Purpose in All Things

I enjoyed a great night of sleep last night. It's been a week since my surgery and I am beginning to recover nicely. Yesterday, I actually cleaned my office and did a little work. A couple of significant events have occurred these last few days.

First, I watched the movie "Letters to God". This is a movie concerning a young boy who through writing and mailing letters to God has a profound effect upon his family and community. It is a wonderful movie and leaves me with the question how I can turn my cancer into something of value. I do believe that it is possible and that God can have a purpose in this.

Second, I had thought that my illness would derail my PhD plans. Not true. Dr. Kent Seamons emailed me that BYU still wants and would welcome me. Here is the contents of his email:

In terms of the program, my attitude is total flexibility. We should send out your acceptance letter in a few days. At any point you may decide you can't pursue this and you need to focus on family and health. I completely understand that and you should feel free to do that at any time. On the other hand, you may want to pursue your degree to have something else to focus on and to keep pursuing your dreams. I would also support that, and I can be quite flexible in when and how you make progress. You aren't taking a slot away from someone else, so don't worry about that. To the fullest extent that I can, I will support you in what you choose to do.

Kent is a very good man. Upon reflection I feel strongly that God does want me to pursue this degree for whatever his purposes might be. So, I am going to proceed as I had planned.