Interview: Pippa Hill

This week, we’re introducing you to Pippa Hill, a 4word woman who hails from London, where she works as a solicitor. We chatted with Pippa (via email) about how she is learning to balance her time between her faith, her husband, Glyn, and friends and her career. Here’s the advice she had to offer.

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4word: Tell us about yourself. How long have you been a Christian? How did you and Glyn meet?

Pippa: I grew up in a little village just outside of Oxford and went with my Mum and brother to our village church. When it was time to go to university, I didn’t go too far; I studied French and German at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. While there, I was part of the college chapel choir, and I guess I started seeing services more as a habit.

However, God certainly had a plan! I only got into my third choice law school (in London) and was completely gutted about the prospect of moving there. But I discovered that a friend from Oxford would be living two minutes away. She invited me to her church, and for a long time I resisted because it was much more modern than my church back home! Eventually I realised that I missed being part of a regular church community and agreed to go along. I never looked back. It was a whole new world, really studying and learning to love God’s word.

Several years after law school, I was working as a restructuring solicitor at a firm in London. It was then that I met Glyn (and was immediately smitten). We got married the following summer, and I moved to where Glyn lived, just outside of London. I’ve been living there for nearly three years, and we’re part of a great church. I still work in London and commute in each morning.

4word: What do you find most difficult about balancing life as a corporate lawyer with life as a wife?

Pippa: It has got to be time.

For the first few years of practising, I was single and had no qualms about saying yes to every piece of work that came my way! There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact it’s a great thing when you’re making your way in your career and trying to get the experience of working on the best assignments.

But since marrying Glyn, I know that spending time with him also needs to be a priority – not to mention the fact that I love spending time with him. Add into the mix rehearsals for our worship band, meetings of our home group, spending time with friends and family, and making time for everything can be a challenge.

4word: Of all the stories that Diane tells in Work Love Pray, which is the one that you can relate to most?

Pippa: One that springs to mind is from the chapter on Growing your faith as you grow your career, in which Diane talks about it being easy to let faith take a backseat to careers and to family. At the end of the day, if you’ve missed your Bible reading, no one is going to yell at you in the way that a client or boss might if a deadline is missed.

I’m quite lucky to have a 30-minute train journey in the mornings, which gives me a perfect slot for my quiet time, but there are certainly days when this gives way to reviewing the contract that I couldn’t quite face reading through the night before (or just grabbing some extra sleep!) I do find that something is better than nothing, even if it’s just a verse or a 60-second prayer.

4word: Do you have any advice you can share about balancing the “work” and “love” aspects of your life?

Pippa: Learn that it is okay to say “no” occasionally, whether it’s saying no to the odd marketing event, an extra meeting at church or another evening out with girlfriends. I should confess upfront that my husband would say I really need to take my own advice! But I like to think I’m a work in progress.

There will always be times and seasons when you will be super busy and when events, deadlines or meetings are simply unmissable, but as you grow in your career, faith and family life, you begin to learn that you simply cannot be (and do not have to be) all things to all people all of the time. Sometimes, you just need a bit of time to be still!