Kaitlyn Llewellyn: balancing work and sabbath

On the Lipscomb XC team, I encountered some of the most unique, interesting, intelligent, and amazing people I know I’ll ever meet.

If you read last week’s blog, you already know about Jenny Randolph, the Hand-Shaking-Instructor and Wisdom-Provider extraordinaire.

To name a few others:

Hannah Feiten: self-made photographer/dietetics major with a knack for hip-hop dancing. Through her willingness to live out what she believes, she instills confidence in others and encourages others to be their best.

Austin Chitwood: banana-loving (sometimes ate 5-10 per day I’m not teasing) jokester who can make you laugh at the drop of a hat with his antics and Borat impressions yet listens to you with intentionality and kindness.

Kacey Kemper: in sharing her sense of wonder about God’s creation in conjunction with scientific facts, you can’t help but marvel with her. She’ll play you your favorite song on the piano or guitar while offering wise relationship advice, writing a spoken word poem, and running the steeple chase.

Madison Colley: model-esque Amazon woman whose presence offers leadership and security; she will teach you a thing or two about make-up/fashion while crocheting a trendy design on your t-shirt.

Mitch Zabka: engineering major who knows how to run a prank war (@KaceyKemper) and, oh yeah, is also basically an American Ninja Warrior; thinks of the most thoughtful things to say and do for Avery <3

Paige Stoner: never have I ever met a loyal team-player and friend like Paige. Also, this woman is simply MAD in her ability to tough out the most extreme workouts and circumstances surrounding workouts (one time she raced a 9:40 3k one week after appendix surgery). The work ethic…astounding!

Geoff Musick: an inspiring team leader at Lipscomb; now trains himself for road races and is revolutionizing science education through the creation, coding, and promotion of phone apps for teaching physics, chemistry, etc.

Bridgette Doucet (how can I even attempt to summarize her myriad talents in one sentence): her patience and compassion in teaching her students—and dealing with all people in general—surpass that of anyone you know; her thoughtfulness in the way she gives perfect little gifts at just the right time demonstrate her love for everyone; her extensive knowledge of references and quotes put a smile on my face in every conversation we have; her unique eye for art and beauty inspire everyone she meets.

On top of all these great qualities, each of these people serve the Lord in all they do.

And then there’s Kaitlyn Llewellyn.

If you read the blog regularly, you’ve heard me mention this woman before because she is a WONDER yet one of the most humble people I have ever met!

I first remember meeting Kaitlyn on my recruiting trip in 2013. Looking flawless for a Sunday long run, I remember her cheerily entertaining my countless questions as we jogged along Music Row in the pouring rain.

As a freshman, I watched her meticulously check items off her to-do list daily while still maintaining margin for rest, time with friends, and entertainment.

I miss many moments from Lipscomb, but I especially wish I could keep having breakfast with Kaitlyn and Brianne Hoglin several mornings per week as I did during my sophomore year.

Between the two of them, I left those meals inspired to remind other people of God’s love and grace as they’d reminded me and motivated to get stuff done all day long.

At Lipscomb, Kaitlyn didn’t just study hard, but owned her major in exercise science. If you’ve ever seen one of her notebooks, her handwriting should be a font and her self-drawn diagrams should be textbook images.

She scheduled her time throughout the day, naming each hour for maximum productivity.

“I think I developed these study habits out of necessity,” Kaitlyn explained. “[In high school,] I had running and soccer and school and only a certain amount of free time where you have to get stuff done. You have only a certain number of hours to run, sleep, and take care of other responsibilities.”

On the other hand, Kaitlyn takes rest and relaxation very seriously, and attributes her work ethic during the week to taking an intentional day off on the weekends.

“Making sure I have a sabbath once a week has been really important. A few years ago, I heard about sabbath at several places at once—church, school in a spiritual disciplines class, and a few other random times. That’s when I kind of went, ‘ok this message is for me.’”

Kaitlyn’s dedication to sabbath always impressed me at Lipscomb. With running/training, attending class, studying/doing homework, going to church, and more, I found it difficult to take a few hours of down time, let alone a full day.

Kaitlyn, however, found a way to make Sundays a sanctuary from all homework.

She continued to develop this practice after Lipscomb as she moved on to pursue a Master’s of Science Medicine at Trevecca University where she graduated in August 2018.

“The difference with PA school,” Kaitlyn said, “is that there was so much to learn and not enough time to learn it all. You would try to make the most efficient use of your time possible and sometimes not have enough time to read through everything more than once before the test.”

When other people claim they “don’t have enough time,” I’m skeptical…because I have seen Kaitlyn’s study habits and time management. The Queen of Organization, when Kaitlyn says she doesn’t have time, I know it’s true.

I remember asking her about her study habits in PA school last year when I lived with her. One inspiring practice she explained was listening to recorded class lectures while driving to work and on long runs!

A true scholar.

I hope every doctor studies like Kaitlyn because I know she KNOWS her stuff.

And I hope every doctor rests like Kaitlyn, devoting Sunday to sabbath.

“Sometimes I think I may not be getting everything done, but I have time to relax and live into the way God lives. Then I’m raring to go and ready to be efficient again on Mondays!” she shared.

With a heart for missions and medical work abroad, after graduating from Trevecca, she began searching for jobs with Spanish-speaking or underserved populations. Several doors opened and closed until she landed at a clinic in Yakima, Washington, a town with a high Spanish-speaking demographic.

Though Kaitlyn studied Spanish along with exercise science at Lipscomb, she was excited about the opportunity to refresh her skills at language school before starting work in Yakima.

“They incentivized the job with a month of language school in Guatemala. My favorite part of the trip was hiking Tajamulco, the tallest volcano in Guatemala. It was just amazing to see and hike all day!” explained Kaitlyn, who loves long distance training.

Since college, she has traded “short” races like the 3k steeplechase and 5k for ultra-length ones. (Here's a hilarious fact: despite her propensity for long distance races, Kaitlyn never raced a 10k in college!)

So, a typical day in the life of Kaitlyn includes working at the clinic, speaking Spanish with patients, and of course, some type of exercise.

“I’m not running as much as in the past,” Kaitlyn said. “Believe it or not, I’m not really keeping track of mileage, but I think I hit about 30-35 miles per week with most of that coming from runs on the weekends.

“I’m not signed up for a specific race yet, but there’s a 50k in Ellensburg called the Yakima Skyline in April and I might look toward doing that,” she said, having run 15 miles on the Sunday when I chatted with her.

Along with running, Kaitlyn enjoys cross country skiing and snowboarding at White Pass and exploring sites around the Yakima Valley.

Life in the Pacific Northwest presents Kaitlyn with many new adventures.

“I’ve been encouraged recently in reading part of Solomon’s story. Sometimes, I look at my job and think, ‘I can’t do this…I don’t know what I’m doing,” she shared candidly.

“In 1 Kings 3:7-9, Solomon asks God for wisdom. In a dream, the Lord tells him to ask for what he needs and He’ll provide it. Solomon kind of says, ‘who am I to take care of these people of yours?’ and I thought, ‘THAT’S ME! Who am I to care for these people?’

“When I walk into any room with a patient, I just know He’s present with me…not that I won’t make mistakes, but I know he’s watching over me and this job in every part…enabling me to do it.”

Her best advice for people juggling lots of tasks and activities:

“One of the super helpful things my youth pastor told me was set your alarm 20 minutes early. You don’t have anything else to do in that 20 minutes because you’d usually just be sleeping anyway,” she said. “I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but It’s helped me maintain normal time with God each day. I’m a morning person in general so I know if there’s something I need to get done each day it needs to be BAM first in the morning.”

I love Kaitlyn’s perspective. Maybe for you, 20 minutes at lunchtime or in the evening would work better than in the morning, but we all have time for what we make time for.

Kaitlyn: thank you for demonstrating the rewards of balance between work and rest (for me especially…always feel like I need to be on the hamster wheel). Thank you for inspiring me and others to lean into the Lord in all situations!