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!

Bless This House

October 24, 2021 / Kelly Bea / 3 Comments

I think that I might of been just as excited about blessing our home as building our home. For starters seven months ago the thought of moving back to Kentucky and building a home on our farm never even came into my mind. Once I begin to see God at work in our lives and this was going to happen I planned for this!

From the day we started our build I have been praying over our home. I have been thanking God for our home. I have been asking Him to show us His will for us using this farm. So I couldn’t wait to cover the 2×4 walls in His Word soon as I saw them go up. I begin to ask my close friends for verses to put on the walls. I asked family to come and bless the house with us. I began to look up verses, write them down and read them. I would walk the rooms, think about what will happen within the walls of that room and pray over it.

We have a spare bedroom that I plan to build some bunk style loft beds and decorate like a hunting lodge. I imagine the boys coming home and bringing their friends to hunt. I imagine the stories they will tell at night while laying in those beds anticipating the hunt in the wee hours of the morning. I also imagine how much fun grandkids will have on those loft bunk beds one day! 😉

I imagine our friends coming to visit and us sitting around the island laughing and talking. Sitting by the fire during the cold winter months watching the wildlife in the backyard. Mornings on the screened in porch with a cup of coffee and Big Life Devotion. Kevin playing the piano with the windows open for all that lurks in the woods to hear. 🙂

In our bedroom on the wall where our bed will be I have written 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8! My prayer is that we always go to bed knowing how much we love each other and what we mean to each other.

There are verses about love, music, a good harvest, a house and so on. My sweet little four year old niece, Sadie wrote Jesus loves you on the wall in the family room. She was so excited. My nieces Emmy and Nadya wrote verses on walls and so did many other family members. It was a great feeling to see this happening. To feel God’s presence all around our home and in the hearts of those we love.

Thank you Lord for blessing this home! May we always put you first and seek your will. I pray Lord that as you reveal your plans for us and this farm we keep our faith strong and go for all you show us!

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.

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!

Well that was fast…

September 1, 2021September 1, 2021 / Kelly Bea / Leave a comment

As I type this we are two days away from closing on our house in Alabama. I am sitting here on a mattress that is sitting on the floor in our bedroom. I am surrounded by a mostly empty room in a mostly empty house. My mind is constantly storing away memories of the last 17 years living in this little paradise. Our boys were 4 and 6 when we moved here and now they are 21 and 23. So much life happened here. I am really going to miss so many things about our little house with the most amazing backyard. I am thankful for being that girl that takes too many pictures and has a good memory. I will treasure those pictures and memories!

I want to start by saying I am also that girl that is a planner and likes to work out every little detail. I make list and I check them off. Its funny on the enneagram I am a 7w6, but I have a lot of 2 and 3 in me. Usually when something big happens I have a plan and steps to get us from point A to point B. If I don’t have a plan I tend to worry or am constantly trying to figure out all of the what if’s that could happen. That has not been the case this time. I have had total trust in God. I have complete faith He is working all this out. I am very thankful that my faith in God is so strong, because this has not been an easy process. It has been very fast and I believe that is because of our trust and faith in God’s plan.

Our house went live as “coming soon” on Friday, July 23rd. Our open house was Sunday, July 25th and by Wednesday, July 28th we had a few offers. No matter how many times you were hear the market is hot right now or your house is going to sell so fast you don’t believe it until it actually happens. AND when it actually happens sometimes its too good to be true. I won’t go into all the details, but we accepted an offer that Wednesday night and although everything seemed great I had this uneasy feeling and a couple of things happened to give my husband a bad vibe as well so we weren’t shocked the following Wednesday when our realtor called to say they backed out. Okay and what do we do now was all we asked? It was the day of our 25th anniversary so we went about our special day and didn’t worry about the what if’s of our house. Our realtor, Jessi reached out to a couple that didn’t get a chance to look at the house and some of the offers we turned down and within 24 hours we were back under contract.

Kev and I both felt more at ease about this offer. Everything was happening to us a little different than what we had been hearing about the current market, but it has felt right this entire month. Every step has gone great and Jessi has been so awesome in answering all our crazy questions.

Throughout the past month we have had a few more little God Winks I wanted to mention. We have a few neighbors that have chickens and our roosters like to crow at each other. Due to our crowing roosters I became Facebook friends with one of my neighbors. When she saw I needed to find homes for my girls she and her husband came over and got a few of them. Through Jennifer we were introduced to her father-in-law Mr. Johnny. He and his wife came and got a few of our chickens, the coop and the fence. Not only was it a blessing that they kept most of my girls together, but they took their home. Comfort for the girls and less for us to have to clean up. Mr. Johnny ending up coming back two more times and took so many things that would of gone to a dump because we just didn’t have time to sell them or room for them where we are going. I reached out to my friend Sally about getting some chickens and just days before her daughter was saying how she wished they could have a few more chickens so that was a little wink, wink. I can’t say enough about Lauren she alone is a God Wink! I really love her soul! She is just a good person and always full of life and positivity. We were downsizing and she was updating her kiddos bedrooms. I love how God works things out.

A few memories from our amazing backyard…

Mountains, hay bails and tropical trees!

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.

Faith to the Farm

Our journey of trusting God

Thank you God