From Lynn Billman
You know the story of why geese fly in a “V” shape? As it’s been told to me over the years, the birds take advantage of the aerodynamics of flight and get a benefit in that formation from the slipstream of the bird ahead of them. However, the lead goose has no such advantage. And periodically, when it gets tired, the lead goose will move back from the lead, and another goose will take its place.
That is a good story to remember whenever you are overwhelmed with life. This past year, that has been true for me. The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) duties as president of the Executive Council have been more time-consuming than normal, with the changes inherent in seeing Randy off to retirement, hiring Leslie, expanding duties for Vicki, and dealing with the resignation and replacement of one of our Council members. Before these changes, I agreed to be program chair for ASA 2017, the annual conference being held in Colorado, which requires a lot of early planning to select the best venue, the theme, and the plenary speakers. As you can imagine, I have not had as much time for CWIS as I did the first three years. Faith pitched in at a critical moment and organized our great panel at ASA 2016, and Pat and others helped at that conference too, for which I am very grateful. But for me, the next year does not look much better -- I’m on Council for another 18 months and much has yet to be done for next summer’s conference. As a result, I have had much angst over the fact that I haven’t been able to make much time for progress recently on new actions or activities.
But, God has His ways! I first was introduced to Deb Shepherd when the CWIS concept was first in development, and while she was very interested, she quite honestly explained that she was just at the pivot point from a very successful career in engineering, astrophysics, and astronomy, to enter Fuller Seminary, and would not have any spare time. At the ASA conference in Azusa this summer, Deb and I found each other again. She graduated in June from Fuller, and is ready to reach out for new God-given adventures. I was thrilled! It seemed / seems like an answer to my prayers.
Deb has a lot of energy and enthusiasm for lighting a fire under CWIS and making a difference in the lives of Christian women in the sciences, students and beyond. Just as importantly, she is at a position in life to make some time for this important organization. After a discussion with the other CWIS Board members, we decided to invite Deb to take over leadership of CWIS, effective immediately.
I won’t go into the interesting details of Deb’s career here, but you can find that at the CWIS blog. Deb and the CWIS Board are currently considering new actions and activities that would be beneficial to our mission to help Christian women in the sciences and related areas. Shortly she will take over this periodic communication with you all, and invite you into the conversation as we develop new ideas and actions together! You can reach her any time at dshepher@gmail.com .
I will still be on the Board, to help out and support. I think / hope that will be doable for me, because I remain as dedicated as ever to the real issues faced by women in the sciences and our unique challenges as Christians. So this isn’t good-bye, just the time for me to slide back into the slipstream. Please send an email of welcome to Deb, our lead goose now, whenever you can!
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