Natalee was born in College Station, TX. Her father was out of the picture before she was even carried to term. Her early years were tumultuous, being in and out of her mother’s home before ultimately being permanently removed. Natalee was in second grade and had two younger sisters by then. She had also tragically lost her younger brother when he was only an infant.
Natalee and her sisters stayed together until she was in fourth grade, when they were separated and Natalee went to live with her grandparents. After that she only saw her sisters once a year on her sister’s birthday.
One day, when out to lunch at Chick-fil-A, Natalee was introduced to some family friends. She began to spend more time with this family over the course of the next year. Sometime later, on one of these occasions, the family had prepared a scavenger hunt for Natalee. By the end, she had gathered several pieces to a puzzle. Once she had completed the puzzle, she turned it over, and on the back was an invitation to officially become a part of their family. Natalee burst into tears. She had found her “forever family.”
Natalee was formally adopted during her sixth grade year, at age 12. After she transitioned to middle school, she quickly got in with the wrong crowd. Her parents enrolled her in boarding school in an attempt to give Natalee more structure. When she was expelled from boarding school near the end of her freshman year, Natalee blamed her parents for all that was going wrong and continued in her path of defiance.
There was more disciplinary action, more rebellion, and more eroded trust. “I had a lot on my shoulders, but I just couldn’t accept that the majority of the hardships and consequences I had to endure were a result of the things that I had done. I continued to place the blame on my parents.”
Natalee arrived at Christian Encounter last August. When she got here, Natalee immediately sized up the student body and looked to get in with those who controlled the social hierarchy. She was determined to land on top, where she would be untouchable and could call the shots. She fed off the approval of others. However, Natalee was unable to stay within the structure provided and would often end up in the counselor’s office.
It would be several months before Natalee’s behavior began to shift.
In March, an opportunity was presented to her that she would have never thought to ask for. She hoped for a positive outcome and yet had zero control over it. She prayed angrily, then cautiously. Could God really be that good?
As the details began to solidify, Natalee began to reflect more on God’s care for her as a heavenly Father.
Then words from the pulpit on a Sunday morning gave her a deeper understanding of His heart. Aaron Nunn, the speaker, shared, “Whenever I sin, I feel hopeless and unworthy, and I can stay stuck there.” But then he spoke of God’s forgiveness and how He no longer sees our sin once we repent. Natalee shares, “That’s how I felt….Now whenever I sin, I repent immediately. I can walk forward and not look back. I’ve never walked like that.”
Natalee began to reckon with past actions and seek reconciliation. As she began to learn to live as one who has been forgiven, her joy began to erupt. “Now I want to be Your daughter!”
Natalee is beginning to recognize that true joy comes from walking in obedience, choosing to submit her will to His. “I want to be the best me I can be. I can do it as long as I say, ‘God not my will, but yours be done.’ When I leave, I won’t plummet, because I set a structure for myself where I say, ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’”
“This place has given me a lot of hope for what my future can look like if I seek to follow Him every single day. I never thought that I would be where I am today.”
Zoya Lee
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. - Lamentations 3:25-26
