You want to turn on the waterworks? Become a parent and take your kid to college. The kids you prayed over, packed lunches for, and sang to sleep… now you pack up your heart and drive it to a campus.

This month, Natalie Grant started dropping off her twin daughters, Gracie and Bella, for their freshman year of college. In true Natalie fashion, she’s letting fans in on the swirl of joy, pride, and (let’s be honest) buckets of tears.

One of the most touching clips she shared was a throwback interview from right after the twins were born, where she said she “couldn’t believe God entrusted me enough” and that she was blessed to have two healthy baby girls. ⬇️

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And if you’ve followed Natalie for a while, none of this emotion is surprising. Earlier this year, she pressed pause on touring for the first half of 2025 to be fully present for her girls’ senior milestones, proms, recitals, and college visits.

This spring was already packed with “lasts” like senior trips, senior spring break, graduation snapshots, and then suddenly, it was real: duffels, dorm keys, and that gut-punch moment when you hug just a little longer before letting go.

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Just days ago, she posted a video reflecting on how certain lyrics are hitting differently these days, like her powerful collab with Tasha Cobbs Leonard on “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Natalie admitted she hears it in a whole new way “as we send our twins off to college.”

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If you’re a mom, aunt, mentor, or bonus parent, you can feel the holy tension in Natalie’s posts: we raised them to fly… but flying means leaving. She’s celebrating the girls’ next step while letting herself be human about the grief of change, something so many parents are quietly living out this fall.

In another emotional moment, Natalie shared with Bekah that one song has always been hers and her daughters’ song: “Make You Feel My Love.” She cries every time she sings the lyrics:

“I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue / I’d go crawling down the avenue / No, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do / To make you feel my love”

One reason Natalie’s story resonates so deeply is that she’s never separated motherhood from ministry.

And for the curious: the twins are already charting their own paths. From tags and stories, we know one daughter has started at Belmont University in Nashville, while the other is heading to Southeastern University in Florida (SEU).

So if you’re loading a minivan this week, or not looking forward to constant FaceTime goodbyes, know this: you’re not alone. Natalie’s story is a reminder that even the strongest worship leaders are just parents with puffy eyes in a college parking lot.

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