“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” ~ John 15:4
By Abigail Hasebroock
Golf, good food and gratitude. “Bro Dates” promise just that.
Each week, Nathan Wendling gathers with two other men from his community group to spend quality time together. The groups of three are encouraged to be composed of men who don’t already know each other well so that everyone in the group can become intimately acquainted with one another.
“It’s like intentional speed dating,” the 22-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior joked.
In the beginning of his freshman year when he decided to join Cru, Wendling said he was immersed in a community of men who always had each other’s backs, and he’s been surrounded by a group of supportive close friends ever since.
“It’s just been a joy and a breath of fresh air amid all the craziness of how big UF is,” he said.
Wendling grew up in an environment saturated by Christian culture. Despite being the son of Christian parents and growing up as a child of the church, he was not naive about how college would provide a temptation to abandon his faith.
“The transition to college was the first time the guardrails were dropped,” he said. “That’s why I knew it was, in a sense, a make-or-break for my faith. It’s either going to go how I hope it to, if I'm intentional about it, or if I forget about it, it’s going to drop off the edge.”
Wendling said a desire to lead in his community group was born his freshman year, and this goal came to fruition his junior year when he became an official CG leader. He strove to give back to the ministry and serve as a Godly example after being poured into for two years.
“It's proven itself just to be one of the greatest joys I’ve had all of college,” he said.
Wendling’s heart to serve was not limited to his community group, however. He decided to apply to be Cru’s president toward the end of his junior year and humbly fulfilled the position throughout his entire senior year.
The role required daily commitment and demanded emotional sacrifice, but Wendling’s fervor for Cru never waned.
“I would never change how it went,” he said. “It was just one of the best things that happened all of senior year, just being surrounded by a great Cru Ops team, surrounded by staff even more, and kind of experiencing first hand what joy in serving looks like because I think it’s something you can’t really grasp until you’re actively serving and you realize what a blessing it is to be able to serve others in love.”
Wendling worked to maintain an eternal perspective on his service as he said his primary purpose on earth is to glorify God and advance the kingdom.
“With that scope in mind, I would remind myself that I have certain giftings and talents that are not my own,” he said. “I did nothing to earn them.”
As Wendling prepares to exit the bubble of college, he said he is eager for change because it gives him an opportunity to identify areas where he has grown and areas where he may have fallen short.
Wendling said he is leaving UF with the realization that everyone is designed to be in community and in relationship with one another, which is a lesson that Cru played an active role in teaching.
“It’s been a fun and valuable time with the guys in CG but bigger than that what I’m taking away just as much as those relationships is how much everyone needs that,” he said.
The comforts and consistencies of college such as grabbing meals with friends or spontaneous pickleball matches will be stripped away as he enters into a new stage of life. Yet, Wendling said he is excited for the endeavor of work and leaving behind the days of homework and class assignments.
“It'll be the weirdest two to three months in my life coming up,” he said.