Getting a PhD might not always be a linear path, but it is a valuable experience.
I do. I need to finish. Not because Dr. Dan Treier is the beloved director of my program and offers good arguments. And not because a PhD would help achieve my dream of becoming a MN Vikings team chaplain.
I need to finish because I have a waitlist letter from Wheaton waiting to be framed as a reminder to never limit God to my lack of creativity.
When I first applied to PhD programs, I hoped to be a professor in a Bible college or seminary and teach overseas (whether fulltime or during the summers). As a woman in the U.S. I recognized firsthand that my work be taken more seriously if I had a doctorate. I also saw the demand for PhD-credentialed faculty in the Majority World for accreditation.
I narrowed my passions to apply to programs in biblical ethics. However, I was waitlisted at two institutions (including Wheaton). I determined to reapply. The Lord used that year of waiting to refine my writing, critical thinking, and scholarly interests. Since preaching was my “side hobby,” I decided to boost my CV by presenting a paper at the Evangelical Homiletics Society conference. There, God opened doors beyond my dreams. I discovered I could become an OT scholar who contributes to homiletics. Had I been accepted the first time I applied to Wheaton, I never would have known that I, as a woman, could do serious academic work in homiletics.
When I entered Wheaton, I was giddy. At the PhD level, I felt like I could finally love the Lord with all my mind. I was my only limitation. And I met my limitations quickly, while wearily cramming for German or receiving crushing feedback on papers. But the two-year application process left me without a doubt that the Lord had brought me to Wheaton. I would either graduate or die. (Trying ...
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