I Am Wilshire – Cindy Estee.
Hometown: Spur, Texas;
Present City: Dallas;
Education: BA, Baylor University; JD, University of Texas School of Law
Profession: Attorney (retired)
Tell us about your family.
Charlie and I met in law school and have been married 44 years. I lucked out and got to marry the best person I know. We have two grown children, Cal, who is married to Ellen, and Rebecca, who is married to Brydan, and we have three grand girls, Abby, Hailey and Laurel.
How about your work or volunteer life?
Since retiring I’ve volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. These children suffer in ways that are incomprehensible, and there is absolutely nothing right about what they go through. I sit with them, advocate for them and tell them of their own special worth. Sometimes they can hear me. I also like to write stories, go for walks with Charlie and play with our grand girls.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
For years Charlie and I were drawn to Wilshire through the church’s witness of compassion and justice. More recently I began to participate in WOW activities, including book club, and loved the women I met. Finally, in April 2023 we joined Wilshire. We experience Wilshire as a community of people who practice intellectual honesty but aren’t afraid to say, “I love Jesus.”
Tell us about your faith journey.
On a Sunday afternoon in Spur, Texas, on the way home from the Dixie Dog, I bowed my head and gave my heart to Jesus. In that moment Jesus became my touchstone, and I saw the world differently. I met Jesus like the child I was, and felt his imprint in my heart. But as I grew older, I could not reconcile the Jesus I knew with some of the sermons I heard or verses I read. I was frightened by my own questions. After years of searching, I began to see that questions and doubt were not the antithesis of faith. Instead, they serve to clarify the message I can hear, that Jesus is alive, beside us, with us, forgiving us. And in his grace, he calls us to follow him to the hard broken places where people are hurting, because that’s where he is. And he invites us to participate in his work and glimpse his truth, that on the morning of the third day, when he rose, he carried us all. And I was in his arms and so were you.
*If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming I Am Wilshire feature, contact Carolyn Murray(cmurray@wilshirebc.org)