5&2 Ministry

August 18, 2025 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

In 2021 when God began to illuminate our path back to Kentucky we were walking by faith. I learned real fast God does not show you the whole picture all at once. He wants to see that mustard seed of faith blossom. Each time we took a step toward Kentucky he gave us a little wink showing His delight in our faith.

We truly had no idea what our future held. We just knew He wanted us back in Kentucky. When I look back on the past four years (WOW! It will be four years on September 3rd) I can see each thing God did to lead us to why He brought us here.

In November 2021 I ended up applying at Chapel Hill Head Start because one of my besties worked for Head Start in another county. That is where God began to show me the many needs of our community. Groceries, coats, shoes, educating families on budgeting and shopping on a budget were big needs.

Through donations from friends, family and Big Life sisters we were able to send 27 families home with a Christmas Food Box in 2022. Knowing families had that extra bit to help them get through Christmas break was fantastic.

Summer of 2022 we started making weekly donations of fresh veggies from our garden to the Food Pantry at Marion Baptist Church (MBC). I actually met Brother Aaron when he came to Chapel Hill to read to our kids.

Summer of 2023, after months of feeling a nudge from God we started attending MBC. Not only is it an amazing church, but they thrive in helping their community. My husband joined the Praise and Worship Team. That was a true gift. Seeing Kevin use the gift God gave him to worship Him.

That summer I also applied for a job at MBC that would allow me to work with the Food Pantry. From there I began to see other needs of our community. God started dropping ideas and I began journaling and dreaming. I was soaking up all I had learned about our community and trying to figure out how God wanted me to move forward. What was His overall plan?

My pastor, Aaron is a dreamer like myself. I began sharing my ideas with him. He told me you dream it, you put in the work and we will make sure it happens. For the past year I have been dreaming and trying to do some things here and there. I was holding back, playing small and waiting for a perfection that wasn’t coming.

In November 2024 we did a Toiletry Donation Drive to stock a closet so we could help families out with toiletry needs. It was a huge success! In January 2025 we began giving out Blessing Bags when families would pick up their food boxes.

God has been in my ear a lot this year. I am constantly hearing him say, “JUST TAKE A STEP KELLY!” BUT–I would say back. This past month I have really felt him telling me there is not a perfect time, there is no perfect plan you just need to take a step.

Last week at a retreat I shared with the girls about 5&2 and the different areas I felt God was telling me to go. One of the girls reached out to me saying that God nudged her to ask how she could help. Ok God I hear you! So, here I am taking a step!

Yesterday was my 52nd birthday. I did a post on Facebook about period poverty and how I wanted to stock a closet so we could start offering Period Packs. I made an Amazon Wish List and asked my friends to make a donation in honor of my birthday.

Golly Gee did my friends show up and show out! I will be getting Amazon boxes of tampons and pads for days! haha! I had to warn my husband that the stuff coming this week was not me going crazy on Amazon. Thank you God I love it!

With all that being said its time we officially launch 5&2 Ministry!

The name came to me because I have always loved the story of Jesus feeding 5,000. Jesus takes what is available and multiples it. But, He doesn’t just multiple it He goes above and beyond. Every person is filled to satisfaction and there are leftovers!

5&2 Ministry is inspired by this miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just five loaves and two fish. Our goal is to take what we have—no matter how small—and allow God to multiply it to meet the needs of His flock.

I have always tried to image what it would have been like to be one of the disciples or one of the people in crowd when he does this. I could never wrap my mind around it. What it would be like to witness something so astonishing. When The Chosen did an episode on Jesus feeding the 5,000 I was thrilled! They brought it to life so wonderfully.

As I was searching for verses to describe 5&2 Ministry 1 Peter 5:2 in the passion translation is the one I kept going back to. I truly feel God brought us back here to cheerfully and joyfully provide for His flock.

I have to tell you all that the fact that the chapter and verse are 5 and 2 went right over my head until my friend Pamela pointed it out to me. Just another wink and sign that God.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to help our community thrive by providing access to essential resources—food, toiletries, clothing, and educational tools. We empower individuals and families in our community.

Areas of Service:

Farmers Market (fresh veggies, fruit & eggs)
Toiletry Closet
Period Packs
Coat & Shoe Closet
Can Food Drive (to help supplement the food panty)
Life Skills
Budgeting

GOALS:

We are here to cheerfully serve our community.
We show up with a positive attitude and heart full of kindness ready to take on any challenge.
We compassionately seek solutions for the needs of our community.
We joyfully take on the responsibility to serve, guide and care for our community.
With our Can Food Drive we work hard to collect food to supplement our Food Pantry and provide to our neighbors in need.
As a Farmers Market we strive to offer a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits and eggs to our neighbors in need.
As a Toiletry Closet we aim to aid our neighbors by providing essential hygiene items.
With our Period Packs we aim to provide women, schools, shelters and community organizations with menstrual products to help meet their immediate needs.
As a Coat & Shoe Closet our focus is to provide warm outerwear and shoes to those in need.
We seek to address issues with food insecurity through education, life skills and teaching food preservation.
We are a ministry that helps build our community through faith in action.
We work together to advocate, raise awareness and transform lives in our community.

Mighty Warrior

January 6, 2025January 6, 2025 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

The lord is with you mighty warrior! Judges 6:12

Do you know this story? Its a good one! The angle of the Lord appears to Gideon and tells him he is mighty warrior and that he will deliver Israel from the Midianites. Gideon replies back that his family is the weakest in the land. The Lord says BUT I am with you and you will strike down Midianites.

Gideon asked not once, but twice for a sign that he really is God. Our God, ever so patient gave him the two signs. Then he asked Gideon to drop his army to 300 men to take down the Midianites. He trusted God– did what he said and they defeated the Midianites.

I relate to this story so much right now. I was drawn into a battle I wasn’t expecting. I had to seek understanding from God. I had to ask Him if I was doing the right thing. And I have to trust Him completely with something I have no control over.

Over the past 25 months God has done a work in me. I learned to stay steadfast no matter what got thrown at us and I learned to flourish in difficult times. Now He is telling me, “stay strong mighty warrior I am preparing the way”.

My name is Kelly Beatrice, but most everyone knows me as Kelly Bea. A couple months ago I was looking up the meanings of my boys names. As I was doing this it reminded me of the Precious Moments bookmark I use to have with my name and meaning of my name on it. Showing my age mentioning Precious Moments. I remember something about being mighty, but couldn’t exactly remember the meanings so I looked up mine and Kevin’s, too.

Kelly is an Irish name that means bright-headed; war and one who frequents churches. I do work at a church! Biblically my name means solider or warrior. Beatrice means bringer of joy and blessings.

Mid-November my name meaning kept popping back up randomly. I told my friend, Pamela I believe God is giving me my word already. Soon as I told her she was in full agreement. Despite feeling I had it I still went through the steps of finding my word and mantra in December. That is when God said “Kelly Bea you are my JOYFUL WARRIOR, lets prepare for battle!”

JOYFUL WARRIOR

Today I start on my knees in prayer and rise up in the full armor of God. Faith is my shield and His love is my armor. I know who I am because I know who He is. I am full of spark and passionate praise for I know the battle is already won! I walk in alignment with God slaying my day like the JOYFUL WARRIOR he created me to be!

Golly Gee I am in love with my word and mantra this year! The emotion overflows when I say it to myself. When I get up in the morning, hit my knees in prayer and rise up to start my day I feel His armor coming over me! I walk in confidence knowing He has already prepared the way for me. I just need to keep my focus on Him and slaying that enemy who tries so hard to steal, kill and destroy.

While going through the process of finding my word and writing my mantra I found a lot of Bible verses and song lyrics that hit just right.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 reminds us to always be joyful. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us the Lord is a mighty warrior who is always with us. Proverbs 17:22 says a joyful heart is good medicine. Ephesians 6 of courses tells of us the armor of God. Psalms 28:7 in the passion translation blew me away, “God is my strength and my wraparound shield. When I fully trust in you, help is on the way. I jump for joy and burst forth with ecstatic passionate praise”.

Some of the songs that have made my Joyful Warrior playlist are The Truth Song by Megan Woods, Battle Belongs by Phil Whickham, Take it Back by Tauren Wells, Warrior by Hannah Kerr, Raise a Hallelujah by Bethel, The Joy of the Lord by Rend Collective, The Joy Song by Motion Worship, Desperate by Jamie MacDonald and Won’t Back Down by Fearless Soul.

Part of Big Life Mentoring is living a BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE! Pamela has an amazing goal writing system that works when you do the work. After getting my word, mantra and doing my year end review I was ready to write goals for 2025. Our goals are broken down into six areas: Spiritual, Health, Relationships, Mind-Happiness, Home-Money-Career and Fun! Once you have your goals for the year you break them down into monthly, weekly and daily goals using the Big Life Digital Planner. At the end of the year if you work the system you have done some living and accomplished your goals.

As if getting your word, mantra and goals written weren’t enough fun next I got to make a vision board. A daily visible reminder of who I am, whose I am and the plans we have. Remember goals are just dreams until you do something. Having this visual daily reminder will keep me focused on living big! I don’t just want to have big dreams. I want a big life! I want to grab up all God has available for me. In 52 years when I get to heaven I want to be able to say I lived to the full and have nothing left. And yes that would make me 103! I have a goal of living a full, happy and healthy 100+ years! I want to still be out gardening and tending to my chickens when the good Lord takes me home.

Childlike Faith

December 29, 2024 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

Que Matchbox Twenty circa 1996 “its 3AM and I must be lonely”! That song always pops in my head when I can’t sleep. Only its 1AM and can’t wind down from an amazing day at church. Between the powerful message from Aaron and the church full of children singing this evening my soul is on fire.

As I was laying in bed talking to God about what an amazing day it was I felt Him say you are like those little children. This year your faith has flourished. It is childlike faith you have and I don’t want you to ever lose that.

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. ³Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁴So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:2-3

What does it mean to have childlike faith? Children trust and believe in their parents. We should trust and believe in God that same way. Think about it! Before the world got a hold of us we fully believed everything our parents told us. We believed in Santa, the Easter bunny and tooth faith.

I grew up in church and surrounded by people of faith. I was saved and baptized at 10. Over the years I lost that childlike faith. My faith was surface level. I said I had faith in God, but took care of things myself. Sometimes it worked for me and sometimes it didn’t.

Over the last five years God has been working on me. If you have been following our story you know in 2021 we took a huge leap of faith by changing our entire lives and moving back to Kentucky. We had complete faith that God brought us back here and was going to use our farm for good.

The unthinkable happened to us in 2023. At first we let it take us down. With God we fought our way back to living life. To be honest when your trust is broken the way that ours was God is the only person you can have complete trust in.

So when 2024 rolled around God gave me the word FLOURISH. The definition of flourish is to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment. My mantra is “today I wake up ready to soak up all God’s nourishment so that I can navigate my day fearlessly and courageously! I am diving in and cultivating all God has available for me. Go ahead and blow my mind with all your great plans. I am ready to fiercely flourish!

In January when God gave me this word my goals were to grow my faith, develop a healthy lifestyle and grow the most amazing garden.

Well, the garden sucked this year! There isn’t another way to describe it. We went from too much rain to super humidity. It was very disappointing, but a lesson in how to do better next year.

My health and fitness never got off the rollercoaster. I did drop 10 of the 30 pounds I needed to lose. I have kept those 10 off. It’s a struggle and I will continue to fight and find balance.

My faith skyrocketed! In May a flip switched. I literally went from saying I had faith that God was taking care of things to fully believing it. The more time I spent in prayer, reading his word and listening to Him the less I worried and the more I believed He is in control and His timing is perfect.

I also believe I surrounded myself with the right people. My friends, my family and my coworkers covered us in prayer and spoke positivity to us. They reminded me God has this and I just need to live my life.

Its hard to describe the change in me. For months it consumed my life and then it didn’t. I know it didn’t happen overnight. Looking back I can see the tiny ways God was bringing me back.

The more I put Him first, the less I worried. The more I talked to Him, the more I found my joy for life. The more I read my Bible the more I saw how amazing our God is and my faith grew. I begin to give it to Him more and more each day. I was flourishing in the best way possible.

Proverbs 11:28 “Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in the spring.”

Psalm 52:8 “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever”.

Proverbs 14:11 “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.”

Because of my child-like faith I went to pastor, Aaron and told him the dream I felt God placed on my heart. I told him how I felt God was saying go all in! Don’t just have a food pantry, but a free farmers market, classes on budgeting, learning to make the most of your food box, canning, freezing and baking. Lets not just have a food pantry, but a toiletry closet.

To be honest I was so excited I kind had diarrhea of the mouth and just threw it all at it him. I was overflowing with excitement. He once told me he loved big ideas. He said if you do the work we can make it happen. Here I am send me! A few days later I sent him a detailed email of my dream and my why. He said, “we can do this!”

As I child I always loved the story of Jesus feeding 5000 with two loaves of bread and five fish. That is where I got the idea of calling the ministry 5&2. While brainstorming with God I was looking up verses and came across 1 Peter 5:2. I was sharing the passion translation of the verse with my friend, Pamela and she said “Kelly did you pick this one because of the 5:2”. I never even noticed until she said something. For me that reinforced calling it 5&2.

In November our church did a toiletry drive and we filled a closet full! We are so excited to add that in January. I am very fortunate that God put me at Marion Baptist Church. Julie and Kody have the same passion as I do for food and helping people. I can’t wait to see what God does through us in 2025.

1 Peter 5:2 says, “to be compassionate shepherds who tenderly care for God’s flock and who feed them well, for you have the responsibility to guide, protect, and oversee. Consider it a joyous pleasure and not merely a religious duty. Lead from the heart under God’s leadership—not as a way to gain finances dishonestly but as a way to eagerly and cheerfully serve”.

The most difficult year…

December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

In 2023 there was the awesomeness of the Eras Tour and the devastation of Maui fires. The legendary Tina Turner died and Barbie made a huge comeback. Throughout the entire year it was full of highs and lows. For us it was much the same. I can honestly say it was the hardest year of our lives.

The year started off great! I knew I wanted to focus on my health and my relationship with God. I treasured 2022 a little too much when it came to indulging in food. I was the biggest I had ever been and I was miserable. When you go from running multiple half marathons a year to not having the energy to walk a mile you know its time to get your butt in gear.

The word God gave me was perfect! “Today I am STEADFAST in His direction as I faithfully imagine all He has planned for me. I am circling it in prayer and putting it into action. I will not be shaken by circumstances, but remain loyal to God, myself and my commitments!”

I mean look at the mantra! I was ready to tackle my health and grow my relationship with Him. Nothing was gonna shake me or break me! I was ready! Little did I know on January 1st when I stuck my word/mantra beside my bathroom mirror how much more I would need it for.

One thing I have noticed is you think your word & mantra comes to you for one reason, BUT GOD has given it to you for another. The year unfolds and that word takes on new meaning. Your mantra becomes so much more.

I missed New Year retreat this year, but got to take my niece to Universal Studios for a long weekend. It was her first time flying and our first time to Universal. She is a huge Harry Potter fan so we did all the HP things. We loved Dr. Suess world, too. It was a fabulous trip!

On February 18th our world was rocked! I don’t know how else to explain it. Literally all the wind in our sails deflated in a matter of minutes. I thought I was having a heart attack only to learn later that day it was a panic attack. Made it almost 50 years without ever having one.

At this time I cannot go into the details of the what, but I can share what it did to us. When your trust is betrayed by someone you never in a million years thought would betray you, it really does rock you to your core.

I was even warned we might want to go in a different direction, but my gut never went on alert so we thought we were making the right decision. My gut has rarely failed me. It did this time.

The next few months were a blur. Kev and I went through all the feels. Deep hurt and betrayal were among the strongest feelings we had. It was like walking in quicksand and being surrounded by thick fog. We were truly stuck in that moment. How did this happen? Why is this happening?

I was having panic attacks. We were both dealing with anxiety and depression. As someone who never really had much sympathy for people with anxiety it was a tough lesson to learn. It was the first time in my life I wasn’t sure how to conquer my feelings. I ended up on medication.

The medication numbed me. For me that was worse than being anxious and depressed. I turned to God. Sometimes we forgot that he can do ANYTHING. Through prayer, reading my Bible and talking to people I trusted I was able to work through everything and find my joy again.

Next came the anger. I am not an angry person. I don’t stay mad. I couldn’t shake this anger. I ended up talking to my pastor. He said my anger is normal and very valid. Acting on anger is when it becomes sin. I began praying for God to take away my anger and bring back my zest for life.

That is when I begin to work on forgiveness. I realized forgiveness was for me and me alone. The person(s) don’t even have to know they are forgiven. Once I truly forgave I was able to start mending my heart and soul. I began to see my spark again. We were still heavy in the middle of mess, but the enemy no longer controlled me 24/7.

The gamut of emotions we faced in 2023 were more than anyone should have to deal with. One second things were happening and the next it was crickets. We were always left up in the air wondering is it over or what’s next. We were still riding a rollercoaster, but it didn’t control me anymore.

My mantra was something I said to myself multiple times a day. I had to remind myself to stay steadfast in his direction, to circle it in prayer, give it to Him and I would NOT be shaken by the circumstances of life.

As we faced this battle I prayed so much. I cried out to God. I asked him to show me if we were wrong, if there was something we needed to see and He consistently told me to remain steadfast and keep our eyes on Him. He gave me this verse again and again. James 1:2 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness”.

We took a leap of faith and completely changed our lives moving back to Kentucky. We knew God wanted us to use our farm to glorify Him. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we never expected this.

In October 2022 I was in Oklahoma at friends house. A book on Kim’s desk caught my eye. She gave me that book and I read it that fall. Looking back now I see how God gave me that book to prepare me for this battle. The book was called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. I actually used “circle in prayer” in my mantra. That was before I knew what this year would hold. That book helped me so much this year. I clearly heard God tell me this was our Jericho. Silently circle it in prayer and trust Him with this rest. When the times comes He will tell us when to shout and watch that “wall” fall!

To this day we remain STEADFAST in God. We got off the rollercoaster of emotions and put our faith in Him and His timing. We are not letting what is happening keep us from living our best life. Despite the difficulties we faced in 2023 we still had a really good year. Stay tuned for the goodness of 2023.

Gliding Into Spring

April 3, 2022April 3, 2022 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

I was so excited to wake up to a beautiful, sunny day. After backporch church I quickly got started on a house project! It’s so exciting to finally be working on getting the house looking and feeling like home!

This Glider was handed down to us years ago by our Aunt Faye. We loaded it up and took it to our home in Alabama. I cleaned it up, painted it and put it on our front porch. In September when we moved back to Kentucky it came back with us.

The glider was looking worn and needed an update to go with our new farmhouse. Today I sanded it down, scrubbed it clean and got busy giving her a new look. I was so pleased with how it turned out. She is full of life again and ready for many more years of gliding away!

Look at all the colors she’s been over the years!

Next comes the New Navy to really make her pop against the white brick!

Looks fabulous with my new wreath from The Tin Roof.

Footers, Blocks and Electricity Oh my!

September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

When my uncle said it would go fast he wasn’t kidding! Be the end of week one we had the footers poured and were waiting on the blocks to arrive!

Footers are being poured!
The garage!
Breezeway connecting the house and garage!
Beautiful sky! We got mamaw to drive out with us! I know she enjoyed getting out of the house for a little while!
Starting to see what it’s going to look like!

After the footers were poured it was the daily drive by to see if the blocks had arrived! One afternoon we showed up and got to see this beautiful rainbow! Thank you God for reminding us of your promise!

Not long after we left the blocks arrived. The next day we drove over to the farm to see the progress just as a downpour came so this was all we saw…

That was a big ole downpour, so it was a couple days before anything else happened.

It’s a little wet & muddy!
Blue skies and back to work!
Looking like something more and more!

Friday night our boys showed up around 10! It was so good to see them and talk to them in person! We couldn’t wait to get up the next morning and take them to the farm. They grew up going to the farm and love it as much as we do so this was a special moment for us!

We are all so excited!
Checking it out!

It was so cool to show them the house and walk them through where everything will be. My oldest was thrilled about how close we are to this finger of woods and the open field on the other side of it. He couldn’t stop talking about the deer that are around this spot. We told him about all the deer and turkeys we have been seeing the past few days with the cooler weather. I think he is in love with the idea of walking out the backdoor to hunt!

They got started on getting electric out to the house, too. Next is digging the line the to road for it and for water. By the end of this week they should start on the floor joist, too! We picked our brick and siding for the house, too!

As much as it is exciting, it is also a little scary picking out things and hoping they will look as good in real life once its all done, as it does in your head when you pick it! Just like the floor plan–I couldn’t find anything that was exactly what I wanted. So I took from different plans and made my own. I found a great home plan designer on Etsy and sent her what I drew up and she worked with me to draw up exactly what I wanted and the square footage I wanted. So, if you don’t find what you are looking for find someone who can help you get it just how you do want it. Vision boards have also been a huge help. I did a basic set for my uncle and have a very detailed set for me. I am constantly adding and taking away as everything comes together. Now that I have a color scheme for the exterior and interior things are falling into place.

The here and now

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

Holly Balls! Life went from a sprint to a marathon since arriving in Kentucky. We were going 90 to nothing trying to get everything done. We were excited, but overwhelmed with how fast everything was happening. On September 3rd we closed on our house in Alabama and drove to Clay, Kentucky and everything changed. We didn’t have a home, jobs or any of the little comforts were were use to. Even our sweet dogs lost the freedom of coming and going as they please–no doggy door and fenced backyard here. Even though we unpacked a few boxes and took over part of my mother-in-law’s house it still felt like we were just visiting the first week or so. Time seems to fly by, too. Why is it when you are at work 8 hours is an eternity and when you are home you blink and its supper time!

I thought we would get up here and the next part of our plan would be revealed to us. I thought God would show us what’s next–how can we use this farm for our future. So far its been crickets. I don’t like crickets. I don’t like the unknown. I am a planner and I am not sure what I am supposed to be planning for. I continue to pray and talk to Kevin about all our dreams. We wonder if our dreams will align with God’s plan. What’s He got in store for us? What does the future hold for us over at the farm?

This is our third week in Kentucky and I was really starting to feel uneasy. Uneasy about the unknown, the future and why God is being silent. He laughs at me I am sure! Why? Because He is never silent. If we are talking to Him, He is talking to us. Sometimes we are only listening for the answer we want instead of the one He is giving us. 😉

For the 3rd Sunday since we being in Kentucky I got up, listened to church and planned my week out in my digital planner. I decided no more being lazy its time to get my tail up at 5:45 and get back to my morning routine that always seemed to help me live my best life.

That is just what I did, too! Monday morning at the lovely hour of 5:45 AM my alarm went off and I rolled out of bed and started my day. By 6 I was on live chat with my 6AM Hottie Kim chatting away. After a few minutes catching up we did our workout and I was done just in time for live devotion with Pamela. No one else in the house was up yet. I grabbed my headphones, iPad and a cup of coffee and joined live devotion just in time for our morning routine and Big Life Devotional.

Little did I know God was about to talk to me loud and clear through Pamela! He knew I was in a quiet place focused on her words–words that He gave her. He knew I would be really listening. Monday’s Big Life Devotion was titled “The Roundabout Way” and she read to us from Exodus 13: 17-18. Its about Pharaoh letting the people go and God NOT taking them on the main road, which was the shortest route, but leading them on a roundabout way. He took them the long way around to avoid a battle. He knew they weren’t ready for that battle. Pamela mentioned that God had a purpose in this, just as He has a purpose for everything He does in our lives. We need to trust Him and His route for our lives.

LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!!

We are exactly where we are supposed to be on our journey! A movie of our journey played in my head! How six months ago we never would of brought up moving to Kentucky, that night in May when everything changed and we decided to try and get to Kentucky by May 2022. How God changed our timeline and got us here in three months. Just in time to be available for Betty as she battles this cancer. Every morning Kevin makes breakfast and every evening I make supper. She is eating better than she has in months. Our sweet little dogs just love to sit and snuggle with her. Lollie loves playing ball with her. Kevin was able to take his mom to her first chemo treatment. We are here with her every step of the way. She might want a break from us. 😀

But that movie playing in my head showed me much more than just being available for Betty. We have been here for so much in this short. During this time I have been waiting for God to reveal what’s next I was living it! I was so busy looking for what’s next I almost missed the here and now. I have been able to go to Nadya’s soccer games and cheer on the Lady Tigers. Nadya asked me to go with her for her senior pictures and we had the best time. Her pictures are going to be amazing. We have also got to spend lots of time with Emmy and Sadie. We have had time with my parents, Faye, Linda, Lori, Jason, Joy, Margaret and Rodney. I have got to see 2nd cousins I normally never get to see. Kevin’s had friends stop by and see him. My uncle Rodney is building our house. Thank you God, I love it. You are so so sweet! I trust the journey you have us on and your timing.

Friends here is your reminder to trust the route God has you on. Look around you and take in the here and now that is happening in your life.

Oh and the house build has started already! I’ll share more on that later this week. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Unemployed, Homeless & excited!

September 4, 2021September 4, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

I think I am still in disbelief of what is happening. I am mind-blown and thankful to God for all his has done between mid-May and today!

August 24th we both are officially unemployed!

Between August 13 and August 28 we boxed up our house, garage and storage building in two 20 foot U-Haul’s and invaded our parents! Just kidding–kinda! We filled a couple storage units, part of a garage, part of a basement and took over a small part of my mother-in-law’s house. We feel like we walked in and took over, but she promises she is happy to have us here, especially as she starts her battle to get rid of this stomach cancer.

The first U-Haul load we took up on a day the heat index hit 108! It was miserable, but we got it done. I was done before we even started unloading because I drove our old Kia up to give to my niece, Nadya. It had no AC. I tried to just look at it as a sauna drive and easy weight loss. 😉 Moving a 700+ pound piano is not an easy task either! Thank you to our son, Tyler, Warren, Tuc and Rodney for the help loading and/or unloading it!

September 3rd we walked through our amazing little house and yard one last time remembering all the good times we have had over the last 17 years. So much good happened in that house. I remember thinking when the boys were little if only we had a bigger house so we could have more space from one another, but looking back now I am so glad we were on top of each other. It made us the close family we are today.

I thought I would of been more sad than I was. I am happy to say as we closed the door on our home for the last time I shed a couple of tears as we drove to the close, but I was happy. Happy for the 17 years of memories that home gave me that I can take with me and I am so excited about the future. We are still not 100% sure what God has in store for us, but we are asking Him to show us in His time and for our eyes to be open to see. We know right now our focus is Betty and getting her through these next 2-3 months.

September 4th we are officially homeless and living with our parents! 😀

In the coming weeks we will be settling into our temporary home with Betty, doctors appointments and planning to build our little house on the farm. I have been writing down my dreams of the future, praying over them and asking God to show me which path we need to take. Kev and I would appreciate your prayers for my mother-in-law and seeing clearly the path God has for us.

Thank you all for reading my blog and joining us on this journey. We appreciate you all so very much. 🙂

Signs everywhere

August 6, 2021August 10, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 2 Comments

Be careful when you ask your mom and mother-in-law to pray for something to happen! Its seems that since we told our parents everything is happening in fast forward. When I pray I ask for God to show me the way, make it clear, help me to know Him from the devil. My husband said “I just told God I am a little on the stupid side when it comes to seeing things sometimes so knock me over the head Lord–make it clear”. It seems as though He listened because we are getting little God Winks here, there and everywhere. When I was telling my friends about the signs from God, she said they are God Winks and I really do love that!

My mother-in-law is not very good at keeping a secret so she kind of told everyone in Clay and surrounding areas about our plans to possibly move to the farm. This brought on an outpouring of love from family and friends that were so excited to hear the news. For us it was another God Wink. We knew moving home meant being able to be there for Kevin’s mom and my parents for this we were so grateful. What we hadn’t thought of was being there for our niece and her family. When Betty told us how excited Lori was to hear we were coming home it stopped us in our tracks. How she was excited to have family (besides Mamaw) close again brought tears to our eyes. We would be there to go to the girls stuff and the girls could stay with us and we could do family things together whenever we wanted. Something that 4 hours distance all this time has kept us from doing. Thank you God we love it!

We went home one weekend and took my mom, Betty, Faye and Linda out for lunch. We had the best time. I told Kevin this is something we can do once or twice a month when we are up there and not once a year. Then it dawned on me I could come pick them up whenever I wanted to and take them out to do fun stuff. Happy tears flowing–thank you God I love it!

My niece, Nadya lives with my parents. She is going to be a senior in high school this year. That’s a big deal. I am so grateful that I will get to be there for her this year. I can go to her soccer games, homecoming, help her get ready for prom, help her apply for college, graduation and all that great stuff. Thank you God, I love it!

Kevin is excited about farming his land. Getting his hands dirty on the land that his father worked so hard for. He is looking forward to walking the land with our friend Charlie Beavers who knows many a story about Frank and Darrell on the farm. He is grateful to know he will be there to mow his mom’s yard, fix things around her house and be just a phone call away. Thank you God, we love it!

Little Sadie and Emmy keep talking about spending the night with us on the farm. Going to creek to hunt for snakes and walking in the woods. It warms my heart to know they will be playing and having fun on the land their grandfather and great-grandfather loved so much. Thank you God, You are so good!

My uncle Rodney builds houses and called us offering to help us build a house on our farm. His son Tuc would be involved. I use to watch Tuc and Spence when I was teenager. I always said those two boys prepared me for raising my own boys. It was just another God Wink saying you are doing the right thing. Stop wasting time, stop half living and get on up to Kentucky. I could hear Him saying “follow your dreams, take that leap I’ve got you”.

We have lived here for 17 years and have never really sold a house so we decided to go ahead and reach out to a friend that is a realtor. We told her all about the house and all the work we have put into the last 2 years because we thought it would be our forever home. We knew the market in Huntsville area was hot right now and its a sellers market, but I was SHOCKED when she told me what they wanted to list our house for. Still in shock actually. Def a God Wink!

The few friends we have told are over the moon for us. They totally get it. A couple of our close friends even talk about the change in Kevin. How at ease he is and how the stress has left him. That God Wink is everything to me. Seeing my husband without anxiety because he knows what is coming. Thank you God, I love it.

I could go on, but I will leave it there. You get the picture. We are seeing God everywhere saying “trust me and go”. So we are doing it! We actually are trusting him so big that our timeline has moved up drastically. Our house will go on the market as “Coming Soon” July 30th and August 1st will be our first Open House.

Sometimes God gives you what you think you wanted to show you want you really need

August 2, 2021July 29, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

Back in May a job opportunity presented itself to me out of the blue. I was beyond excited that this fell into my lap and was going to do my best to show that I really was the girl for the job. With each passing day my plate grew fuller and fuller. I began to question is this really what I want? I was quite happy where I am. Now it was as if I was going 90 to nothing–was this how it would always be in this new role? Is the title worth it? Is the money worth this? I began to question is this what I really want. I began to pray for guidance.

All the time this is going on with me, my husband is battling his own work demons. He had been doing the same job for nearly 15 years and in the same career for 24 years. He was so ready to just let it all go. He would tell me how he just wanted work outside, get his hands dirty, not be stuck at desk or have his eyes glued to a computer screen. I had been praying over him and his job for a long while. Little did I know God was about to answer in a huge and unexpected way.

The job opportunity ended up not working out and all I felt was relief. When I went home and told my husband he felt so bad for me until I told him how relieved I was that it worked out the way it did. I told him that I think God was showing me that this is not what I really wanted or needed. I told him I was going to continue to pray for Him to guide us both.

A few nights later my husband I are were talking about the farm and started having us a little “dream session”. I can not for the life of me remember how the subject even came up, but I know we were dreaming about the possibility of putting a cabin on the farm that way when we go to visit our family we have our own little place to stay. We really love the peacefulness we get when we are on the farm. Its in the middle of no where and all you hear are the sounds of nature, you see a million stars at night and its full of God’s creations. Kevin put a picture of the farm up on the TV and showed me where he always wanted to build and it was the exact same spot that I always loved. Its a beautiful spot with great views and backs up to the woods and a great little spot I use to go hunting with one of my boys.

That night we went to bed thinking about building a cabin on the farm for when we visit…