food ministry

Tired, weary and full of joy!

/ Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1 NLT

“…Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

What started 31 months ago was about to end. We were just 18 short days away. I was sitting on the back row with my sweet daddy, listening intently. I felt the shift and knew the ending wasn’t coming in 18 days after all.

Six months just got added to our wait. Surprisingly, I was not as torn up as I thought I would be. Really, what is six more months when you have been waiting for thirty one. That my friends is what God can do when you give it all to Him.

When the bottom fell out 31 months ago I was a dejected human. I let the enemy take hold of me for a bit. BUT GOD! He was there waiting for me and when I took hold of Him my zest for life came back. I have total faith in Him. He is bigger than the mess, bigger than the enemy and He is taking all this and turning it for His good.

That verse in Nehemiah says the joy of the Lord is my strength. I let God’s joy be my source of strength, not my circumstances. That is what that verse means! When you are down let God fill you up. Depend on Him not the circumstances of life. Put your full faith and trust in God alone.

God is our refuge and strength at all times, but especially in times of trouble. Through this trial He has been a refuge for me. He has given me strength when I didn’t think I could handle another hit. He has made me strong and fierce. Every single time I have had to do something for this trial I have felt Him. He has given me so much strength.

Yes, I have grown tired and some days I am weary, but nothing can steal my joy! It comes from the Lord ALONE, not my circumstances. God’s power is omnipotent (ALL POWERFUL). The enemy’s power is limited and he can’t steal what he hasn’t given you!

There is a saying that says your day will go the way the corners of your mouth are turned. Are you smiling or frowning through life? Are you going through life with a positive attitude or a negative one? Where is your focus?

I wake up and can’t wait to walk out of my bedroom and see the sun rising through my front door. I grab a cup of coffee, my Bible and go watch it rise the rest of the way. It brings me joy! My little 9 mile drive to work can take over 20 minutes somedays, because I creep along my country road watching wildlife and being mesmerized.

Try going through a day with wonder and awe of all that is around you. Look up and tell God “thank you I love it”. Go to park, leave your phone in your car and go sit in the grass. Listen to the birds sing. Gaze at the clouds. Soak up the sun. Dance in the rain. Soak up God’s creation with childlike wonder. It will perk you right up.

I can now say that I am grateful for this trial because through it I have grown so close to God! He is my number 1 always and forever. I start my day with Him. I go to Him during my day. I end my day with Him. I do everything with Him in mind.

As a young teen I always looked up to my Mema and Mother Russell. They were such amazing Godly women. It was always one of them that would pray at family gatherings. They could quote scripture and turn right to what they were looking for in their Bibles. They were kind to everyone. They were forgiving and compassionate. I wanted to be them when I grew up. For the first time in my life I can proudly say I am making progress at being like them.

Mother Russell and I at church
Me helping Mema get to the house
Always loved Mother Russell’s red carpet
Four Generations
1996
Mema & Pepa with the first 7 grands

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:29 NIV

He gives strength to the weary. When we become exhausted from the battles of life God gives us strength. When we are at our weakest, God can sustain us! God has compassion for us and He wants us to lean on Him. He wants to be our source of strength.

He increases the power of the weak. God does not leave us vulnerable, He instead empowers us and give us divine strength to face our battles. He wants us to trust in Him during the difficulties of life. God’s power is limitless! He wants us to trust in Him at ALL times.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV

This verse reminds me to focus on doing good. Through this difficult trial I have felt God redirect me from worrying over all the “what ifs” to focusing on the reason He brought us back to Kentucky. He did not bring me here to get lost in worry, anxiousness, depression and sadness. He brought me here to do good for our community, bring others to know him and live life to the fullest.

I find joy in serving my community! Today we served 341 meals to our community. It brings me delight to prepare and serve lunch to our community. Today I also dropped off a bag full of Period Packs for one of our teachers at the high school. Tomorrow our Food Pantry will be open all day. I will bring fresh eggs and watermelon from the farm and add them to the boxes.

First deliver of Period Packs!
One last harvest!
Watermelons everywhere!

Those things bring the JOY and those things are where God wants me to focus. He is working on the trial and He will let me know if He needs something from me.

We reap a harvest when we do not give up! Always focus on God and His will for your life. Focus on doing good and loving others well. Strive to make a positive impact on those you encounter. Be persistent in focusing on God and telling the enemy to get away from you! Our reward will be will be awesome!

My goal is to get to the end of fully lived life and have God say to me: “My joyful warrior you did good! You lived big, you served well and you left nothing in your tank”!

5&2 Ministry

/ 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.

Childlike Faith

/ 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. 3 Then 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. 4 So 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”.