October 16, 2025 • 30 mins
We sit down with Mayor Crystal of Liberty Hill to explore how character, counsel, and courage shape local leadership in a polarized era. From dark skies to water infrastructure, we unpack practical ways to listen well, decide wisely, and keep a growing town’s soul.
• Central Texas roots, family redemption, and a servant’s heart
• Community draft into politics and why character beats pedigree
• Joy of serving people and the strain of assumptions
• Listening beyond your base and valuing dissent
• Turning conflict into inquiry, not contempt
• Dark sky policy with small business at the table
• Advanced water treatment: science, transparency, and trust
• Faith as daily operating system for leadership
• Mentors, prayer, and long-arc decision making
• Rhythm, rest, and boundaries in public service
• Building foundations for 20–50 years, not news cycles
Their support helps make this happen. If you're looking for a church, they might be the one for you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Piet Van Waarde (00:00):
Welcome to another sidewalk conversation.
My name is Pete Van Ward and Iam your host today.
And we are in for a veryinteresting conversation.
If you've been paying attentionto what's happening in the
culture, you're quite aware thatwe live in a day where there's
a lot of political infighting.
In fact, if you just turn onsocial media or the news or even
(00:22):
in conversations with yourfriends, you realize that this
is a very tender and volatileissue.
In my own experience, I've beentrying to say to people, hey,
can we navigate thisconversation maybe like we do
others, where we can berespectful of a person, even if
they share different opinionsabout political realities or
(00:44):
political parties or evencandidates?
There has to be a way,particularly for believers, to
have conversations about thosematters in a way that allows us
to be, again, respectful ofanother person, even if they
share different points of view.
And I am excited today becauseI have an opportunity to talk to
(01:05):
somebody who's actually in thearena, who has to navigate that
as part of their reality everysingle day.
So we are talking to the mayorof Liberty Hill, and she was
obviously elected by aconstituency, but she also has
to represent the entirecommunity.
So I'm looking forward to beingable to talk to her about how
she navigates those complexitiesand how her faith fits into all
(01:28):
of that as well.
So I'm excited about yourjoining us, and in a moment,
we'll introduce you to ourguests.
And our guest also attends thatchurch.
(02:01):
And if you are in the Austinarea and you're looking for a
congregation that is both verydiverse but biblically oriented,
you'll find a lot of that atShoreline Church here in Austin.
They also have an onlinecampus, so if you are looking
for something in that genre,they also have that available at
shoreline.org.
(02:23):
All right, now let me introduceyou to our guest, Crystal.
That was the chair.
Crystal Rhea (02:30):
You know, been called lots more than just
Crystal.
Go ahead.
Piet Van Waarde (02:33):
I gotta tell the story.
I I go way back with Crystal,but I knew her for her last name
in a little different way.
So she was texting me aboutthis, and I'm like, I'm sorry.
Could you tell me how I know?
Crystal Rhea (02:45):
I do remember that.
Piet Van Waarde (02:46):
I was thinking on what anyway, Crystal, thank
you so much for joining us.
I'm so glad that you are here.
Thank you for having me.
I know you have very busyschedules, so that you would
take some time to be with us.
It's just so cool.
So thank you.
Crystal Rhea (03:00):
Excited to be here.
Piet Van Waarde (03:01):
All right.
Well, let's uh just start offkind of getting introduced to
you and your life and kind ofhow you grew up.
So tell us a little bit.
Like, are you a Texas girl?
Like, have you been here yourwhole life?
Crystal Rhea (03:12):
I am a Texas girl.
I was born in Austin and I wasraised in Leander, graduated
Leander High School, um, andthen raised my kids in Liberty
Hills.
So I've seen the area grow andbut I've never really moved out.
I lived in Mexico for one yearum for missions work, but other
than that, Texas has been hometo me.
Piet Van Waarde (03:32):
So tell me some of your key influences.
Like how did you grow up?
What were some of the like yourparents and all that?
Crystal Rhea (03:37):
Yeah.
Um, I grew up uh well in a verysmall community.
So my father uh gave his heartto the Lord at the age when I
was four.
Um he had been a drug addict,Vietnam vet, nightmares, and he
gave his heart to the Lord andcompletely changed his life.
And so I was very um, I'm verythankful I was raised in a
community where we all kind ofgrew together of um, I don't
(03:59):
know, how to love one another,how to serve.
And and I really grew with astrong sense of servitude,
especially to my community and asense of impact from my life
that God had given me.
Um I became a pastor's kid atage of 16.
That was a lot of fun.
Um, you know, so um, but yeah.
It was.
And um, but I always valuedmentorship, and so I've had lots
(04:23):
of mentors in my life and umgot married early and had three
beautiful kids.
And, you know, it's part oflife, right?
That we all we all kind ofexperience these things.
So um yeah, it's I've been veryprivileged and and very
thankful to have a foundation,is I would what I would say, is
um being raised in a Christiancommunity or with my parents.
(04:44):
It wasn't perfection, but I didlearn how to have grace and
grit at the same time.
Piet Van Waarde (04:49):
Love that.
So you grew up around uh infact, I was just it was
interesting you mentioned thatbecause I met your dad.
Crystal Rhea (04:55):
Uh-huh.
Piet Van Waarde (04:56):
I think I took him to lunch, or he took me to
lunch sometime and heard hisstory.
Crystal Rhea (05:00):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (05:00):
What a great story.
Crystal Rhea (05:01):
Yeah, he does.
Piet Van Waarde (05:03):
Man.
Crystal Rhea (05:03):
He has like a story of redemption, and I think
that's what, and and that wasit as what was so beautiful
being raised is by him and mymom was that whenever they
became pastors, and even beforethat, he had a heart to help
people find redemption in theirlife.
And um, and that's a beautifulthing because we all need it at
some point.
Piet Van Waarde (05:22):
Yeah, well, and especially because that's part
of his story.
Absolutely.
Little fellow black sheep.
Crystal Rhea (05:26):
Uh yes.
Piet Van Waarde (05:28):
All right.
Uh well, let's now dive intoyou know what you do now in in
your career as a politician.
Is that something that youalways had interested?
Like, did you imagine yourselfdoing that from a young age?
Crystal Rhea (05:41):
No.
I never as a kid ever thoughtI'd ever be a mayor.
Like it wasn't one of thethings that I said, I want to be
a mayor one day.
Actually, you know, I wanted tobe a singer my whole life.
Um, but uh yeah, it's it wasnever politics.
You know, I did my normal, youknow, duty of voting and staying
on top of things, but never apolitician did I ever think I'd
(06:02):
be in this position.
So how did that stick that'susually the next question people
ask?
Um what's interesting is umbecause I've been in the
community for such a long time,I have lots of really great
roots.
People know who I am.
And um, they they came to me.
I had a couple of people justcome and ask if I would run for
city council.
And that's how it started.
They felt like there needed tobe a change in local government
(06:25):
and someone to listen to thepeople and a and a voice for
them.
And it was interesting becauseI asked my dad, I went to him
because he had served on citycouncil prior, many years prior.
And so I was like, father, whywould they ask me?
I don't have a degree.
I, you know, like I have nobackground in it.
Um, and he said something veryimportant to me that I think
everyone should know this isthat a politician doesn't come
(06:48):
just because of like thisknowing of, oh, I know how to,
you know, write policy and whatto do with it.
A politician should be really aservant at heart and a voice
for the people that electedthem, but then also a voice for
everyone.
Yeah.
Even though it's gonna get intothis.
Yes, we will.
So um, but he said it's reallyum the character and an ethics.
(07:09):
Like in your woman of those twothings, the rest, you can
learn.
Yeah, those are things that youcan teach.
You can't teach kit peoplecharacter.
That's something that they haveto live by in their foundation
of who they are.
So, so yeah, so I said, okay.
So I it was a simple yes, allrun.
Got elected, and then I'm like,okay, here we go.
And God's been through thatwhole journey with me, you know,
(07:29):
uh constantly just praying andsaying, okay, what's the next
step?
Because I didn't, I had noclue.
Um, and then um serving as citycouncil, uh, our former mayor
uh was wanting, she was justhaving some health issues and
she needed to possibly um quither term a year early.
And so she asked if I would runin her and finish out her
one-year term.
(07:49):
So I said, yes, I'll do that,and got elected there.
And then a year later, thecommunity wanted me to stay.
And really, it's me asking thecommunity if you think I'm doing
a good job and you want me tobe here, yeah, then I'll stay
and continue to serve thiscommunity.
So awesome.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (08:05):
So uh I want to ask two kind of follow-up
questions related to that.
So, what have you loved aboutthe role and what has been maybe
more difficult, not as fun.
Crystal Rhea (08:15):
There's it's never a difficult moment.
Right.
Um well, let's start with thething that I love.
I love um serving the people.
I love the people that are inour community.
I love the idea of being ableto be their voice and take their
vision and try to implementsomething that's gonna last
forever in Liberty Hill as faras sustainability and the future
(08:37):
for their kids, you know, um,being raised in parks and all
the things that even I used toenjoy, you know, like the the
skies and things of that sort.
So that's my favorite part isthe people.
Um, the parts that tend to be alittle challenging is, and I
don't know why it is withpolitics, but um, in politics
it's interesting because you cankind of it's almost like people
(08:59):
put you at a different level.
I'm human just like everyoneelse.
And so sometimes it can bechallenging um when people make
assumptions and without comingand asking questions to seek to
understand.
Yeah.
And there's a lot of thingsthat, you know, as an elected
official, you see behind thescenes or you see a lot of
things in the future that couldcome your way, especially with
what other cities are doing thatcould impact us.
(09:21):
Yeah.
And so you have to make verydifficult decisions that may not
make sense right now, but itwill in five years, 10 years
from now.
Yeah.
And so sometimes the challengecan be having grace in those
moments when you might be at uhsome of you attacked or, you
know, um, you know, judged in away that, you know, you're like,
(09:42):
wait, no, that's not me, youknow.
Um, but having grace becausereally it comes from a place
that they just don't understand,you know, there's just a lack
of understanding.
So then it comes to, well, howdo we educate?
You know, how can we do better?
Piet Van Waarde (09:54):
Awesome.
Crystal Rhea (09:55):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (09:55):
So when you think about like you alluded to
it earlier of like I I have aconstituency that I am trying to
appeal to because they got meelected, but then you also have
the community as a whole, whichsome people may not have been
excited about you being elected.
How do you both stay faithfulto your constituency and
(10:18):
sensitive to the needs of thecommunity?
How do you navigate?
Do you have a grid that youthink through or well?
Crystal Rhea (10:23):
There's no grid.
I'll say that for sure.
I don't, I'm definitely notdata driven, but um, that's not
my strength.
But I what I always try toremind myself, it is the voice
of all people.
So whether um they elected meor not, it still matters and it
still counts because thedecisions that we make impact
them.
Um so, and I'm never get afraidor scared of an idea that's
(10:47):
different than mine.
I actually welcome it.
Like I love people that havenew ideas because I think it
challenges, you know, theoverall system in a sense of how
can we do better?
Yeah.
Maybe there is a way we don'tknow.
Um, but what I always try to dois always have, I mean, we have
two ears, so always listen morethan I am to speak.
And then really take inconsideration what the concerns
(11:10):
are.
Yeah.
And if we can't specificallyaddress it, how in other ways
might we be able to, you know,to support or address it?
Piet Van Waarde (11:17):
So yeah.
And so when when you have adifference of opinion with
somebody that um, you know,wasn't necessarily excited about
seeing you uh get elected, whatare some of the things that you
do to try and navigate thatsensitive conversation?
Are there again some thingsthat you think about or some
tactics that you use?
Crystal Rhea (11:37):
Well, absolutely.
Um and we actually have I havea scenario for you, a recent one
that I can share with you.
Um so we we just became a darksky community.
And um, when we were broughtthis to the attention of, you
know, our my constituents andthat we were gonna do this in
our community, um, there wassome fear around that as because
(11:57):
what was gonna happen is thatcertain businesses were gonna
have to have certain types oflight bulbs andor um turn their
lights off between certain hoursof the evening and there were
just gonna be basically not asmuch freedom.
Okay.
And uh with that came some, youknow, concerns that were being
raised.
And small business owners, andwe completely understand,
definitely don't want to add anymore, you know, pressure on
(12:20):
them for sure.
Um so for us, what we ended updoing is do we want dark skies?
Do we want to be able to seethe stars at night?
I d yes, absolutely, you know.
Um we're never gonna be, youknow, crazy, but at the same
time, having too many lights oryou know, stores that keep their
lights open all night long, isthat really necessary?
(12:41):
Maybe not.
Yeah.
So then it was, well, then weneed to go in and have
conversations with these smallbusiness owners and start seeing
how can we still accomplishwhat we want, but then also do
it in a way that they don't feellike there's this heavy-handed
government.
That is one thing that I ranon.
I I'm fine with some policies,but I'm not gonna create a
(13:02):
policy just because I'm bored orjust because two people want it
and it's an agenda.
Yeah, it's gotta be good forthe whole.
And if it's not, then we gottalook at that and see if it's
really useful.
Piet Van Waarde (13:12):
Yeah, right.
Good.
Love that.
Love that.
Crystal Rhea (13:15):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (13:15):
So all right.
So um I I'm I I said in myintro that one of the things
that's really worrying,worrisome to me is the way in
which even among believers, itseems that there's this
animosity.
I mean, it's just like uh Iread a quote the other day that
I thought was reallyinteresting.
(13:36):
We used to uh say you can'tmarry somebody from a different
ethnicity or you can't marrysomebody from a different faith.
Now it's like you can't youcan't marry somebody from a
different political party.
It's like that has become thedividing line.
Crystal Rhea (13:52):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (13:52):
And I just feel like it's so sad that uh we
can't have um conversationaround topics that are, yeah,
they're contentious and peoplehave different opinions about it
without the name calling.
Like, can't can't we do this?
So now you're a person in thatarena, so I'm guessing you're
getting it from both sides atsome level.
(14:13):
And I'm curious what you wouldsay as like speaking to like the
community at large or even toyour friends.
Like, here are some things thatI think might be helpful for us
to consider in the midst ofhaving this conversation.
Here are some things that Ithink are important because and
I love what you said earlier,like you're just a human like
(14:34):
everybody else.
You got feelings, you makemistakes, like come on, give us
a break, you know.
So, what are some of the thingsthat you would suggest would be
good for that kind ofconversation?
Crystal Rhea (14:43):
Well, I do um what I'm about to say may not be
really popular, but I told you Iwas gonna be very transparent.
I'm not a politician in thesense that um I don't am I in a
party technically, yes.
But um I think that for somereason on both, you know, both
parties, both or all sides, weI've been pulled out on both
(15:04):
ends to say, why are you goingthat way or why are you going
this way?
Um when it comes to the waythat I vote, I vote based off my
principles and based off of howmy constituents and I, uh you
know, what their voice is.
Um, whenever we get come to atable and we talk about things
that are very controversial, um,for whatever reason now, I
(15:26):
don't remember it being this wayback like in the 80s and 90s,
even.
But now it's almost like wetake it as in a personal attack
and we get super offended,defensive immediately instead of
seeking to understand.
And when we understand wheresomeone's coming from and why
they believe or why they'rethinking the way that they are,
that opens up a whole notherconversation.
(15:46):
Yeah.
Because at the end of the day,we probably all want the same
thing.
So true.
We all want the same thing.
But because we automaticallycome at it with an attack or a
defense, um, we really closethat door of being open-minded
and um really having aconversation.
You know, I missed the days,and I believe it was Ben Carson
that had talked about this,which was he was saying how
(16:08):
we've lost the art of uhdisagreeing but agreeing to
disagree and still respectingeach other when we're you know
at church or when we're out atthe you know, restaurant, local
restaurant, and we see eachother still being respectful and
saying, Hey, how are the kids?
How's life?
Um that we've completelyaligned that it well, if you're
with that party, you're againstme.
(16:28):
Right.
And it's you know, that the onlything that that's gonna change
is each uh each of usindividually.
Yeah.
It's gonna be the people.
Um and it's one thing that umit kind of goes in line with
what I ran on with ourcommunity, whenever, you know,
we're the fastest growingcommunity in Williamson County
still.
We have been for the last threeyears, and there are some
people who have been there for along time, and of course, with
(16:49):
growth comes, you know, somesome obstacles, but also fears
of, you know, we didn't movehere to be a big into a big city
and what's gonna happen withthe small neck community.
Yeah.
And one thing that I kepttrying to remind people what
keeps a community way that it isis its people at the end of the
day.
Right.
So if we're at a localrestaurant, we see a new face or
(17:11):
see a new family, but we yetour kids may go to the same
school, why not say, Hey,welcome, you seem like you're
new, and and just have thoseconversations, you know.
And and I think that's gettinglost in general, the human, the
human aspect of who we are, um,that we're much more than our
political beliefs.
Yeah.
Amen.
Yeah, like if we can just meeteach other there, of being human
(17:34):
again, you know, um, I thinkwe'll be able to see our world
change a lot, you know.
Piet Van Waarde (17:39):
Yeah, yeah.
Crystal Rhea (17:40):
In a lot bigger way.
Piet Van Waarde (17:42):
So uh you're also a person of faith and uh
you take your faith seriously.
And I'm always one of thequestions I love answering uh
with my fellow brothers andsisters in the Lord is like, how
does your faith influence whatyou do?
Like, are there things that youcan kind of point to either
from a polyp policy perspectiveor even just like personally,
(18:04):
how you approach your work thatyou could say is connected to
your faith and how you want toexpress it?
Crystal Rhea (18:10):
Yeah.
Um my faith is at thefoundation of of all of this.
Uh it is difficult, it'schallenging for sure, to uh be
in a position where you'remaking very difficult decisions
and heavy decisions that canimpact a whole community.
And so with that, I don't takeit lightly.
And a lot of things I take toprayer.
Um, I seek wise counsel becauseI'm definitely not someone who
(18:32):
thinks I'm gonna know it all.
Um so I think that's also veryimportant in my role.
When I think about scripture,you know, kings, they had they
had prophet prophets, you know,who would, you know, give them
insight before they went intobattle.
And and sometimes I felt likeGod was saying, like, you need
your mentors around you becausethey may be able to see things
or know things that you don'tknow or give you a connection
(18:54):
that you need that's gonna openup, you know, the doors.
So um, so it's been veryimpactful to me.
And of course, also there's alot of challenges that can come.
And um, at times when you're inservitude like this and you
give, um, there's you can getreally depleted real fast.
And um, and I saw that evenwith my father as a pastor, you
(19:14):
know, when you're constantly ina give state, and you you
probably know this, you know, asa pastor.
So when you're constantly inthe give state, um, it's gotta
be Christ that that renews yoursoul and your spirit.
And um, I don't start a daywithout spending that quality
time with him, reading and andjust in a quiet moment.
Our lives are so busy.
Yeah, there's so much noise.
(19:34):
God's really put me in a placeof just like silence, solitude,
just even if it's for 15minutes.
Yeah.
Um, and that's been reallybeneficial to me as far as being
able to handle the things thathave come our way.
And then also how do we makethe best decisions and also
bridging?
I mean, of course there's gonnabe disagreements.
Yeah.
So how do you do that?
How do you bring peopletogether when there's a
(19:55):
disagreement?
And I couldn't imagine doing itwithout the insight of the Holy
Spirit.
And and you know, scripture,there's so many things in
scripture that give us just keythings to live by in everyday
life.
Yeah, yeah.
And they're simple, you know,they're not overcomplicated.
We complicate it, you know, butthey're very simple to do.
It they're difficult becausewhenever it says forgive your,
(20:18):
you know, forgive those that do,you know, harm against you,
that can be challenging, youknow.
Um, what does that look like?
You know, living that everyday, picking up my cross and
saying, okay, today I choose toforgive.
So, you know, it does, it it itkeeps me grounded in why I do
what I do, and also to realizethat I can't do this alone.
Piet Van Waarde (20:37):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Crystal Rhea (20:39):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (20:40):
Is there um like a specific example of
something that you could say Iwas facing, and and I know you
probably have some issuesrelated to like I got I can't be
totally up front or conf youknow confidential stuff.
Crystal Rhea (20:53):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (20:53):
But can you point to something where you
were facing a decision and therewas a way in which your faith
had a specific application?
Crystal Rhea (21:04):
Hmm.
Many.
Trying to think of which one.
Um yeah, uh without getting toospecific, you know.
Yes, there was there was aseason where there were some
challenges and there were somehard decisions that needed to be
made.
And my human self did not wantto take a road that basically I
felt my spirit was saying, youknow, and it did require an open
(21:27):
mind, an open heart, again,forgiveness and um and another
level of trust, you know.
And um, but it wasn't withoutignorance or, you know, being um
naive about a situation.
It was more of obedience to theLord and him saying, This is
what you need to do if you wantto be an effective leader for
your town.
And with every little step andevery day it was a decision to
(21:50):
say and bring God into the dailyactivities that I was doing,
and I'd say, okay, how far do Itrust?
How far do I lean in?
And allowing him to guide meand be in true surrender.
Um, and it took, it wasn'tovernight.
You know, sometimes I think I Iknow for me, I can tend to get
impatient.
Yeah, or like, I'm doing it oryou know, like, and it's been
(22:12):
two months and I'm not seeingthe fruit from my labor.
And it took probably, I wouldsay, a good five to six months
before the weight sometimes thatwe feel of those things that
can come against us when we feelit may be unjust, is how do we
still lead?
How do we still serve?
And um, being able to surrenderthat to the Lord completely.
(22:34):
Yeah.
And whenever it's time, thatweight just slides right off and
then it's smooth sailing, youknow, and you see it, you know,
you see the fruit from justreally surrender.
Piet Van Waarde (22:44):
So I love that.
Crystal Rhea (22:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (22:46):
I what what you're sharing reminds me that
um so often, and and this can belike in personal decisions as
well as decisions that we makein our career, is that we know
there's something we need to do,and all the things that um
could come from that decision,like we we anticipate, well, it
could lead to this or it couldlead to that, or we'll offend
(23:07):
this person, or that's gonna bereally hard.
We have this big, like uh darkcloud in our mind about how bad
this could go.
Crystal Rhea (23:15):
Right.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (23:16):
And then it seems as if when we go ahead and
take the first step, it's like,okay, it's hard, but it's not
as bad as I had imagined.
And then, you know, every withevery step, it's more like
there's strength that comesalong the way, there's
perspective that you gain.
And then I think, uh, maybeespecially in a role like what
(23:36):
you're playing, is that peopleare inspired by courage.
Like when they see you doingsomething that they know is hard
and they they see you takingthose courageous steps.
It's like, all right, I may notagree with everything that
she's doing, but I respect thecourage.
Crystal Rhea (23:53):
Well, it's funny that you bring that up because
we did have a situation and thatthat came up with so um we're
building and we've made a hugedecision right now to build an
advanced water treatmentfacility.
And um, with that came someconcerns from some constituents.
And um, so when we had our bigtown hall to bring anybody who
had questions about it, we'regonna come here, we're gonna
(24:14):
answer.
We had our engineers fly in,like this was the moment to get
science-y, you know.
I'm not their science person,but they are and they can answer
those questions.
Well, in the at the end of thatmeeting before we had split off
and you know, opened up to theoutdoors or where they can go
and ask, um, we had some somepeople there in the audience
that were challenging and justdid not understand, but instead
(24:38):
of shying away or shutting themdown, it was let's talk about
this, but let's first go get ourquestions answered.
And then if you still havethose same questions, then let's
meet up.
And sure enough, after theystill had the same ones and they
talked to everybody there.
And um, although it it startedoff by being in a place of
(25:00):
really protecting what they weretrying to protect, where
they're like, wait, what are youdoing?
Um, it ended in a way that theyunderstood that as leaders of
the city, we are making the bestdecision.
And we know it's not easy andwe know it's gonna be has some
challenges along the way, butwe're here and we're gonna be
transparent and we're gonnainvolve the community and we're
gonna we can only do thistogether.
(25:21):
Yeah.
So, but for the future ofLiberty Hill, they understood
that Liberty Hill was in goodhands with its leadership.
And that was because myself andthe team that was there, we led
in a way that didn't, you know,shut their their questions
down, shy away from it, go hideanywhere.
Yeah.
It was okay, let's talk.
Let's go.
(25:42):
Yeah.
And and that's fine, you know,and and let's be
straightforward, you know.
Piet Van Waarde (25:46):
Yeah, because if it really is best for the
community, even if people haveconcerns going in, if you've
done your due diligence and youhave the right people, you know,
leading the project, then itbecomes obvious to people like,
okay, we don't have anything tobe afraid of.
Like, we're trying to do what'sbest for the community.
If you have a question, goahead and ask it.
Absolutely.
Crystal Rhea (26:03):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (26:04):
All right.
I want to ask uh a little morepersonal question, if that's
okay.
Absolutely.
So you have you know a lot ofresponsibilities, and you kind
of touched on it already, but Iwant to like unpack that a
little bit.
And that is like, so you have alot of this responsibility.
You're a very busy person.
Um, you want to, you know, stayfaithful to your uh commitments
and your family and all that.
How do you balance it all?
(26:26):
Like, what are some of thethings that you have as like
non-negotiable practices thathelp keep you even keeled?
Crystal Rhea (26:33):
Well, um, that's always been kind of the question
for me for sure, because I dohave a full-time job and you
know, and then also the mayorrole.
But um the things that arenon-negotiables for me are
definitely every morning, mymorning time with the Lord.
Um, that's a non-negotiable.
Um, I have a very close circleof friends that I stay in the
loop with.
Um I feel like that feeds mysoul and uh and we challenge
(26:57):
each other and they hold meaccountable.
It's all the things.
Uh, but then also my familytime, you know, with my parents
and my kids.
Um, but for me, what'sinteresting about this stage of
my life is um when I said yes umto, you know, serving and yes
to the Lord and doing this, Ididn't realize that, you know
what, I actually have timebecause um my kids are all
(27:18):
grown, they're out of the house,they're you know, doing their
own thing, you know.
And um and so really it's it'sa season of my life where I've
got the time.
There's 24 hours in a day andand I pride myself on managing
my time really well.
Um, I do have to schedule insome rest time because I can
become what's called theworkaholic, you know, where I'm
just constantly on.
(27:39):
Um, but I uh but overall, theseason of my life I've been able
to learn how to balance towhere I can do both.
Uh because I don't really have,you know, I'm emptiness, or I
guess you could say.
And uh yeah.
So it's like my community is myfamily right now too.
So taking care of that.
Piet Van Waarde (27:56):
Uh great.
Crystal Rhea (27:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (27:58):
There is some reciprocity, right?
There is when you're doing goodin your community, community
that is good for you.
Crystal Rhea (28:04):
Absolutely.
Yes.
Piet Van Waarde (28:05):
Um, okay, last question.
What do you see for yourfuture?
What are like where are youheaded?
Like you're the mayor now, andwhat do you see as your future?
Crystal Rhea (28:13):
Well, I just got re-elected in May.
So I've got another, you know,I've got three years total with
that.
Um, but I don't know what's asfar as politics, you know, uh
what that future holds.
I do know that my heart isservitude.
It's in building uh teams.
I'm so, you know, I love doingthat.
So whether what I've learned inmy capacity as a politician and
(28:34):
in the political arena, if Ican take that and, you know,
have another impact somewhereelse, um, I'm really just open
to whatever lies ahead.
Yeah.
Um, and just focused right nowon infrastructure and how to put
a foundation in this city rightnow that is gonna last and
build something great for thenext 20 to 50 years.
So, and whatever happens afterthat, you know, um, who knows?
(28:57):
I'll probably just say yes toit.
Piet Van Waarde (28:59):
Keep saying yes.
Any ideas?
Uh like break some.
Crystal Rhea (29:03):
I do have some ideas in my head.
I'm a big dreamer, um, butnothing that has come to
fruition yet.
Okay.
Um, and mainly just because ofbandwidth, because of time.
Yeah.
Um, but you know, I see thatthat's gonna open up in the near
future.
And so, yeah.
Yeah, all right.
Who knows?
Piet Van Waarde (29:19):
Well, maybe we'll have to have you back when
it's two of those things.
Well, it's been so good to havethis conversation, Crystal.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
And uh loved your answers andand and you know, but I I make
this uh matter of like Lord,bring us together, help us to
figure out this out.
It's a matter of daily prayer,and I pray for you in your role.
(29:40):
And uh, and now that peopleknow a little bit about your
story, maybe there'll be somemore prayer warriors.
Crystal Rhea (29:45):
Listen, I'm not gonna say no to more prayer
warriors.
Piet Van Waarde (29:48):
And thank you for joining us.
We're so grateful that you tooksome time to be part of this
conversation, and uh, pleasejoin us next week as we have
another sidewalk conversation.
Welcome to another sidewalk conversation.
My name is Pete Van Ward and Iam your host today.
And we are in for a veryinteresting conversation.
If you've been paying attentionto what's happening in the
culture, you're quite aware thatwe live in a day where there's
a lot of political infighting.
In fact, if you just turn onsocial media or the news or even
(00:22):
in conversations with yourfriends, you realize that this
is a very tender and volatileissue.
In my own experience, I've beentrying to say to people, hey,
can we navigate thisconversation maybe like we do
others, where we can berespectful of a person, even if
they share different opinionsabout political realities or
(00:44):
political parties or evencandidates?
There has to be a way,particularly for believers, to
have conversations about thosematters in a way that allows us
to be, again, respectful ofanother person, even if they
share different points of view.
And I am excited today becauseI have an opportunity to talk to
(01:05):
somebody who's actually in thearena, who has to navigate that
as part of their reality everysingle day.
So we are talking to the mayorof Liberty Hill, and she was
obviously elected by aconstituency, but she also has
to represent the entirecommunity.
So I'm looking forward to beingable to talk to her about how
she navigates those complexitiesand how her faith fits into all
(01:28):
of that as well.
So I'm excited about yourjoining us, and in a moment,
we'll introduce you to ourguests.
And our guest also attends thatchurch.
(02:01):
And if you are in the Austinarea and you're looking for a
congregation that is both verydiverse but biblically oriented,
you'll find a lot of that atShoreline Church here in Austin.
They also have an onlinecampus, so if you are looking
for something in that genre,they also have that available at
shoreline.org.
(02:23):
All right, now let me introduceyou to our guest, Crystal.
That was the chair.
Crystal Rhea (02:30):
You know, been called lots more than just
Crystal.
Go ahead.
Piet Van Waarde (02:33):
I gotta tell the story.
I I go way back with Crystal,but I knew her for her last name
in a little different way.
So she was texting me aboutthis, and I'm like, I'm sorry.
Could you tell me how I know?
Crystal Rhea (02:45):
I do remember that.
Piet Van Waarde (02:46):
I was thinking on what anyway, Crystal, thank
you so much for joining us.
I'm so glad that you are here.
Thank you for having me.
I know you have very busyschedules, so that you would
take some time to be with us.
It's just so cool.
So thank you.
Crystal Rhea (03:00):
Excited to be here.
Piet Van Waarde (03:01):
All right.
Well, let's uh just start offkind of getting introduced to
you and your life and kind ofhow you grew up.
So tell us a little bit.
Like, are you a Texas girl?
Like, have you been here yourwhole life?
Crystal Rhea (03:12):
I am a Texas girl.
I was born in Austin and I wasraised in Leander, graduated
Leander High School, um, andthen raised my kids in Liberty
Hills.
So I've seen the area grow andbut I've never really moved out.
I lived in Mexico for one yearum for missions work, but other
than that, Texas has been hometo me.
Piet Van Waarde (03:32):
So tell me some of your key influences.
Like how did you grow up?
What were some of the like yourparents and all that?
Crystal Rhea (03:37):
Yeah.
Um, I grew up uh well in a verysmall community.
So my father uh gave his heartto the Lord at the age when I
was four.
Um he had been a drug addict,Vietnam vet, nightmares, and he
gave his heart to the Lord andcompletely changed his life.
And so I was very um, I'm verythankful I was raised in a
community where we all kind ofgrew together of um, I don't
(03:59):
know, how to love one another,how to serve.
And and I really grew with astrong sense of servitude,
especially to my community and asense of impact from my life
that God had given me.
Um I became a pastor's kid atage of 16.
That was a lot of fun.
Um, you know, so um, but yeah.
It was.
And um, but I always valuedmentorship, and so I've had lots
(04:23):
of mentors in my life and umgot married early and had three
beautiful kids.
And, you know, it's part oflife, right?
That we all we all kind ofexperience these things.
So um yeah, it's I've been veryprivileged and and very
thankful to have a foundation,is I would what I would say, is
um being raised in a Christiancommunity or with my parents.
(04:44):
It wasn't perfection, but I didlearn how to have grace and
grit at the same time.
Piet Van Waarde (04:49):
Love that.
So you grew up around uh infact, I was just it was
interesting you mentioned thatbecause I met your dad.
Crystal Rhea (04:55):
Uh-huh.
Piet Van Waarde (04:56):
I think I took him to lunch, or he took me to
lunch sometime and heard hisstory.
Crystal Rhea (05:00):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (05:00):
What a great story.
Crystal Rhea (05:01):
Yeah, he does.
Piet Van Waarde (05:03):
Man.
Crystal Rhea (05:03):
He has like a story of redemption, and I think
that's what, and and that wasit as what was so beautiful
being raised is by him and mymom was that whenever they
became pastors, and even beforethat, he had a heart to help
people find redemption in theirlife.
And um, and that's a beautifulthing because we all need it at
some point.
Piet Van Waarde (05:22):
Yeah, well, and especially because that's part
of his story.
Absolutely.
Little fellow black sheep.
Crystal Rhea (05:26):
Uh yes.
Piet Van Waarde (05:28):
All right.
Uh well, let's now dive intoyou know what you do now in in
your career as a politician.
Is that something that youalways had interested?
Like, did you imagine yourselfdoing that from a young age?
Crystal Rhea (05:41):
No.
I never as a kid ever thoughtI'd ever be a mayor.
Like it wasn't one of thethings that I said, I want to be
a mayor one day.
Actually, you know, I wanted tobe a singer my whole life.
Um, but uh yeah, it's it wasnever politics.
You know, I did my normal, youknow, duty of voting and staying
on top of things, but never apolitician did I ever think I'd
(06:02):
be in this position.
So how did that stick that'susually the next question people
ask?
Um what's interesting is umbecause I've been in the
community for such a long time,I have lots of really great
roots.
People know who I am.
And um, they they came to me.
I had a couple of people justcome and ask if I would run for
city council.
And that's how it started.
They felt like there needed tobe a change in local government
(06:25):
and someone to listen to thepeople and a and a voice for
them.
And it was interesting becauseI asked my dad, I went to him
because he had served on citycouncil prior, many years prior.
And so I was like, father, whywould they ask me?
I don't have a degree.
I, you know, like I have nobackground in it.
Um, and he said something veryimportant to me that I think
everyone should know this isthat a politician doesn't come
(06:48):
just because of like thisknowing of, oh, I know how to,
you know, write policy and whatto do with it.
A politician should be really aservant at heart and a voice
for the people that electedthem, but then also a voice for
everyone.
Yeah.
Even though it's gonna get intothis.
Yes, we will.
So um, but he said it's reallyum the character and an ethics.
(07:09):
Like in your woman of those twothings, the rest, you can
learn.
Yeah, those are things that youcan teach.
You can't teach kit peoplecharacter.
That's something that they haveto live by in their foundation
of who they are.
So, so yeah, so I said, okay.
So I it was a simple yes, allrun.
Got elected, and then I'm like,okay, here we go.
And God's been through thatwhole journey with me, you know,
(07:29):
uh constantly just praying andsaying, okay, what's the next
step?
Because I didn't, I had noclue.
Um, and then um serving as citycouncil, uh, our former mayor
uh was wanting, she was justhaving some health issues and
she needed to possibly um quither term a year early.
And so she asked if I would runin her and finish out her
one-year term.
(07:49):
So I said, yes, I'll do that,and got elected there.
And then a year later, thecommunity wanted me to stay.
And really, it's me asking thecommunity if you think I'm doing
a good job and you want me tobe here, yeah, then I'll stay
and continue to serve thiscommunity.
So awesome.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (08:05):
So uh I want to ask two kind of follow-up
questions related to that.
So, what have you loved aboutthe role and what has been maybe
more difficult, not as fun.
Crystal Rhea (08:15):
There's it's never a difficult moment.
Right.
Um well, let's start with thething that I love.
I love um serving the people.
I love the people that are inour community.
I love the idea of being ableto be their voice and take their
vision and try to implementsomething that's gonna last
forever in Liberty Hill as faras sustainability and the future
(08:37):
for their kids, you know, um,being raised in parks and all
the things that even I used toenjoy, you know, like the the
skies and things of that sort.
So that's my favorite part isthe people.
Um, the parts that tend to be alittle challenging is, and I
don't know why it is withpolitics, but um, in politics
it's interesting because you cankind of it's almost like people
(08:59):
put you at a different level.
I'm human just like everyoneelse.
And so sometimes it can bechallenging um when people make
assumptions and without comingand asking questions to seek to
understand.
Yeah.
And there's a lot of thingsthat, you know, as an elected
official, you see behind thescenes or you see a lot of
things in the future that couldcome your way, especially with
what other cities are doing thatcould impact us.
(09:21):
Yeah.
And so you have to make verydifficult decisions that may not
make sense right now, but itwill in five years, 10 years
from now.
Yeah.
And so sometimes the challengecan be having grace in those
moments when you might be at uhsome of you attacked or, you
know, um, you know, judged in away that, you know, you're like,
(09:42):
wait, no, that's not me, youknow.
Um, but having grace becausereally it comes from a place
that they just don't understand,you know, there's just a lack
of understanding.
So then it comes to, well, howdo we educate?
You know, how can we do better?
Piet Van Waarde (09:54):
Awesome.
Crystal Rhea (09:55):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (09:55):
So when you think about like you alluded to
it earlier of like I I have aconstituency that I am trying to
appeal to because they got meelected, but then you also have
the community as a whole, whichsome people may not have been
excited about you being elected.
How do you both stay faithfulto your constituency and
(10:18):
sensitive to the needs of thecommunity?
How do you navigate?
Do you have a grid that youthink through or well?
Crystal Rhea (10:23):
There's no grid.
I'll say that for sure.
I don't, I'm definitely notdata driven, but um, that's not
my strength.
But I what I always try toremind myself, it is the voice
of all people.
So whether um they elected meor not, it still matters and it
still counts because thedecisions that we make impact
them.
Um so, and I'm never get afraidor scared of an idea that's
(10:47):
different than mine.
I actually welcome it.
Like I love people that havenew ideas because I think it
challenges, you know, theoverall system in a sense of how
can we do better?
Yeah.
Maybe there is a way we don'tknow.
Um, but what I always try to dois always have, I mean, we have
two ears, so always listen morethan I am to speak.
And then really take inconsideration what the concerns
(11:10):
are.
Yeah.
And if we can't specificallyaddress it, how in other ways
might we be able to, you know,to support or address it?
Piet Van Waarde (11:17):
So yeah.
And so when when you have adifference of opinion with
somebody that um, you know,wasn't necessarily excited about
seeing you uh get elected, whatare some of the things that you
do to try and navigate thatsensitive conversation?
Are there again some thingsthat you think about or some
tactics that you use?
Crystal Rhea (11:37):
Well, absolutely.
Um and we actually have I havea scenario for you, a recent one
that I can share with you.
Um so we we just became a darksky community.
And um, when we were broughtthis to the attention of, you
know, our my constituents andthat we were gonna do this in
our community, um, there wassome fear around that as because
(11:57):
what was gonna happen is thatcertain businesses were gonna
have to have certain types oflight bulbs andor um turn their
lights off between certain hoursof the evening and there were
just gonna be basically not asmuch freedom.
Okay.
And uh with that came some, youknow, concerns that were being
raised.
And small business owners, andwe completely understand,
definitely don't want to add anymore, you know, pressure on
(12:20):
them for sure.
Um so for us, what we ended updoing is do we want dark skies?
Do we want to be able to seethe stars at night?
I d yes, absolutely, you know.
Um we're never gonna be, youknow, crazy, but at the same
time, having too many lights oryou know, stores that keep their
lights open all night long, isthat really necessary?
(12:41):
Maybe not.
Yeah.
So then it was, well, then weneed to go in and have
conversations with these smallbusiness owners and start seeing
how can we still accomplishwhat we want, but then also do
it in a way that they don't feellike there's this heavy-handed
government.
That is one thing that I ranon.
I I'm fine with some policies,but I'm not gonna create a
(13:02):
policy just because I'm bored orjust because two people want it
and it's an agenda.
Yeah, it's gotta be good forthe whole.
And if it's not, then we gottalook at that and see if it's
really useful.
Piet Van Waarde (13:12):
Yeah, right.
Good.
Love that.
Love that.
Crystal Rhea (13:15):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (13:15):
So all right.
So um I I'm I I said in myintro that one of the things
that's really worrying,worrisome to me is the way in
which even among believers, itseems that there's this
animosity.
I mean, it's just like uh Iread a quote the other day that
I thought was reallyinteresting.
(13:36):
We used to uh say you can'tmarry somebody from a different
ethnicity or you can't marrysomebody from a different faith.
Now it's like you can't youcan't marry somebody from a
different political party.
It's like that has become thedividing line.
Crystal Rhea (13:52):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (13:52):
And I just feel like it's so sad that uh we
can't have um conversationaround topics that are, yeah,
they're contentious and peoplehave different opinions about it
without the name calling.
Like, can't can't we do this?
So now you're a person in thatarena, so I'm guessing you're
getting it from both sides atsome level.
(14:13):
And I'm curious what you wouldsay as like speaking to like the
community at large or even toyour friends.
Like, here are some things thatI think might be helpful for us
to consider in the midst ofhaving this conversation.
Here are some things that Ithink are important because and
I love what you said earlier,like you're just a human like
(14:34):
everybody else.
You got feelings, you makemistakes, like come on, give us
a break, you know.
So, what are some of the thingsthat you would suggest would be
good for that kind ofconversation?
Crystal Rhea (14:43):
Well, I do um what I'm about to say may not be
really popular, but I told you Iwas gonna be very transparent.
I'm not a politician in thesense that um I don't am I in a
party technically, yes.
But um I think that for somereason on both, you know, both
parties, both or all sides, weI've been pulled out on both
(15:04):
ends to say, why are you goingthat way or why are you going
this way?
Um when it comes to the waythat I vote, I vote based off my
principles and based off of howmy constituents and I, uh you
know, what their voice is.
Um, whenever we get come to atable and we talk about things
that are very controversial, um,for whatever reason now, I
(15:26):
don't remember it being this wayback like in the 80s and 90s,
even.
But now it's almost like wetake it as in a personal attack
and we get super offended,defensive immediately instead of
seeking to understand.
And when we understand wheresomeone's coming from and why
they believe or why they'rethinking the way that they are,
that opens up a whole notherconversation.
(15:46):
Yeah.
Because at the end of the day,we probably all want the same
thing.
So true.
We all want the same thing.
But because we automaticallycome at it with an attack or a
defense, um, we really closethat door of being open-minded
and um really having aconversation.
You know, I missed the days,and I believe it was Ben Carson
that had talked about this,which was he was saying how
(16:08):
we've lost the art of uhdisagreeing but agreeing to
disagree and still respectingeach other when we're you know
at church or when we're out atthe you know, restaurant, local
restaurant, and we see eachother still being respectful and
saying, Hey, how are the kids?
How's life?
Um that we've completelyaligned that it well, if you're
with that party, you're againstme.
(16:28):
Right.
And it's you know, that the onlything that that's gonna change
is each uh each of usindividually.
Yeah.
It's gonna be the people.
Um and it's one thing that umit kind of goes in line with
what I ran on with ourcommunity, whenever, you know,
we're the fastest growingcommunity in Williamson County
still.
We have been for the last threeyears, and there are some
people who have been there for along time, and of course, with
(16:49):
growth comes, you know, somesome obstacles, but also fears
of, you know, we didn't movehere to be a big into a big city
and what's gonna happen withthe small neck community.
Yeah.
And one thing that I kepttrying to remind people what
keeps a community way that it isis its people at the end of the
day.
Right.
So if we're at a localrestaurant, we see a new face or
(17:11):
see a new family, but we yetour kids may go to the same
school, why not say, Hey,welcome, you seem like you're
new, and and just have thoseconversations, you know.
And and I think that's gettinglost in general, the human, the
human aspect of who we are, um,that we're much more than our
political beliefs.
Yeah.
Amen.
Yeah, like if we can just meeteach other there, of being human
(17:34):
again, you know, um, I thinkwe'll be able to see our world
change a lot, you know.
Piet Van Waarde (17:39):
Yeah, yeah.
Crystal Rhea (17:40):
In a lot bigger way.
Piet Van Waarde (17:42):
So uh you're also a person of faith and uh
you take your faith seriously.
And I'm always one of thequestions I love answering uh
with my fellow brothers andsisters in the Lord is like, how
does your faith influence whatyou do?
Like, are there things that youcan kind of point to either
from a polyp policy perspectiveor even just like personally,
(18:04):
how you approach your work thatyou could say is connected to
your faith and how you want toexpress it?
Crystal Rhea (18:10):
Yeah.
Um my faith is at thefoundation of of all of this.
Uh it is difficult, it'schallenging for sure, to uh be
in a position where you'remaking very difficult decisions
and heavy decisions that canimpact a whole community.
And so with that, I don't takeit lightly.
And a lot of things I take toprayer.
Um, I seek wise counsel becauseI'm definitely not someone who
(18:32):
thinks I'm gonna know it all.
Um so I think that's also veryimportant in my role.
When I think about scripture,you know, kings, they had they
had prophet prophets, you know,who would, you know, give them
insight before they went intobattle.
And and sometimes I felt likeGod was saying, like, you need
your mentors around you becausethey may be able to see things
or know things that you don'tknow or give you a connection
(18:54):
that you need that's gonna openup, you know, the doors.
So um, so it's been veryimpactful to me.
And of course, also there's alot of challenges that can come.
And um, at times when you're inservitude like this and you
give, um, there's you can getreally depleted real fast.
And um, and I saw that evenwith my father as a pastor, you
(19:14):
know, when you're constantly ina give state, and you you
probably know this, you know, asa pastor.
So when you're constantly inthe give state, um, it's gotta
be Christ that that renews yoursoul and your spirit.
And um, I don't start a daywithout spending that quality
time with him, reading and andjust in a quiet moment.
Our lives are so busy.
Yeah, there's so much noise.
(19:34):
God's really put me in a placeof just like silence, solitude,
just even if it's for 15minutes.
Yeah.
Um, and that's been reallybeneficial to me as far as being
able to handle the things thathave come our way.
And then also how do we makethe best decisions and also
bridging?
I mean, of course there's gonnabe disagreements.
Yeah.
So how do you do that?
How do you bring peopletogether when there's a
(19:55):
disagreement?
And I couldn't imagine doing itwithout the insight of the Holy
Spirit.
And and you know, scripture,there's so many things in
scripture that give us just keythings to live by in everyday
life.
Yeah, yeah.
And they're simple, you know,they're not overcomplicated.
We complicate it, you know, butthey're very simple to do.
It they're difficult becausewhenever it says forgive your,
(20:18):
you know, forgive those that do,you know, harm against you,
that can be challenging, youknow.
Um, what does that look like?
You know, living that everyday, picking up my cross and
saying, okay, today I choose toforgive.
So, you know, it does, it it itkeeps me grounded in why I do
what I do, and also to realizethat I can't do this alone.
Piet Van Waarde (20:37):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Crystal Rhea (20:39):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (20:40):
Is there um like a specific example of
something that you could say Iwas facing, and and I know you
probably have some issuesrelated to like I got I can't be
totally up front or conf youknow confidential stuff.
Crystal Rhea (20:53):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (20:53):
But can you point to something where you
were facing a decision and therewas a way in which your faith
had a specific application?
Crystal Rhea (21:04):
Hmm.
Many.
Trying to think of which one.
Um yeah, uh without getting toospecific, you know.
Yes, there was there was aseason where there were some
challenges and there were somehard decisions that needed to be
made.
And my human self did not wantto take a road that basically I
felt my spirit was saying, youknow, and it did require an open
(21:27):
mind, an open heart, again,forgiveness and um and another
level of trust, you know.
And um, but it wasn't withoutignorance or, you know, being um
naive about a situation.
It was more of obedience to theLord and him saying, This is
what you need to do if you wantto be an effective leader for
your town.
And with every little step andevery day it was a decision to
(21:50):
say and bring God into the dailyactivities that I was doing,
and I'd say, okay, how far do Itrust?
How far do I lean in?
And allowing him to guide meand be in true surrender.
Um, and it took, it wasn'tovernight.
You know, sometimes I think I Iknow for me, I can tend to get
impatient.
Yeah, or like, I'm doing it oryou know, like, and it's been
(22:12):
two months and I'm not seeingthe fruit from my labor.
And it took probably, I wouldsay, a good five to six months
before the weight sometimes thatwe feel of those things that
can come against us when we feelit may be unjust, is how do we
still lead?
How do we still serve?
And um, being able to surrenderthat to the Lord completely.
(22:34):
Yeah.
And whenever it's time, thatweight just slides right off and
then it's smooth sailing, youknow, and you see it, you know,
you see the fruit from justreally surrender.
Piet Van Waarde (22:44):
So I love that.
Crystal Rhea (22:45):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (22:46):
I what what you're sharing reminds me that
um so often, and and this can belike in personal decisions as
well as decisions that we makein our career, is that we know
there's something we need to do,and all the things that um
could come from that decision,like we we anticipate, well, it
could lead to this or it couldlead to that, or we'll offend
(23:07):
this person, or that's gonna bereally hard.
We have this big, like uh darkcloud in our mind about how bad
this could go.
Crystal Rhea (23:15):
Right.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (23:16):
And then it seems as if when we go ahead and
take the first step, it's like,okay, it's hard, but it's not
as bad as I had imagined.
And then, you know, every withevery step, it's more like
there's strength that comesalong the way, there's
perspective that you gain.
And then I think, uh, maybeespecially in a role like what
(23:36):
you're playing, is that peopleare inspired by courage.
Like when they see you doingsomething that they know is hard
and they they see you takingthose courageous steps.
It's like, all right, I may notagree with everything that
she's doing, but I respect thecourage.
Crystal Rhea (23:53):
Well, it's funny that you bring that up because
we did have a situation and thatthat came up with so um we're
building and we've made a hugedecision right now to build an
advanced water treatmentfacility.
And um, with that came someconcerns from some constituents.
And um, so when we had our bigtown hall to bring anybody who
had questions about it, we'regonna come here, we're gonna
(24:14):
answer.
We had our engineers fly in,like this was the moment to get
science-y, you know.
I'm not their science person,but they are and they can answer
those questions.
Well, in the at the end of thatmeeting before we had split off
and you know, opened up to theoutdoors or where they can go
and ask, um, we had some somepeople there in the audience
that were challenging and justdid not understand, but instead
(24:38):
of shying away or shutting themdown, it was let's talk about
this, but let's first go get ourquestions answered.
And then if you still havethose same questions, then let's
meet up.
And sure enough, after theystill had the same ones and they
talked to everybody there.
And um, although it it startedoff by being in a place of
(25:00):
really protecting what they weretrying to protect, where
they're like, wait, what are youdoing?
Um, it ended in a way that theyunderstood that as leaders of
the city, we are making the bestdecision.
And we know it's not easy andwe know it's gonna be has some
challenges along the way, butwe're here and we're gonna be
transparent and we're gonnainvolve the community and we're
gonna we can only do thistogether.
(25:21):
Yeah.
So, but for the future ofLiberty Hill, they understood
that Liberty Hill was in goodhands with its leadership.
And that was because myself andthe team that was there, we led
in a way that didn't, you know,shut their their questions
down, shy away from it, go hideanywhere.
Yeah.
It was okay, let's talk.
Let's go.
(25:42):
Yeah.
And and that's fine, you know,and and let's be
straightforward, you know.
Piet Van Waarde (25:46):
Yeah, because if it really is best for the
community, even if people haveconcerns going in, if you've
done your due diligence and youhave the right people, you know,
leading the project, then itbecomes obvious to people like,
okay, we don't have anything tobe afraid of.
Like, we're trying to do what'sbest for the community.
If you have a question, goahead and ask it.
Absolutely.
Crystal Rhea (26:03):
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (26:04):
All right.
I want to ask uh a little morepersonal question, if that's
okay.
Absolutely.
So you have you know a lot ofresponsibilities, and you kind
of touched on it already, but Iwant to like unpack that a
little bit.
And that is like, so you have alot of this responsibility.
You're a very busy person.
Um, you want to, you know, stayfaithful to your uh commitments
and your family and all that.
How do you balance it all?
(26:26):
Like, what are some of thethings that you have as like
non-negotiable practices thathelp keep you even keeled?
Crystal Rhea (26:33):
Well, um, that's always been kind of the question
for me for sure, because I dohave a full-time job and you
know, and then also the mayorrole.
But um the things that arenon-negotiables for me are
definitely every morning, mymorning time with the Lord.
Um, that's a non-negotiable.
Um, I have a very close circleof friends that I stay in the
loop with.
Um I feel like that feeds mysoul and uh and we challenge
(26:57):
each other and they hold meaccountable.
It's all the things.
Uh, but then also my familytime, you know, with my parents
and my kids.
Um, but for me, what'sinteresting about this stage of
my life is um when I said yes umto, you know, serving and yes
to the Lord and doing this, Ididn't realize that, you know
what, I actually have timebecause um my kids are all
(27:18):
grown, they're out of the house,they're you know, doing their
own thing, you know.
And um and so really it's it'sa season of my life where I've
got the time.
There's 24 hours in a day andand I pride myself on managing
my time really well.
Um, I do have to schedule insome rest time because I can
become what's called theworkaholic, you know, where I'm
just constantly on.
(27:39):
Um, but I uh but overall, theseason of my life I've been able
to learn how to balance towhere I can do both.
Uh because I don't really have,you know, I'm emptiness, or I
guess you could say.
And uh yeah.
So it's like my community is myfamily right now too.
So taking care of that.
Piet Van Waarde (27:56):
Uh great.
Crystal Rhea (27:57):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde (27:58):
There is some reciprocity, right?
There is when you're doing goodin your community, community
that is good for you.
Crystal Rhea (28:04):
Absolutely.
Yes.
Piet Van Waarde (28:05):
Um, okay, last question.
What do you see for yourfuture?
What are like where are youheaded?
Like you're the mayor now, andwhat do you see as your future?
Crystal Rhea (28:13):
Well, I just got re-elected in May.
So I've got another, you know,I've got three years total with
that.
Um, but I don't know what's asfar as politics, you know, uh
what that future holds.
I do know that my heart isservitude.
It's in building uh teams.
I'm so, you know, I love doingthat.
So whether what I've learned inmy capacity as a politician and
(28:34):
in the political arena, if Ican take that and, you know,
have another impact somewhereelse, um, I'm really just open
to whatever lies ahead.
Yeah.
Um, and just focused right nowon infrastructure and how to put
a foundation in this city rightnow that is gonna last and
build something great for thenext 20 to 50 years.
So, and whatever happens afterthat, you know, um, who knows?
(28:57):
I'll probably just say yes toit.
Piet Van Waarde (28:59):
Keep saying yes.
Any ideas?
Uh like break some.
Crystal Rhea (29:03):
I do have some ideas in my head.
I'm a big dreamer, um, butnothing that has come to
fruition yet.
Okay.
Um, and mainly just because ofbandwidth, because of time.
Yeah.
Um, but you know, I see thatthat's gonna open up in the near
future.
And so, yeah.
Yeah, all right.
Who knows?
Piet Van Waarde (29:19):
Well, maybe we'll have to have you back when
it's two of those things.
Well, it's been so good to havethis conversation, Crystal.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
And uh loved your answers andand and you know, but I I make
this uh matter of like Lord,bring us together, help us to
figure out this out.
It's a matter of daily prayer,and I pray for you in your role.
(29:40):
And uh, and now that peopleknow a little bit about your
story, maybe there'll be somemore prayer warriors.
Crystal Rhea (29:45):
Listen, I'm not gonna say no to more prayer
warriors.
Piet Van Waarde (29:48):
And thank you for joining us.
We're so grateful that you tooksome time to be part of this
conversation, and uh, pleasejoin us next week as we have
another sidewalk conversation.
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