Nice to Meet you,
i’m cynthia
I don’t know when it all got serious, but as for me and my people, We will laugh!
Nice to Meet you,
i’m cynthia
I don’t know when it all got serious, but as for me and my people, We will laugh!
About Me
I grew up in El Paso, Texas, with amazing parents who made sure Jesus was central to all we were about. I also have two older brothers, identical twins, who made torturing me as a kid central to all they were about. I love those Neanderthals now, but they really were awful individuals back in the day.
The first time I ever remember public speaking was in 7th grade in front of the First Baptist Church of El Paso. I was asked to give a short sermonette of sorts.
To know me is to know how fast I talk; however, this particular time, I apparently broke the record speed, being particularly nervous and unprepared. I rambled on for approximately ten minutes before very dramatically saying… “in conclusion.”
What exactly I was concluding is something we will never know, but my 13-year-old self promised that day I would NEVER be a public speaker. God had other plans.
After high school, I attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas (Sic’ em bears), and then went to law school, where I earned a J.D.
I practiced law for about seven years before opting out of law for full-time motherhood and ministry.”
About My People
My maiden name was Wilkinson, and I swore I would marry someone with a short, easy to spell last name that begins with the letter A or B.
Proof that God has a sense of humor: Mike Yanof and I met in law school and dated seven years before pulling the trigger with our nuptials in January 2001.
We had our daughter Kate in 2003 and son Brett in 2007. Being done with babies and all that business, we dove head-first into select sports, family vacations, working hard, and playing harder.
Then the Lord very clearly called us into foster care. Fast forward to January 2016 when we first met two-month-old Joshua Bo who, 19 months later, became our precious third kiddo.
About My Favorite Things
I could go a lot of different directions on this, but let’s break it down to the most essential in my daily life:
- Diet Dr. Pepper (fountain drink or can, never a bottle)
- Queso/chips
- Friends who laugh too much and too loud
- Finding ways to make Jesus real in our everyday lives
- El Arroyo signs with hilarious quotes like “Don’t blame the holidays, you were fat in July.”
- Sonic ice
- DisneyWorld
- Leanne Morgan and literally anything that makes me belly laugh
- Colorado
- People who can laugh at themselves
About My Ride or Die Theology
If you’ve lived very long, you’ve probably figured out there’s very few hills in worth dying on. And believe you me, I’ve died on a lot of hills that literally had no consequence or significance.
So all these years later, now married with three children ( one of which has me managing first-grade and menopause all at the same time), I’ve decided to lean into grace and curiosity as my everyday practice. When it comes to the things that I won’t let go of without a fight, here’s a sampling:
- Mountains over beach, always
- Everything is bigger and better in Texas (minus the atrocity of our summer heat)
- Jesus is the Son of God who lovingly pursues all of his people so they can have eternal life (John 3:16)
- Seinfeld over Friends for dozing off in bed at night
- Matthew McConahey, albeit strange, is still the GOAT of rom coms
- We are called to make Jesus known, and most times, that means being willing to stand alone
- The 80’s are God’s peace offering to those of us who long-suffered the music and fashion of the 1970s
- Everything in the Bible is absolutely true
- U2 . . . end of story
- Life is Messy, God is Good (I should write a book on that. Oh wait, I just did!)
