Tired, weary and full of joy!

September 20, 2025September 22, 2025 / 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.

“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.

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

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.

I have no words…

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

I go outside to feel closer to God. Why? I can’t tell you why. I only know when I am outside surrounded by His creation I feel Him more. I can hear Him in the birds singing their songs. I see Him in the clouds dancing across the azure blue skies. I see Him in sunrises & sunsets as he paints the sky. I can feel Him when the wind blows, the snow falls and rain sprinkles.

Outside there are no distractions. No hum of electricity coming from the things in your house. No TV blaring. No house that says “clean me”. No dust bunnies hopping across the floor reminding you to dustmop. Outside it is just you and all of God’s creation.

Today the words weren’t coming and I thought maybe if I go outside they would. They did not! I said out loud to God, “I can’t find the words today God. I need you. I am desperate, but the words aren’t coming.”

In that moment the tears began to flow as I felt Him all around me. It was like the birds got louder, the sun got brighter and the wind tickled my face. I just let it all out as I soaked up His embrace.

After a few minutes I said, “God that is all I got today, but I promise I am going to get up and go be your JOYFUL WARRIOR!”.

Lamentations 3: 21-24 says “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this. The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in Him.”

Those verses are so good and give me such hope! God’s love and faithfulness will NEVER end! He is faithful to bring judgement and faithful to bring restoration. He provides all we need.

My study Bible said the faithful love of the Lord is the basis for the poets recovery from deep depression. I can relate to this. It’s because of my faith I am able to live with joy during this difficult time.

It’s been 26 months and 26 days since I was betrayed by someone I loved my whole life. Sadly, the hit that came that day was only the beginning. It continued to get worse and worse.

Since that day my emotions have run the gamut from confusion & hurt to finding my joy again. I worked very hard to find and keep my joy. Most days it is easy, but there are days when everything hits all at once. That feeling of overwhelm takes over and tries its hardest to pull me into the darkness.

That is why I am so grateful I have God. I stay tethered tightly to him through prayer, conversation and His word. He alone keeps me living fully and with a heart of joy.

I know God is working hard in all this. He can take what the devil intends for harm and make it outstandingly wonderful.

I know I have been changed because of this trail. I am closer to God now than I ever have been. Would that be the case if this didn’t happen?

If you look back on our journey we are back in Kentucky because we trusted God and took a huge leap of faith. Quitting our jobs, leaving our boys and the life we created in Alabama and relocating to our farm. We had no clue what we would do when we got here. We just listened to God.

Looking back I see how I was overly excited about building our little farmhouse. Did that distract me from the reason He brought us here? Did we steer off course? Is He using this to pull us back? Is He using us to bring someone back to Him? Is He teaching someone not to put things of this Earth above Him? Is He using this to show His mighty power? All could be a possibility!

I might not ever understand the why? That is okay! I can already see the good coming from it. I see God changing my heart and molding me into the girl He created me to be. He is showing me what is and is not important. He has given me a heart of service and shown me where I can serve. He is showing me how to shine bright for him.

I think He is working on the person who hurt us, too. To be honest I get a lot of kickback when I mention this to some. I always grin and say “our God is the God of the impossible”!

Luke 1:37 “With God nothing is impossible”.

Luke 18:27 “the things which are impossible with men, are possible with God”.

Back to having no words. Just remember when we don’t have the words, God still knows because the Holy Spirit living in our hearts is a direct line to Him..

Romans 8:26-28 says “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them”.

So when the words don’t come, go to Him anyway. When you don’t understand, go to Him anyway. Trust fully in Him.

He says I can…

March 13, 2025March 13, 2025 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

Picture it: Marion Baptist Church, 2025. A group of friends scattered along the back rows of our church listening to Bible Study. It had been a long, but amazing day. As Brother Aaron is saying the Wednesday Night Announcements I am thinking about going home, putting on my comfy clothes and chilling out.

He begins to tell the parable of the master and his three servants. I tune in. This is one I know. The master is going away for a long time. He gives one servant 5 bags of silver, another 2 bags of silver and the third 1 bag of silver. My Bible says he gave according to their abilities. Meaning the master knew his servants and what they are capable of.

The one with 5 began investing and doubled his. The one with 2 did the same. The one with one was scared of what his master would do if he lost the silver so he buried it in the dirt.

The master comes back and he is pleased with the two who doubled their silver. He was angry with the one who did nothing. He took his bag of silver and gave it to the one with 10.

What I learned is the master was Jesus and we are the servants. He has given us gifts and if want to be good stewards we need to take those gifts and use them for good. Help multiple the kingdom. I also learned that the first two servants probably knew their master. They knew he would be forgiving if they tried and failed over doing nothing.

During this interactive Bible Study someone brought up a scripture that is often misunderstand. One I even misunderstood until now. They said, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle”. Brother Aaron was quick to say that’s another verse everyone gets wrong. This caught my attention!

Brother Aaron went on to say God does give us more than we think we can handle. We all will face times of testing/temptation/trouble–whatever you want to call it. BUT God will be faithful to us. He will make a way! With Him you make it through!

Lightbulb Moment! Aren’t they the best. I sat there and my eyes filled with tears. Its been a hard couple of weeks. To be honest its been a hard two years, but this past week and half have felt a bit overwhelming. I was beginning to question how much more I could handle. How much longer can I stay strong?

I ended up going home and diving into this scripture that is so often misquoted or misunderstood. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it”.

That section in yellow is important. God knows what we are capable of. He knows our abilities, strengths and weakness. If you are going through something He knows you can handle it. So stay strong and handle it! He is there with you always.

And let’s not skip that last part- “he will provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it”. Obviously, He knows I can handle it since He hasn’t given me a way of escape. So, I will carry on knowing He is in this with me!

Just look in the Bible. God was with Moses and look what he did for the Israelites. Little shepherd boy David took down Goliath. God with was them and they knew it. He knew their abilities and they trusted in Him. The Bible is full of people who didn’t think they were capable, but trusted God. He showed them how strong they can be when they walk with Him and have faith in Him.

The Passion translation of 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature and timing of every test or trail you face, so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust him more, for along with every trail God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out victoriously”.

What should stick out is that Paul says YOU CAN BEAR IT and its an OPPORTUNITY TO TRUST HIM MORE. It doesn’t say more than YOU can handle. Its what GOD knows you can handle.

This morning I woke up with a renewed strength! I am going through it and its hard and it really sucks, but I can handle it. I trust God! I know He is walking with me. I will continue to be His joyful warrior. With Him I will keep fighting each battle and be in prayer that He is working to end this war.

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”.

Light Shine Bright

November 14, 2024 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

As we rolled into 2021 we were still learning to live in a covid world. Here in the United States we were dealing with election fallout and a change of Presidents. Despite all the chaos that 2020 brought I was overflowing with joy for all the good God was doing in my life.

Restoring my relationship with God had me centered and focused on living the life He has in store for me. I knew that in 2021 I wanted to shine bright for him. I wanted to be a light in the darkness. Most importantly I wanted people to look at me, see my zest for life and know it’s all because of God. With all that in mind the word ILLUMINATE became my word for 2021.

The mantra I said to myself daily: “With a heart on fire for the Lord, I will live my life with so much zest that I ILLUMINATE Him in all I do!”

Why ILLUMINATE? The definition is “make (something) visible or bright by shining light on it; light up”. I want to light up God and how amazing He is.

Toby Mac has a song called “Lights Shine Bright” that was my theme song for that year. Here is the first verse:

I wanna magnify your light
I wanna reflect the sun
Cut like precious diamonds
With the colors by the millions
This is the only world we know
And for now this rental's our home
If we gonna be a reflection
Gotta make this third rock glow
(Just so you know)
Lights shine bright everywhere we go
Music for the people to illuminate the soul

I went to New Year Retreat in January of 2021. This is where it was confirmed that illuminate was my word. During retreat I really was able to connect and open up about my dreams. When I left retreat I had my word, mantra and goals for 2021. I also left with some forever friends and sisters in Christ.

The end of January I ran my first marathon with my 6AM Hotties there to cheer me on. These are the girls I connected with during the height of covid in 2020. We worked out together every morning at 6AM. The only goal for my first marathon was to finish. Based on my 22 mile training run I was thinking I could finish in 5 hours and 5 minutes.

The marathon started off in the low 60’s and it was raining. I was happy about this, because I run well when it’s raining. Around mile 14 the rain stopped, the sun shined bright and the humidity of the south kicked in. This wasn’t good for me. I get migraines when I overheat and I was overheating big time. My pace slowed down and I was struggling big when I hit mile 20.

Just as my mind was telling me I couldn’t finish my phone rang. It was my friends, Pamela and Jessica calling to cheer me on. During their pep talk I cried and laughed. They gave me what I needed to finish!

Just before I hit mile 26 I heard my hotties cheering for me. A couple of them ran with me giving me that burst of energy to finish strong. I crossed the finish line in 5 hours and 35 minutes.

Things were going great at work. I was an administrative assistant on a government contract and in training as a ACPSO (Assistant Corporate Program Security Officer).

On the other hand, my husband was miserable at his job. He had been staring at code since 1997 and just needed a break. My goal was to get to a place in my career that Kevin could quit his job and go do something else.

God had other plans. He dropped the first little spark one night in May. Kevin and I were looking at old pictures on TV and one of our family farm in Kentucky popped up. I made some comment about how this is the spot I always wanted to build a hunting cabin and he agreed. That little spark caught fire and burned bright in a matter of months.

Seriously, by September we were closing on our house in Alabama and moving in with my mother in law in Kentucky. We had our spot picked and we were talking to my uncle about building our little farmhouse.

We felt God’s guidance every step of the way. He was lighting our path. We knew He had big plans for us in Kentucky.

This blog started because I felt like God was telling me to share our story. It was another way to ILLUMINATE Him. You can go back to the beginning of my blog for all the details of how 2021 unfolded.

As 2021 came to an end we were soaking up all that God was doing in our lives. On New Year’s Eve we moved into the back bedroom and guest bathroom of our little farmhouse. Although we still had a ways to go to finish the house we sure were excited to kick off New Years 2022 waking up on the farm!

All the things are happening!

November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

It’s been a minute since I blogged an update on the house. So many things are happening and all at the same time. The tin roof is done, brick and board & batten siding are going on now. Inside the house they have electric, plumbing and gas. Kevin and I just did the insulation yesterday and sheetrock will be delivered tomorrow.

It’s crazy how quickly things are happening now! Yesterday while doing the insulation I found where friends, family and even some of the guys working on the house have added even more Bible verses to the house! Makes my heart happy.

In the past month not only has all the things been going on with the house, but our family has had a lot going on. The good was celebrating 50 years of marriage for my parents. The not so good was Covid hitting 4 members of our family. Thankfully everyone got through it fairly easy. Betty has completed 6 rounds of chemo as of Friday. My parents have had a lot going on with their health and Nadya’s senior year is going so fast! Each day it’s clear to us that God knew our family needed us here. We are so thankful we are here, too.

I think my favorite thing about the brick, siding and roof going on all at once is finally seeing my vision come together! AND still loving it! Haha! You make a decision based on a small sample and pray that it works when it actually starts going on the house.

I always said I wanted a white farmhouse with a tin roof. We also wanted a brick house and picking out brick was not easy! I picked out the Southern Pearl Queen, but kept going to look at others before going back and going with my first pick. I’m so glad I went for it! I love the brick and it looks great with the gray grout!

To the Window, To the Walls…

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

To the window, to the walls, to the tears drip down my face! 😀 Are you picturing the Get Low scene from The Proposal? I know I am! 😀

Seriously yall I was not expecting the day the walls went up to be so emotional. We were on week four of the build and Kevin had started going to help everyday. He had called to say they were close to getting the first wall up so I decided to stop by and check it out.

I must say its really cool to watch these guys work. Phil and Les don’t even have to communicate and Phil just grabs a scrap piece of wood and starts working numbers. Next thing you know they have a wall laid out! When this first small section of the front wall went up I was giddy with excitement. It was happening! Walls are going up on our dream home!

Next was to raise the rest of the front wall. I didn’t know how the 3 of them would do it. I walked out in front of the house so I could take it all in. When that wall started coming up I was overcome with emotions. I was in awe seeing Kevin being a part of building our home. I was so proud of my man. I was full of gratitude to God for making this possible. I felt a peace wrap around me as I thanked God and told him how much I loved it. I was just completely overcome by emotion and comforted by God all at the same time. The tears did not stopping falling down my face!

And there is the front wall of the house!

By the end of the week we not only had our 4 exterior walls up, but half of the interior walls! The following week they finished the interior walls and now it is looking like a house! Its awesome to walk around the rooms and start to get an idea for how things will be.

Front Wall is up!
View from the road.
Exterior Walls are done!
Excited about this wall of windows and door! Can’t wait to sit by the fire and watch the wildlife go by.
Kitchen, Utility room and pantry go there.
Looking like a house! Check out that big front porch!
Our home!

Next comes trusses!

We have been back in Kentucky for 7 weeks now and with each passing day I am more assured that this is exactly where God wants us. There are days when I feel like I am in limbo and don’t have a purpose but I have to come to realize those thoughts and feelings are all in my head. That is the devil trying to throw me off. God has us exactly where we need to be right now. Our family needs us right now more than ever. God has made it where we are available for them. I am trusting in Him and his path for us. I know in due time more of His plans for us will be revealed, but right now we just need to be here in these moments with our family and take in the joy of building our little farmhouse.

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.

Are you ready?

September 24, 2021September 24, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

We were sitting around my uncle’s table looking over the vision boards I made for our home when he said “Are you ready”. We had only been back in Kentucky 8 days, but heck yeah we are ready!

He smiled looked at both of us and said “alright we need to met at the farm and mark where you want the driveway and how far off the road you want the house, when can you do it?” Two days later we were at the farm showing Rodney the spot we decided on.

We were thinking we were just marking the spots, but next thing you know we were hauling the tractor over to the farm and bush hogging down a driveway and spot big enough for them to get started on the house.

Marking where our home will be!
And here we go!
We have a “driveway”!
And there we have it!
Using our imagination to “see” our farmhouse!

Monday, September 13th we were having breakfast when Rodney calls and says “met us at the build site to make sure we put the house exactly where you want it”. And we were off to the farm.

Pinch me! This is really happening. As we drive up to the build site we see all kinds of things happening! A dump truck is coming down the road, my cousin is in a little loader working on the driveway, lots of trucks are there and people are walking around everywhere. Again, pinch me!

We get to met everyone and go over some details. They ask me where I want everything to be and make sure we are good with the distance from the road. Next thing you know everyone is moving around doing something. Kevin and I head to Marion to get our electric set up. When we come back the build site is cleared, our farmhouse outline is spray painted on the ground and they were digging the footers. EPPP!!! To be real honest I was like darn it looks small! 😀 I mean we are downsizing since its just the two of us, but maybe I downsized too much! 🙂 I was told at this point it will look small, just wait for it to get some height.