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!

It’s see you later!

September 13, 2021September 13, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

When our house sold it gave us 30 days! Thirty days to pack up 17 years of living, to prepare our boys that we wouldn’t be just down the road, to not say good-bye, but see you later to our close friends. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends in Alabama. Many of these friends took us in and made us part of their families over the years. We are so thankful for you guys! You are a blessing to us and we can’t wait to invite you up to our farm in Kentucky and take you exploring not only the farm, but our little neck of the woods in the great state of Kentucky!

Our last dinner date in Huntsville was at Nick’s!

It’s not good-bye, its see you later! Love you guys so much and are so very thankful for your friendships!

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. 🙂

Preparing us for battle

August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 4 Comments

About a 2 weeks before our house was supposed to go on the market our agent called and suggested moving up our dates by one week. She mentioned that anyone wanting their child to start school in a district would need to be “under contract” to register their child for school and if we moved the dates up a week it could open us up to more buyers. The thought of having one less week to get our “to do” list done was really scary, but after talking it over we decided to go for it and see what happened.

To be honest we were still in disbelief that the house was going on the market. Disbelief that this was really happening. As long as it is a few weeks away its not real, right? Still just in dream phase–still preparing for the future.

Two days later were having dinner with Eric celebrating him turning 21. Near the end of the dinner my husbands phone rang and he looked down and saw it was our niece calling. He gave me that look–the one that says she always text unless something is happening. He decided to walk outside and talk to her. After about 10 minutes and him not coming back I knew something was up so I paid the bill and we headed out to find him. He was still on the phone and I could see in his face something was not quite right.

Eric and I were off to the side talking when Kevin hung up and walked over to us. I can still see the look on his face when he told us that his mom had cancer. I grabbed him and gave him a hug. Hearing that type of news is always shocking and I was shocked, but I also was like WOW?!?

You might wonder where the wow is coming from? It’s coming from– Wow! God, I see it all so clearly now! You were preparing us for a battle. You were getting us strong and ready. You knew Betty was going to need us and NOW not a year from now. He was making this happen on His timeline and thankfully we trusted Him and were going for it. I was grateful that we were at a place in our life where our faith was strong and willingness to take a leap with big. Just 7 short weeks ago we were looking at a picture of the farm on the tv and beginning to dream. Look what He did in that time to be sure we would be on our way to Kentucky. What He did to make sure Betty had two more family members by her side and helping her battle through this. Thank you God, we love it.

After talking for a few minutes we all 3 drove home in separate cars. I was talking to God the entire time. I was thanking Him for filling our minds with dreams of the farm, for giving us the signs to trust Him and go for this dream. For making things happen to move our timeline up to be able to be there for Betty. I was asking Him to wrap His arms around Betty and show us what we can do to be there for her. I questioned why I was feeling relief? Like where is this feeling coming from, but I realized the relief was in the fact that we will be there with her through all this. I thanked Him for making this possible. When someone is sick and/or going through something difficult nothing is better than having a support system around them. Now Betty would have her son with her. Yes, she will have a few other family members around for her, but Kevin is her baby and knowing he is there will be really good for her.

Our drive home is a good 30 minutes or more so we both had plenty of time to pray and think about everything. Kevin and I both we just in awe of how this was playing out. He truly was preparing us and we are so grateful that we will be in Kentucky with Betty when she needs us most.

Dreaming…

August 4, 2021July 31, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

We went to bed dreaming that night and woke up day dreaming the next day. Both of us would come home from work and talk about the farm. We couldn’t get it out of our minds at all. I felt like we were little kids who’s parents just told them they where they going for vacation and all they could do is dream about the things they were going to do. That was us! Dreaming of being on the farm, being close to our family again, dreaming of what kind of living we could make on the farm.

Kevin’s dad bought that farm piece by piece in his younger years. He worked the land, hunted the land, got the land involved in government and TVA programs and loved the farm. He was so proud of that farm. Kevin’s brother loved that farm, too. Kevin lost his brother in 2011 and his dad in 2016. When Kevin is there he feels close to them and the memories of his childhood are more vivid.

I am country girl. I was raised in Farmersville, Kentucky. I love having the dirt between my toes, playing in the creek, finding a quiet spot and watching the animals go about their day. Give me a shade tree and good book and I am a happy girl.

If you would of asked as a year and half ago if we would ever move back to Kentucky we would of blurted out NO in a heartbeat. We just never felt the need to go back home. What changed? We aren’t really sure. Covid happened and that sure did change a lot of things. It definitely changed our perspective on few things. Both our boys moved out in 2020 making us empty nesters. My husband is very much ready for a career change. I am always up for an adventure. Our parents are older and being closer to them would be nice.

After of week of this dream not leaving our minds EVER, we decided to tell our moms and see what they thought. My mom said she always knew we’d be back someday and Kevin’s mom was shocked. She said she figured our son Baily would end up on the farm, but not us. We told them we don’t know when or if it will happen, but we think we really want it to happen so telling them makes it real and we know having them praying for it to happen can only help.

My husband had just turned 49 so we decided to make it a goal to be on our way to the farm by the time he was 50. That gives us a full year to really know if this is where God is leading us. A full year to figure out letting go of our home and jobs here and starting new in Kentucky. A year for our boys and friends here in Alabama to get use to the idea.

Hey Yall! Welcome to my blog!

July 30, 2021July 30, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 1 Comment

I am Kelly Bea, wife to Kevin and mama to two boys. Well, they are grown men now, but to me they will always be my boys. Kevin and I met in February 1995 while attending school at Murray State University. He was the outgoing lead singer and guitar player of a popular band and I was that shy girl. If you went to MSU in early to mid-90’s you knew his band and the name–it was a name most won’t forget. 😉 We went on to marry in August of 96 and graduate the following May. We also found out we were expecting Baily that May.

In the years that followed we moved from Murray to Owensboro and on to Seattle, Washington for an adventure of a lifetime. Our son, Eric was born while we were in Washington. After that we settled in Lynnville, IN for 4 years before taking a chance on moving to Alabama! For the past 17 years we have raised our boys in the little town of New Market, just outside of Huntsville. We have made some amazing friends, watched our boys grow into men, went on a few adventures and just tried to live as big a life as can.

We became empty nesters in December 2020. Its really an odd time in life. You love that quiet you are getting for the first time in a long time, but you also don’t like it. You love the freedom, but you miss a little of chaos a full house brings. You miss what you had, but you also love this new phase.

Now here we are in the middle of 2021 and boy is life changing. It’s time for another adventure. It is one that came out of the blue and we thought we could ease into over the next year or so, but God has had other plans. In the past 8 weeks A LOT has happened and I felt compelled to blog about this new adventure. To share with you our journey of letting go of the stress and worry and putting our faith in God and seeing where it leads.

When the next post drops it will take you to the middle of May when this dream, adventure, leap of faith begins to unfold…