Like so many of us, Kathy Scully was raised in a home that often succumbed to tension, dysfunction, and brokenness.

Her parents’ actions communicated a confusing message that she was both the very best thing and the very worst thing. Although Kathy came to know about Jesus at a young age through the church, it was only a few short years later that she rebelled and turned away from God. For years she turned to anything and everything—drugs, alcohol, relationships—to fill the growing, insatiable emptiness inside. She spent a large portion of her life seeking comfort and affirmation from anything apart from God. At her core was the overwhelming belief that she was not good enough, leading to a vicious cycle of addiction to things that provided a quick emotional fix.

“She spent a large portion of her life seeking comfort and affirmation from anything apart from God.”

In 1989, Kathy got sober, but she was still far off from pursuing Jesus or having anything to do with people who called themselves Christians. The drinking may have stopped, but her endless search to fill the void inside relentlessly continued. It wasn’t until almost two decades later that she stepped foot into church and for the first time found what her soul desperately thirsted for all these years—Jesus. In that moment the search was over, and the process of reconciliation began.

Looking back on her life, Kathy compares her story to the woman at the well in John 4 who brokenly seeks comfort and security in all the wrong places. Despite the years she spent running from Christ, He was always there patiently pursuing her. Often His pursuit came through the people He placed in her path. Overflowing with thankfulness, she recognizes that she “would probably still be wandering out there in that miserable desert if people hadn’t taken the time to pray for [her]”. Those are some of the same people who took part in her baptism and share in community with her today. It is the women she now surrounds herself with who consistently remind her that there is love, peace, and mercy folded into all the brokenness.

“It wasn’t until almost two decades later that she stepped foot into church and for the first time found what her soul desperately thirsted for all these years—Jesus.”

Although Kathy has turned from her old ways and stepped into a life of freedom in Christ, it is still a daily challenge to lay down her sins. Each day she seeks to pray and give every thought to Christ, the One who truly satisfies her soul. To aid in her walk with Christ, Kathy took part in re:generation, where she found that the curriculum helped peel back layers and bring her to a place of freedom and peace. She no longer aimlessly wanders in search of identity because the “best blessing of all is, like the woman at the well, I see Him, I am known by Him, I am satisfied, and I thirst no more.”