Hola, friend! I'm happy you're here.
Photograph by kori & co.
I'm Crystal. I am a Texas native, born and raised in Houston. My husband, Calvin, and I just moved from The Woodlands, Texas to Bristol, England, UK with our two sons - Josiah (4) and Abner (2). I’m always a wife, mama, minister of the Gospel, and occasionally, a writer.
No longer am I afraid to share the entirety of my story and how God rescued me from the darkness I had entangled myself in. You can read all about it in this blog post: My Story - the good, the bad, the redeemed.
About two years after that encounter with God, I met Calvin while socializing.. wait, I mean, studying... at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. Majoring in Mass Communications and minoring in Religion and Leadership. Simply put, my life goal is to communicate Jesus Christ to the masses.
My husband and I married in August of 2014 and found ourselves answering the call to plant a church in November of 2014. I often tell people I said "I do" to the love of my life then "I do" to the church three months later. Our daily reality as young church planters has taught me a great amount about God, ministry, marriage, friendship, faith, growth, and life.
In 2019, we welcomed our firstborn son, Josiah Lee Williams. Our Journey to Pregnancy was not easy, neither was receiving the News I Didn’t Expect While Expecting regarding Josiah having a unilateral cleft lip and palate on his right side. Josiah’s Birth Story was not the smoothest, but I would do it all over again if I had to.
I write about all these things - faith, marriage, ministry, motherhood, life - because they are a part of who I am. But here are some of my other favorite things…
I love people. I love that we weren’t made to live life alone. We need people. Put me in a room full of people and I’m happy, even if I’m sitting at a table by myself but I am still surrounded by them.
I love community. Godly community is a big deal to me. The kind where you and your people share things openly, build each other up but also call each other out if in the wrong.
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I love honest conversations. There are the ones where you walk away feeling so relieved yet so filled. Transparency about my life, with my people, is also a big deal to me.
No human is perfect, no individual never struggles. I, too, have felt alone, I have felt lost. But I have also felt incredibly filled with purpose, courageous, and alive.
Over time, I couldn’t keep all that I was learning and experiencing inside any longer. Hence my writings. Hence this space.
I know I'm not alone in all I have experienced so far, so I'm dedicated to encouraging women and building others up in their faith, their relationships, motherhood, and everyday life. I want to bring up younger women in the faith and challenge them to walk with Jesus victoriously all while sharing a good recipe or two, some traveling tips and life lessons.
So, thank you for being here! I can't wait for us to get to know each other more!
“...older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers... they are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s word will not be slandered.”
The Random Things:
• I love animated films (even before kids!)
• I used to work in radio
• I am the second youngest of 5
• I’ve never broken a bone in my body
• English is my second language
• I have ran 4 half-marathons
Ministry:
Calvin and Crystal Williams have been in full time ministry for 10 years. After planting and pastoring a church in Katy, Texas, The Williams moved to The Woodlands (North Houston) to be a part of Church Project. Calvin serves as the Director of Church Project Network, helping multiply and coach Church Projects around the nation and world. Currently, the Williams are living in Bristol, UK while Calvin completes his Ph.D. work at Trinity College in Bristol, and will be graduating from the University of Aberdeen.