The Story That Seems Impossible
Nate Castleman // UGA Student
When I was asked to write a blog about what God has done in my life and how he has changed it, I was hesitant at first. However, a friend encouraged me saying this story is too good to go untold, which gave me the confidence I needed to write about my life and what God has done in it.
I’ll rip the band-aid right off… If you didn’t know this about me, I was born with dyslexia, meaning I had trouble reading and writing, among other things. I struggled in school my whole life from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. I personally didn't know I had dyslexia till 7th or 8th grade, but my parents knew I had it since I entered elementary school. I wouldn’t say it completely controlled my life, but it definitely played a strong role in showing me what I could and couldn’t do school-wise. I struggled to compare things in the classroom, struggled to read, and struggled to write. I knew I couldn’t read as great as other people in my class because I had a 4th-grade reading level in the 7th grade. Among that, I was either failing most of my classes or barely passing them. However, I was never held back. I always passed along with the other kids getting all A’s in their classes. At that point in time, my parents and I were questioning why God gave me this if all I was bound to do was fail in school and struggle with so much personally.
My 7th-grade year was a long and horrific year for me. In the middle of the first semester of 7th grade, I got therapy for my dyslexia. During this, I had to relearn pretty much everything related to writing and reading, from the alphabet to just writing a basic sentence. This did help a little bit, but I still struggled in school a lot. I got bullied, to say the least; people called me names because of my dyslexia. I lost almost all of my friends during that year, besides a couple of true friends that stuck by my side. Due to the bullying, my grades were slipping, and I was not doing as well in sports. On top of that, I didn’t go to church as much anymore, didn’t pray, and didn’t do what I knew was right. I think this was probably one of the lowest points in my life because I had nobody to talk to about how I felt, or how I was doing personally.
Thankfully, one of those four friends I had that were in my group invited me to church on Wednesday night just to check it out. I did, and I fell in love with what our church was doing for high school and college students. That’s when I started going back to church and serving with the church I was attending. That summer, between my Sophomore and Junior year, I went to an FCA camp. During the last night’s service, they told everyone to close their eyes and that those that wanted to be saved to stand up. That night I gave my life to Jesus for the first time alongside two of my other teammates.
Going into junior year, one of my teachers said something so disrespectful that I believe she got fired after saying it. Every year since going to school, I have had meetings with my coaches, teachers, and parents to see how I was doing in classes. In these meetings, all the teachers gave me high praise for paying attention, answering questions, turning in homework, and doing well on quizzes and tests. However, one day, my Language Arts teacher said, and I quote “your son got a 94 on the benchmark midterm for this semester, but this is the most successful he will be in all his school life. Your son should drop out of high school and never go to college because I don't see him accomplishing much in the future school-wise.” Now hearing that, as a student in high school, was just so discouraging, especially coming from a teacher.
My senior year was more of the same during the first semester. However, something bad happened in the spring of 2020, and everybody knows it well…COVID. A lockdown happened, which meant that no one could even leave the house. During this time, I stopped going to church once again. I just didn’t find a reason or a purpose to go. Those choices led me down a path of darkness and sin. I got into all of those things because of the people around me and the groups I hung out with. I still felt a hole in my heart, but instead of changing anything, I kept doing what I was doing. This led to me losing friends and ultimately breaking up with my girlfriend.
Eventually, I asked my friend, “hey, you brought me back into the Christian life once, can you do it again?” He just smiled and responded, “I would love to.” I felt like I was too far gone this time but I remembered what God did for me and this changed me as a person.
Continuing in 2020, I started my college career at UNG Gainesville, which was the only school that I got into with a high-school GPA of 2.89. Despite everything I had been told and made fun of for, I wanted to prove that God had a bigger plan for me. In my first semester at UNG, I received all A’s and B’s. Let me tell you, I was jumping up and down because I have never gotten grades like this before. The spring of 2021 was an interesting semester. Once again, I finished with A’s and B’s, for the second time ever. And this was God's way of telling me that this is what he had in store for me. That summer, my mom and I took a visit to UGA because I was thinking of transferring out of UNG. My mom delivered this famous line: “how cool would it be if you got into UGA and went here?” I replied, “that will never happen.”
Skipping ahead to fall of 2021, around the middle of the semester, I got an email from UNG saying that I was on the President’s List of UNG. I sent this to my parents and they were so proud of me. I'd been through so much in my life up to that point and been written off by so many people, I was basically doing the impossible in my eyes and in my parents’ eyes as well. All glory goes to God because he put me on the path to work hard in my classes. After my fall semester, I finished with all A’s, which I thought I could never do. I mean come on, a dyslexic guy that graduated high school with a 2.8, finishing a semester with a 4.0? Even saying that now doesn’t seem real to me.
In 2022, my semester kicked off the same way. I got an email from UNG congratulating me for being put on the Dean's list because of my 4.0 standing from the last fall. Now I’m not going to lie, that caught me off guard. I had to read it again and it said “Dean's List.” I started to cry tears of joy. This was yet another achievement that seemed impossible to me. During that spring semester, I was in a class with two of my friends who applied to transfer to UGA. At this point, I was still on the fence about applying, but my mom said “just do it, the worst that could happen is that you don't get in.'' I decided to apply, and then played the waiting game. A couple of weeks passed by and my friends both received emails that they got into UGA for the fall of 2022. I started to feel bad because I thought I didn’t get into UGA. However, on St. Patrick’s Day, I was working with some friends when I received an email from UGA. I opened it and it said, “Nathan Castleman, Congratulations! You have been accepted into UGA for the fall of 2022, you're officially a bulldog.” After I read that email, I broke down crying for a good reason, because I never thought getting into UGA was going to be possible. I told my friends, and they gave me hugs and congratulated me. Then I went into my manager's office, and she started to cry because she was so happy for me. When I called my parents and told them the news, they started to cry as well. Once again, saying I got into UGA sounds surreal. To be honest, I still feel like I’m about to wake up from a dream. I always tell myself that God has put me on a path with many setbacks because he always has something greater in store for me. Therefore, the path he picks for me is the path that I am most grateful for. Ever since I got into UGA, I read this verse my mother sends me every morning.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
This is my life story. Jesus has done amazing things in my life, and he has helped me through the rough patches as well. I really can’t thank him enough, because I truly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. Now I’ve told this story to a small number of friends in Athens, and they are amazed at the power and wisdom Jesus has displayed in my life. When they tell me that, I cry a little because they know how much I’ve been through to become the person I am today. Finally, I will end this off on a high note. I wanted to thank my parents (I know you're reading this) for never giving up on me and always having my back. God has done so much in my life, and I know he will continue to do more! I want to thank you for reading and leave you with this verse for encouragement.
“But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth” 2 Timothy 4:17
God is always on your side and always has your back. He knows what’s best for you. I hope this story was encouraging to you, I hope it leads you to seek out hurting people in your life, and I hope it motivates you to invite them into a loving Christian community because that changed my life.
Nate is a second year Management and Information Systems Major with a Minor in Criminal Justice at UGA. He has been attending Watkinsville since August of this year, as this is his first semester since he transferred from UNG Gainesville. On Tuesdays, he spends his evenings with the Barnes tribe praying for the many missions teams around the world. One thing you should know about Nate is that he enjoys trying new things, whether it is joining a small group or taking opportunities.
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