In seventh grade, Nebraska native Kylie Wehling sat with her dad at Union’s Friday night vespers. The chords of the song “Oceans” drifted across the sanctuary as the pianist’s hands glided along the piano keys. Her dad turned to whisper to her, “One day, you’re going to play like that up there.” Wehling remembers thinking how unbelievable that seemed, but at the same time praying that what her dad said would turn out to be true.

Not long before that night, Wehling had suffered a massive hand and wrist injury. Shattered glass had severed nerves, tendons, and arteries in her left hand, taking away her ability to play the instruments she loved. Creating music with the piano, cello, and French horn now seemed impossible, and Wehling wondered how this was a part of God’s plan.

Now a graduating senior from Union Adventist University, Wehling’s life has been filled with challenges, and with each one, her perspective grows. “I always go back to scripture and have a solid, honest prayer with God,” she said. “Like, ‘hey, this kind of stinks. I failed, I hit a wall. I don’t know what You want me to do next. Lead me.’ And it kind of reframes my mindset that this is not necessarily a closed door, but an opportunity to go somewhere else until we walk into a different area that God has called us into.”

Union ties run deep in the Wehling family, as does a commitment to the ministry of health care. Both of her parents, Dr. Merlin Wehling and Chere (Ray) Wehling, graduated from Union in 1997, and her brother, Caleb Wehling, graduated in 2024. While her brother followed in their mother’s footsteps to a career in nursing, Kylie is finishing her degree in biomedical science to follow her father’s path as a physician. She has been accepted to Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and will continue her studies in California after getting married this June.

When she isn’t studying, snowboarding or playing cello, Wehling is leading her fellow students closer to Christ with a servant-hearted attitude. Whether it’s on the volleyball court, hosting Bible studies, or planning and leading out in music for campus ministries events, it’s Wehling’s prayer that in everything she does, “Jesus would be glorified and that people would see Him through me.”

Wehling’s favorite Bible verse is Isaiah 43:2. It says that through the waters and fire, God is near. She has learned that this couldn’t be more true. Along with having successfully taken the MCAT and completing half-marathons, God brought her from a near-paralyzing injury to sitting at the piano in the College View Church playing and singing with fellow Union students, right where her dad said she would be.