GARRETT WALLACE ’18 AND KYLIE TAUNTON WALLACE ’18
Student pastor and nurse
‘I’ve had very ill and dying patients literally look me in the eye and say, “Nothing matters but family.” After they’ve been to hell and back, that’s what they have to say.’ Life was good for Garrett and Kylie Taunton Wallace. They earned their degrees from LC in 2018 and married two years later. At the beginning of 2020, Garrett was enrolled at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and working as a student pastor. Kylie was a registered nurse in the ICU at Wellstar West Georgia. They were just getting settled into their careers when COVID-19 shut down the world. Suddenly, his congregation vanished during quarantines, disappearing behind doors closed by the pandemic. Kylie was faced with a tsunami of fear and despair as hospitals filled with the sick and dying. “As a student pastor, I’m primarily charged with leading and planning worship, and now we can’t even gather,” Garrett says. “I’m watching older colleagues with better resources do things online that I can’t begin to do. It’s easy to
start to feel like a failure.” For the first time in her life, Kylie became acquainted with a constant uneasiness. “There were many times I’d walk into the hospital and feel like a physical weight was sitting on my chest,” she says. “Other nurses were experiencing the same thing, and finally I realized, ‘Oh, this is anxiety.’” By leaning on their faith and each other, they have remained strong and are grateful for the lessons they have learned. “You have to let go of your ideas of perfection,” Garrett says. “You have to do the best with what you have and do your best to take care of yourself in the process so you can help other people.” Kylie says she’s learned what is really important. “My biggest takeaway of all is just to cherish people. Cherish your time, your life and your relationships.”
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