Lately…

It has definitely been a while since I have been here to this place called wordpress to give you an entry to read. Mainly, because I felt there was nothing I really felt like putting out there. After inspiration from other blogs today I decided I would share a little with you.

I have done a lot since the last time I was here and that’s exciting. BIG things are coming up including my little sister getting married in under 2 weeks… I am so ready for the question, “so, when is it going to be your turn?” or “so, is there anyone special in your life yet?” or even better I could get the infamous “Don’t let time run out… find yourself a good girl.” But, really, I am super happy for my sister and her fiancé, soon to be husband. And I don’t really mind that the marriage train hasn’t stopped at my station yet. I know the “right one” will be there when she is suppose to be and all that…

Also, my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child so we are all super excited in the Williams family!

But, today I wanted to share some of the invitation/announcement designs I have done lately for my wonderful sister’s wedding! {I AM SAVING MY FAVORITE FOR LAST, so stick around for the entirety of this post.}

{the front of the Save the Date card. Photo props to Scotty Jones of Tuscaloosa}

{the back of the Save the Date card}

 

{The Couple’s Shower invitation}

{Bridal Luncheon invitation}

AND THE BEST FOR LAST…

{the rehearsal dinner invitations}

I hope you enjoyed a look at the latest designs.

If you need any I’d love to help you out. email me jlukewill@gmail.com

Judah Smith’s “Jesus Is _____.”

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE READ.

This book is one that inspires, a book that makes us look at Jesus a little differently as we are reminded of the truths of Who JESUS IS.

I am excited to help promote this book and today is a GOOD day! 2 HUGE giveaways.

 GET IN ON THEM! {click pic above}

 

My Life CHANGED {Part Two}

… I knew something in my life just was not right. As good as life was, with really nothing to complain about, I still had that emptiness inside of me. I was about to learn a lot about life, community, loss of dreams, and more.

I can look back to a month toward the latter part of 2012 and vividly remember being put into someone else’s world for a weekend and thinking to myself “THIS is what I want!” The weekend I am referring to is one where I was spending time with an old friend and I even had the conversation with him telling him that what I see that he has makes me jealous… or maybe a better way to put it is that I had a DEEP LONGING and desire for what I saw that he had. Not the material things, not some awesome car, huge house, or any other material thing. My deep longing and desire was to have a group that surrounded me that I knew was on the same page as me in life, a group of people who were ministering with me. Sometimes what we are longing for is right there with us if we would just pay attention…

I returned home after that weekend with uncertainty about my own life. Questions filled my head through each day

should I still be here?

is this where God wants me?

am I here forever or just for a short time?

should I pick up everything, leave some things, and run?

what should I do?

There is one thing that that weekend left me with… I knew SOMETHING was not right. Something in my life was way off kilter. I soon started to realize what it was. The very next month I went to a conference and I remember after hearing a few people speak {Christine Caine, David Platt, and more} God telling me, “Luke, pour into your community.” As soon as I heard this I knew exactly what God was telling me…

I had plenty of people at home who I “share life with”, whom were ready for what I was ready for. A good group of people who were doing ministry and who were ready to do ministry with others (which included me). I made some phone calls during that October conference to friends back home and started sharing plans with them. Plans that we are now seeing develop. Plans of a group of people who would pour into each other as well as pour into those around them, through organized ministry and life ministry. I remember the week after I returned from conference; I was driving down a highway I always drive and I stopped at a local chinese place and then bakery (for the first time) and as I walked back to my car I remember that voice, it had to be God, saying “this is YOUR home.”

I told a friend the other day that I would have never imagined that I would still be living in my same hometown. It had always felt like my family’s home but not my forever home. Now, it feels like home. It feels like home because God has surrounded me with that group that I knew I needed. The verse, Proverbs 27:17, has become so real to me “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I have found this in life now. I see my friends (many the same as early 2012 before all of this and some new) and I realize that we are all in this together, working towards one common goal, to make His name FAMOUS. To make HIS NAME known to all that we come in contact with.

I leave you with this thought, sometimes God has to take us to a place and show us that our life just isn’t right before He can start to fix it. What I thought was “me just wanting to live my dream” was actually me not realizing what God has placed in my life now. Now that I have figured out that God wants me ministering right here with a great group of people ministering with me I have started to see His blessings flow, just as He had intended in the first place.

My Life: CHANGED {Part ONE}

Today I want to start telling you a story. I know for sure it will be a 2 post story but it could possibly be more. This isn’t any story. This is the story of how God has changed my life over the past few

Since 2008 my dream was to work for a record label or in the entertainment industry in some way. In 2009 my dream got a little stronger as I interned with Integrity Music, which represented some of the top worship leaders in the world, Hillsong, Kari Jobe, Israel Houghton, New Life Worship, Jared Anderson, and we could go on and on… I just knew God was opening doors. I was meeting great people who were pulling for my dream to be realized. After interning and returning home, in early 2010 I started to realize that dream wasn’t going to happen like I had “dreamed” it would! My heart was a bit broken to say the least. I didn’t give up and kept going after my dreams, resumes being sent daily to entertainment agencies, record labels, and marketing firms all over the country. I heard NOTHING back. I am thankful for those years in my life. Years where I met friends that I still hold dear in my heart. But, one thing was clearing up… 2010 wasn’t the time for that part of my life.

In April 2010 things started changing in my church life, which meant things drastically changed in my personal life, because basically they have always been one in the same. I was asked to be interim worship leader at our church, Harvest Church, for a bit. After much “flip-flopping” I decided God wanted me to become the Worship & Creative Arts Pastor at Harvest Church. I recently realized that what was happening during this time, and actually for a couple of years, was that my flesh was mourning what seemed to be the loss of a dream, and it actually was the loss of MY dream. For a long time I focused on this loss. I think I focused so much on the loss of my dream that I couldn’t fully focus on what God had placed right in front of me; I couldn’t fully grasp God’s dream/plan for my life because I was still grasping so tightly to my own dream & plans. I was looking everywhere else for how He was going to bless me and not looking at where He was already clearly and fully blessing me right where I was.

For 2 years of my life I was going through the everyday tasks and actually, loving my life; I just wasn’t fully engaged and valuing the chapter of my life that I was in, pouring into those around me, and letting those around me pour into me. Every Sunday I would get up, go to church, do my job (LOVING IT), lead in worship (something I have always been passionate about), lead people, and serve with others. I loved all of these things that I was doing but when I would go home or when the crowd would leave LIFEGroup or other gatherings at my house I would find myself wondering if I would always be in the same place. See, my life was very different from most of my friends who were getting married, getting into serious relationships, planning the next steps of their lives, graduating (which I had already done, but still). It simply seemed that everyone was so excited about the next chapter in their lives and I was completely unsure of what the next chapter was. For all I knew I was living exactly what the rest of my life would look like and that FREAKED me out.

Please, don’t get me wrong. I loved my life, loved my family, loved my friends, was never depressed, and hardly ever stayed home by myself because I could always find somewhere to go with someone that I cared for and who cared for me. My life was great but something was off kilter…

** Tomorrow you will get part 2 of this blog, which is where the exciting change comes into play.**

I’m Coming Back

I started blogging almost 4 years ago. It was sometime in the beginning of 2009 that I jumped onto the blogging train via “Blogger”.

After many months of hiatus I have decided to come back to lukewill.wordpress.com. But, I come back with a very clear vision for which this blog will be used.

Over the past 5 months of my life God has clearly shown me that there were things in my life that were “off-kilter” (if you will). He has shown me where I had things missing in my life. But that was just the beginning of God showing me what was PRESENT in my life. He started showing me in October how to see what is PRESENT in my life and tap into it, pour into, and see it flourish. When I speak of flourish I don’t mean “getting rich, monetarily” or even that I have seen everything go “my way.” But, I have seen Him make things in my life flourish in a spiritually & relationally rich way.

So, saying that, my blog will now be a place where I will come to share with all of my readers what God is doing. I hope to pour into you as He pours into me, which really means He is pouring into US.

I look forward to this new beginning.

 

TOMORROW: Iron Sharpening Iron.

 

A small space

This week has been a lot about my home. The simplification of different areas and next week will probably follow suit. So today I am sharing about a small space in my living room {right next to my door} that I changed up, just a little bit, to make it look a lot better.

The main piece that is in this area is an old trunk that was my grandfather’s father’s and then was passed down to my mom when I was a young boy and has now been passed down to me. It has got to be one of the coolest things in my house. So here is the area before and after.

Before with too much clutter… not the best picture quality.

 

Simplified with new piece of art on the wall.

Hopefully soon I will be painting a couple rooms in the house, changing up the study/music room, and re-doing some things in the bedrooms. So there could be a lot more of this to come.

 

Simplifying the Home

I moved into my home a little over two years ago and from the very beginning and more stuff that most 22 year olds moving into a new house for the first time. But, add onto that a changing style, interest in creativity, a desire for a space that is exactly how I want it and you can quickly get a CLUTTERED home. A friend of mine, who is an interior designer, blogger, and home interiors store owner shared with me that she has seen herself fall into similar problems of just wanting to put all of your favorite things out for everyone to see and for you to see, and then it turns into too much stuff being in your home. So, I last week I decided it was time for a change. My taste in things has changed a bit, my style has changed some and so now my home needed to change too. But, it wasn’t an “add more” change but a “take away a lot and add back a little change. So with that… I give you some of the photos from around the cluttered home.

Full view before

Full view after simplifying.

Bookcase before simplification.

Bookcase after simplifying

Bookcase before

Right side. New small black table as well.

Mantel BEFORE

The next room to simplify//The music room/study

Next…

So, there is much more to do, but for now thats what I have done. The simplification around my living room has totally changed how it feels in there. This is just one example. I also did smaller things around my kitchen & living room that has helped everything look simpler and cleaner. One of my favorite quotes from a guest in my home last week after only the bookshelf transformation, “your house looks exceptionally clean, tonight.”

Tomorrow’s blog entry will be on the changed entry area in my home. Which features the new Alabama Flag art piece.

A New Piece of Art

I love random pieces of art. In my home I have a few different prints that are pretty unique that I am a big fan of. Lately, it seems that people connecting with their “southern roots” (in a good way) has been a big thing. The south has inspired great art, great songs, new clothing companies, clothing styles, design styles, and more. When I think about living in the south I remember the summers where my brother, sister, and I would run in the woods, build “forts” from tree limbs and leaves, and ride the four wheeler on trails throughout the 40 acres my mom’s side of the family lives on. Southern summers were great for us as children. In the colder months we got to experience the most beautiful Autumn seasons where we lived, Christmas with our family on “the hillside” {as MawMaw refers to it often}, and in the spring our grandmother, “MawMaw”, would always start planting the greatest flowers you have ever seen (she still does at the age of 80).

A picture of Fall at Mom & Dad’s from this weekend.

So growing up in ALAB AMA and still living in Alabama has been a great thing for our family. We love to travel (when we can) and see different cultures (I love the big city), but no matter where we go, Alabama will always be HOME. {Specifically that little “hillside” that we grew up on with our cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, parents, and grandparents.}

So, with that, here is a new piece of art that will be hanging in my home soon. And can hang in yours too, if you desire. {The Alabama State Flag}

The Alabama State flag {large one will be on my living room wall soon}

*Tomorrow: a post on simplifying my home.

“Surprised By Oxford” Review

“Surprised by Oxford” actually surprised me to be honest.

When I selected this book for review I was pretty excited and when I received it I read the first few pages and immediately put the book down for a long time. The first few pages scared me off. When I selected it to review I expected a book similar to a Donald Miller style book. I am not surge why because there is a big difference between Portland, OR and Oxford University. Thankfully though I picked this book back up, knowing that i had to review it.

I am glad I did. This book is a great read. I think it will appeal more to ladies who enjoy a good story that also teaches you, but it is a good book for everyone. When I read a book, no matter what book it is I want a good story. Some think this is crazy but I think it just has to do with my personality. If I need to learn something, the best way for me to learn something is through a story, through a good example, or in the case of the Bible through a good parable. So, this book worked for me.

I think Carolyn Webber does an excellent job of communicating her experiences of coming from a young lady entering into Oxford to a Christian lady later. I would recommend this book. It is real, candid, and truthful. So, if you are scared of candid, truthful reads then maybe it’s not the best for you. But, I think is you bear with this book you will enjoy the ride and get a lot out of it. As you close the book on the last page you will be glad your read it.

** I will say, this book is long and sometimes you just want to rush through a bit, or in my case I did.

***Review done for BookSneeze.com in return for a copy of the book. Never asked to write only a good review but the truth. I give this book 4/5stars.

-LW

Post 300

Here is post 300! It has taken some ups and downs through the past 3 years to get to 300 posts but nevertheless here we are.

Over the past few months you have probably seen an absence from my blog and to be honest, it has been nice. I haven’t really had anything to share on here. But, I feel like it is getting close to the time where I am back in again. I look forward to continuing this journey with you. I want to let you know about the current month I am in right now and how CRAZY and all over the place I am this month.

I LOVE October.

It brings in the cool crisp mornings of fall, the small of fall candles, the taste of a good ol’ pumpkin spice latte, and a time to relax and spend time with friends and family.

I also love October because we get to go to Catalyst conference with our church staff at the beginning of each October, which is always a great launch for the month. Last week was the week in Atlanta for church planning and for Catalyst Conference, and of course it did not disappoint. Let’s classify last week as one end of the spectrum of Christian leadership and now let me tell you about the other end of the spectrum that I am about to head out into. It is time for another trip to Haiti! In 2 days I leave for 5 days in Haiti, a country where Christians are trying to spread the Gospel in the midst of voodoo, mixed up Catholicism, and more. Haiti was recently named the poorest country in the world and in 2 days I will return there.

This trip is a planning trip for the future of Harvest Church working in Haiti. I really look forward to it and thank Harvest Church for letting me and a friend go to be the planners for the work we know God has set out for us in Haiti. So in 7 days I hit 2 total different ends of the Christian leader spectrum. Just a week ago I was a part of one of the largest young leaders conference that was most likely a multi-million dollar production over 3 days and now I am headed to Haiti, the poorest country in the world. Both, good things. Both help us go for what God has called us to go for. And both, so different from one another.

So, I ask for your prayers. I ask for your prayers for me and a friend, Tony, who will travel into Haiti this Thursday and see what is next for our congregation helping in Haiti. We are expecting great things in our partnership with the mission.

I look forward to showing you pictures and more soon. For now, please pray for our travels and for us to follow God’s guidance.