The Understatement — crystal lee williams

The start of a blog is always strange to me.

Do I throw in a joke now and get creative to keep you reading instead of just taking the whole 'let me start by telling you a little bit about us' approach? Or should I throw in a statistic about church planting and begin laying down the facts and start on a more serious note to ensure you this blog is worth your time?

Eh, hopefully that was a good enough 'introduction'.

Truth be told, I love blogs. I enjoy reading them, I enjoy creating them (I've had like 3 in the past). I enjoy how one can share updates, ideas or thoughts. Blogs allow you to connect with others and in that process, we hope you're encouraged.

This blog is for you. For you to read about what is going on, how we're doing, what we're learning, how we're growing, what you can be praying for and most importantly, for you to read about how faithful our God is and how sweet it is to rest in His hands no matter what season of life you find yourself in. May you, reader, be encouraged through:

the words typed

the stories shared

transparency in the hardships

celebrations of victories

the lessons we're learning

and the hope God offers that we're holding onto day in and day out.

My husband Calvin and I are 6 months into our marriage and to say we've got a lot to learn is an understatement. Let's add the responsibility of leading and growing a church to that and once again, allow me to reiterate:

'We've got a lot to learn' is a major understatement.

As a matter of fact, it seems I've got to learn how to be more disciplined because I'm choosing to quietly type away these first few words in the middle of the night instead of sleeping the night before our weekly 6 AM prayer meeting. My husband, on the other hand - being the more discipline of the two - is in our bedroom... sleeping. And as he should, disturbance free; he works really hard.

Two months into our marriage we were presented with the opportunity to move from a small town in East Texas and lead a church 're'plant in a larger city. Calvin recently graduated with a degree in Religion, concentrating in Biblical Studies, however, we never thought he'd be in a pastoral position this soon. I never thought I'd be a pastor's wife this soon. Yet day after day, week after week, God continues to confirm this is exactly where He's called us to. Family and friends were incredibly supportive through this transition, and they continue to be as we, being officially 2 months in (as of today), have a lot to learn.

THE FACTS: Husband is the new lead pastor of Christ's Mercy Church in Katy, TX. Our start is small. There are 5 faithful families that attend, us included, totaling to about 13 people. CMC has welcomed us with open arms and the commitment of our current members inspires us each week. We've absolutely enjoyed getting to know them. We currently have a Sunday morning service at 10:30 AM. If you're ever in town, join us! We'd love to have you. We have two weekly prayer meetings. One happening on Wednesday evenings and the other on Friday mornings at 6 AM. (Yes, I should be sleeping...)

Our passion is for the Church to return to its roots, where it was truly a family, sharing life together and producing disciples who multiplied their faith by discipling others. The common mindset in our society is that the Church is simply a building or service that you go to. We hope to reshape people's minds to understand that the Church is not something you attend but rather we are the Church. Christ's followers makeup the Church, not buildings or services. Christianity has become a thing we do rather than who we are at our core. Christ's Mercy hopes to reverse this and guide people back to a relationship with God that truly changes who they are at their core. We hope to accomplish our vision by focusing on three areas:

Community - Transparency - Discipleship

(Check out our church website to continue reading about CMC.)

As I mention at the beginning, I am very proud of my husband, who, through God's grace, is working so hard to lead and guide our church in accomplishing that which you just read.

THE REQUESTS: Pray for CMC. Pray that we continue hearing God for direction. We want to take every step in the direction He commands us to. Pray for Calvin. Pray he continues to be strengthened by God. Pray as he teaches each Sunday, leads each meeting, develops goals for our church, its discipleship and growth, as well as everything else that is required of him. Pray for our marriage. We are so happy here and we continue to experience the joy of working together for the Lord, however, no matter how good of a day we have, there's still an enemy with a desire to kill, steal and destroy.

BE ENCOURAGED: In these two months of being here, despite all the work we've done, all the changes we've made, all the cleaning out and rearranging we've done, all the meetings we've held or all the people we've met/connected with... GODis in control. No work we do or fail to do will ever change that. He whispers to us to rememberwho He is. And frankly, it seems as though we finally tune in to that whisper when we're on the verge of a breaking point, overwhelmed, anxious or pressured by all there's to do. You ever feel that way? We have, too. Stop. Take a breath. Remember, He is in control. He knows what you need before you even ask. He has all the power, He has full control and He is ever faithful.

"Be still [cease striving], and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." -Psalm 46:10

(Need the reminder in the form of a song? Check out: Take A Moment by Will Reagan)