of willingness and he'll turn it into just a just a powerhouse. And so I began going and uh, you know, I grew up in church um and I had said the prayer, Miss Mal, when I was young, you know, they say, you know, ask Jesus into your heart, but I had done it because they told me to do it. I didn't have any understanding, and I certainly didn't have any relationship. Um, I thought the church was a building, and uh it turns out the church is me, and I think that's really cool. But anyway, so I'm I'm in the jail, I'm going to the celebrate recovery, and God started using that little bit of willingness, and he started to soften those rough edges I had in my heart from all these years of drug abuse and trauma and things like that. Um, and I remember it was around four years ago on Christmas Day, I asked God into my heart officially and genuinely and authentically, um, because I was at such a desperate point. And I told God, I said, you know, to be honest with you, I haven't been a good God to myself. I'm a bad director, and I'm an even worse producer of my show. If you can take over and do something better with me than I've done, which has made a huge mess of things, then I will go to whatever lengths you tell me to go. I'm willing if you'll do it. And um, he used that, man, and I meant to have the grace after that, you know, and I didn't even know what rehab I was going to. But at that point, I had surrendered to such a degree that I told God, you're the director, you're the producer, so it's up to you where I go. I didn't even know it was a two-year program. I didn't know anything. I just knew that it wasn't my business. I told him I was willing and I was able, and that was it. And so I went, and when I got there is when I found out it was two years, and I said, Miss Mountain, two years. You know, in retrospect, it's like 16 years versus two years. It's a huge difference. The two years is what it took, and I'm I'm grateful that it was, you know, it was two years now, but it was overwhelming walking in the doors, but it was the best decision I've ever made, and and it was all because of God. And I think that he's seen that authenticity and that willingness in my heart, even though it was just a mustard seed. He's seen that and he was like, I can use that. And so he sent me to the to the best program I've ever been to out of out of seven, it was the best.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

And I, you know, I'm listening to you and thinking, you must have learned stay in today, Matthew 6. Don't look at tomorrow. Right. Tomorrow will have enough issues of uh of its own. Stay in today.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

How how did you learn to do that? Oh man, well, you know, I went into that program, so I I did go through a lot of homelessness throughout those 16 years, right? And um, I'm gonna be honest with you, I think that people who have experienced homelessness before they go into Path of Grace have it such an advantage in the program, and I'll tell you why. It's because we are able to keep gratitude at the forefront. It was easy for me not to stay in tomorrow or yesterday. I was just grateful to have somewhere to live, Ms. Val. These people hugged me and loved on me and uh told me I was worth something. They fed me. Uh, you know, I got to work in this positive environment. It was so easy for me to stay in today, to be honest with you. I know that's a struggle for some of the residents, but for me, that was never really a problem because I was just so grateful to be in today.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

So, really, your darkest moment was in jail? Yeah. That you said, I need something. Yeah, you want to celebrate recovery. Yeah. And then someone led you to Path of Grace.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah, and celebrate recovery. In celebrate recovery. Yeah, they were they were actually advertising for a better life every time I went. And that drew me in, and I started thinking, I wonder if I could have a better way of life too. Because where I was in my thought process only led me to the points of jails, institutions, and death. And that was it. That's all I'd had. And that stopped being fun a long time ago. And as I sat in that orange jumpsuit, I got to thinking, I wonder really and truly if I can if I could pull that gig off, if I could really have a better way of life. And I started talking to them about it, and they gave me an application to to fill out for rehab in the jail. And I filled it out and I said, I don't know if they'll even accept me. I'm probably too far gone, you know. And uh, next thing I know, Path of Grace said, come on. And and to my surprise, the judge let me go because I was not a trustworthy character. You know, I was a flight risk and I like to run. When things got hard, I left out quick. I bailed. And so even for the judge to allow me to walk out of that jail cell and into the doors of Path of Grace, which is, I mean, Path of Grace is free will. I could have walked out at any time. The door's not locked from the outside, right? Right. So the fact that I had made this commitment to a you two-year program and I stuck it out, that right there was a spiritual experience for me because I had never finished anything all the way through. Yeah. And so it was like, wow, God is really changing my mindset, He's showing me I'm capable. Um, and that is just exciting.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

But it all started with surrender. Correct. I mean, really, you when you said okay, Lord, and handed it over to him, I think. Can you say something to the listeners that maybe really they may be at a really dark point in their life?

Daily Surrender In The Morning

SPEAKER_00 12:20

What would you say to them today?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

I would say that it, you know, um, it happened in jail for me, but also um there was this thing that I called daily surrender. I kind of I don't know if that's a thing, I kind of made that up, right? But when I would have my time with God in the mornings, right, I would get in my secret place and I'd go to the back porch at Path of Grace. I started to practice and just saying out loud all the things that I had no control over. And I'd say, God, you know, I surrender over my family, I surrender over my character defects, I surrender over my past, my pain, my hurts, my low self-esteem. And you know, sometimes it would be five minutes, sometimes it'd be 30. You know, whatever the Holy Spirit kind of brought to me, I would just verbalize out loud. And there was just power in saying it out loud, all the things that I was powerless over and just coming to a place of acceptance with that, and just saying, you know, I accept I'm powerless over this, and and when I try to uh get back control, you know, it doesn't end well for me. So when I just let God do do his uh do his best, you know, I do the rest after that. So it's it's a continuing thing. Um, it's not just a boom.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah, you'd have it's uh it's a process, not an event, like you said. Right. And and you know, I was looking for my notes, but I remember you saying on the phone to me, she said that she was hard headed. And she said, Can you can you talk about that?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Yes, God took your personality style. Yeah, so that's another cool thing about God is that he doesn't want to change who I am, he wants to use the personality traits that he's given me for the greater good. And so I was super hard-headed. That's why I stayed in addiction for 16 years, right? It's not because the hope wasn't there, it's not that the offer of a better life wasn't there. I was too hard-headed to take it. And so um, while I was at Path of Grace, I some some way, somehow, he switched that over. And now I'm super hard-headed and passionate about recovery. And it's like I know I never have to use again, and that I can tell my story and I can help women make the same decision because you know, if I can do it at 16 years, homelessness, you know, uh, I had violent tendencies, I talked with my hands, not with my mouth, Miss Val, I'm not proud of it, but it just was what it was. Um, but today, uh, you know, God has turned all that for the greater good and he's just made me very hard-headed in recovery. Can't nobody tell me God's not real, can't nobody tell me that I'm not special, and can't nobody tell me that God doesn't love me. He's such a lover because I thought he was a God of judgment, but he's really not, he's a lover, and he don't want to change who I am, he just wants to highlight it for him.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

And I, you know, as you were talking, I was thinking about the verses in Jeremiah 1.5 where it says, Before I knit you in your mother's womb, I knew you. So it's really not about our parents, right? It's about him ordaining our days. And you look at where you're at, it's like nothing short of a God-given miracle. You know, in Joel 2, it says, I will restore the years the locust has eaten. Yeah, look at the restoration in you.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah, it's fruitful. I mean, my life is fruitful. The fact that I wake up every day and I no longer had the obsession and compulsion to use is it's that's a spiritual encounter. That's a spiritual awakening to me. Um, because I never thought that I could go a day without thinking about using drugs. But I wake up and I think, who can I help today? How can I serve today? Wow. And I love that.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

I love

Called To Ministry And Serving Others

SPEAKER_00 15:56

it. Talking about ministry, I want to ask you, when did you know but know that you were called to be in ministry?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, so me and me and God are pretty tight. And so I hear from God pretty good. Um, I had a stirring very early on in my program at Path of Grace. If you'd asked me before I went at any point, I would have never said I want to work in a recovery field. Like that was that was never a dream of mine. But I think that God had that seed deep, deep in my spirit. Well, as like you said, when I was born, you know, before you were even born. Yeah. And um, but I had that stirring very early on, and I can remember uh proclaiming, you know, I'm gonna work at Path of Grace full-time one day. I'm gonna help women and give freely what I was given so freely. And uh I don't know, but I just I just knew in my inner knower, Miss Val, that this was what I was meant to do. It was what I was created for, you know, that all this pain had a purpose.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

It's just a menus. And you know, we always like to close out with our three pillars. And the first one is get in. I want to see what you have to say about this, but get in the word. Because the word is sharper than a two-edged sword. We also say find a church. Yeah, find a church. There's something about gathering in a church. I don't know about you, but when I walk out, I feel different. Absolutely. It's like I can leave all the dust and all the anxiety or whatever right in church. And lastly, we really encourage accountability, small group, somehow, having people that will go shoulder to shoulder. Absolutely. Absolutely. Do you have anything to

Accountability, NA, And Real Integrity

SPEAKER_00 17:36

add there?

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Um, I I agree with all three of your pillars, but I definitely think that uh I had the most experience with accountability. Um, so I actually actively participated in Narcotics Anonymous. Um, I think that that's what it took for me. You know, it took both. It took, it took Path of Grace, the church, and it also took the 12 steps, which, you know, they correlate biblically. They sure do know. Uh the very first step is about surrender, right? Be still and know. So uh it definitely uh to this day I have an active sponsor. I sponsor seven women through uh Narcotics Anonymous. I go to meetings regularly, um, and I stay accountable. Uh, but most importantly, the coolest thing is today I have this deeper level of accountability with myself. Um, I don't always have to have my sponsor say, you know you did wrong, right? I know God's seen me. And so it's like I have to take accountability even when I don't think anyone else sees it. And that has been very empowering for me to have that deeper level of integrity and ownership of my actions and responsibility because I never had that before. I I was never I never had integrity, I never owned when I was wrong. It was always someone else's fault. I was continuously a victim, caught in this cycle. But what God revealed to me is that I may have been a victim sometimes in my childhood, but at a certain point I made a decision to put myself in situations to be re-victimized. Why? Because that's where I was comfortable. And in order for me to take back my power and stop being a victim and to live a fruitful life, I would have to take responsibility for my actions, I would have to make prompt amends, and I'd have to have integrity, especially when no one patted me on the back.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Isn't God looking for a congruent person? Yeah. What we are at work in the community, church, we're gonna be a little bit more laid back, right? Right. But the same behind closed doors. Yes, and that's what you're saying here 100%. Love it. Yeah, I what we just thank you for joining us today.

Prayer, Restoration, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 19:43

We're gonna close out in prayer. Absolutely. Um, I I'm gonna start and then if you would close, Sarah. Father God, thank you. Thank you that you're here. Thank you for Sarah, thank you for her testimony, her story of your goodness. Father God, thank you for the verses in Psalm 27 where you say, I am confident of this, that I'll see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Lord, you've shown us through Sarah, you are all about healing and restoration. And we give you thanks for that.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

And Father God, I just thank you, Lord, for uh Miss Val's willingness. I love God that you've given her eyes to see uh so many women in the community that are recovering the same way that you see us, Father, and that's worthy and that we have a story to tell. I thank you, Father God, that you use broken vessels, Lord, that those are your favorite things to use, Lord. I thank you, Lord, that you took me out of just the depths of darkness and that you've set me on a rock, Lord. I thank you, Father God, for path of grace. I thank you, Lord, that you're about to multiply it and make it go fruitful across the coast, God. That path of grace is taking over this community and that there is going to be a fresh revival and a fresh wind, Father, of just love and restoration, God. We love you and we thank you, Lord, for all the things that you give us daily, but most importantly for your love. In Jesus' name we praise. Amen. Amen. Thank you again for listening in.