Contributing Authors

Cindy Horton

Hello, I'm Cindy and happy to be a part of Unique Parenting with all of you! I live in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia with my family. My husband, Jon, and I have been married nine years and we have three wonderful sons--Nicholas, age 7, James, age 4, and Robert, who was born in December 2007. Besides homeschooling the children, we enjoy camping, gardening, bowling, just about anything we can do together.

Our faith is what motivates us

We are a Christian family and very involved in our church. I teach the Little Lambs class in Sunday School, which includes the babies up through age four. Things get pretty interesting in there some days! The two Scriptures I refer to most in my life are Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." and I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Some of my greatest joys

When I take a notion, I enjoy knitting and cross stitch, but I tend to enjoy the planning more than the doing. I also enjoy baking sweets and swinging on my porch swing while the kids play in our yard. I always wanted to be a mom, and I can't imagine any greater blessing than watching my children grow in the Lord and become all that He wants them to be.

Co-Author Elsie

I’m Elsie and I am thrilled to be involved here at UniqueParenting.com! My family and I live in a suburb outside of Richmond, Virginia. My husband and I have been married for 5 years. We have a 3 year-old son and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our next baby in July of 2009. We love spending time together as a family. My husband is an avid Ohio State fan and most of our fall weekends are spent watching football together. In the summer we love visiting the beach and we’re becoming novice gardeners. We just planted our first garden this past year. We can’t wait for spring so that we can try to grow something other than tomatoes!

Our Faith

We are Christians and our parenting decisions and methods directly reflect our worldview. We are honored and humbled to be given the gift of our son. After 3 years of infertility and 2 miscarriages, including one that occurred at 18 weeks, we realize what a precious gift life is and that colors all of our decisions as we strive to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

My Favorite Things

In the free time that I have, I enjoy reading and writing, but my guilty pleasure is zoning out in front of the television with my husband after our son is in bed for the evening. No matter what pastimes I find the time to enjoy, my favorite part of the day is feeling the soft arms of my son around my neck at night as he gives me a bear hug and a sloppy kiss while I’m tucking him into bed. If you’re a parent too, you know just what I’m talking about!

How I Got Here

Before I was a mom, I was a middle school teacher at a private school. I learned an important lesson during the three years that I taught. If I didn’t establish a loving relationship of authority with my children in the early years, middle school would be scary ground. I spoke with many parents, and there were certain ones that I saw again and again. Some were angry at everyone but their child; others had shrugged their shoulders and given up long ago. It was during my time teaching that I realized how many parents out there were really struggling to raise their kids. They knew what they should do, but by middle school, they had grown weary of doing it. I still have a passion for parents who are striving to raise godly children in an ungodly world, especially now that I am one of those parents myself.

As you read the articles and visit the chat forum on the site, you’ll find that no matter what your struggles are, everyone here is genuinely interested in helping other parents stay the course as they raise their children.

Co-Author Debra Walters:

Hola! I’m Debra. I am thrilled and honored to be part of this amazing team of parents. I pray that you are blessed by our work and that you keep coming back to share your journey with us.

My Blessings

On February 26, 2005 I made the best decision of my life when I married my husband, Eric. We met at a ‘not-so-romantic’ Power Plant where he was doing his Engineering internship and I was working a temporary filing job in the office. We jokingly say our meeting was electric! Eric has the heart of a truly selfless servant. He is an amazing support for me and a phenomenal Daddy. In 2007 we welcomed Joakim Isaias into our family. Joakim is full of life and joy. Currently, we await the arrival of our second child due in July of 2009. Eric and I have built a strong foundation of love and honesty for our family, which has proven to be the strength of our union. My family is my number one passion. What a gift they are to me! I love making memories and traditions with them.

Background

The youngest of three sisters, I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 1992, my family moved to Florida to begin a new life. There, I attended the University of Florida (GO GATORS!!), earning a Bachelors Degree in Special Education and Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. I taught Kindergarten at an inner city low income school before becoming a stay-at-home mommy.

Passions

I love a wide variety music; Michael Buble, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Natasha Beddingfield, Israel Houghton to name a few. But my absolute passion is worship. I love to sing praises to God because I am aware that all of the things I mentioned above are blessings gifted to me by him. I am nothing and have nothing if it were not for his grace.

I am also passionate about sharing God’s love with the world, especially children. I get a natural high off of seeing people reach their true potential by choosing God’s best for their lives. His way is so much better than our way, even when we don’t understand it or agree with Him. My life is a living testament of God’s faithfulness and provision.

Thank you for stopping by.