Hello Everyone, I am Melissa. I was born and raised on a farm in Hartwell, Georgia where a loving family taught me the value of hard work. Charles and Lannie Brown are my parents and they were blessed with three daughters; myself and two sisters, Kristy Pierce and Beth Kay. As the years progressed our family has grown to 3 sons in law, 11 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and one on the way (they say it’s a girl)! To our dismay, our precious niece, Emma Kayte, went to heaven at 6 weeks old, but we know that she is sitting on Jesus’ lap, completely whole, being loved on by the King of Kings.

On January 4, 1992, I married my love, Kip Jolly.  I was already part of Kip’s family, we dated for 5 years before I finally convinced him to tie the knot.  His family officially became my family and we have now added 8 more to the count.  I remember so well how I felt on my wedding day.  Such hope for the bright future that I knew would follow.  It wasn’t until I left the church with my new husband and turned to see my mom and dad standing on the church steps waiving that I thought, “Oh no!  I didn’t even get to say goodbye!”  This was before cell phones, so we had a long 5 hour ride until we reached Charleston, South Carolina where we honeymooned.  I think I must have scared Kip to death because as soon as we were checked into our room he said, “Call your Dad right now before we do anything else!”

In the years that followed, the Lord truly blessed us.  We have two wonderful boys, Ethan Freeman and Charles Seth.  Kip, Ethan, and I moved from Hartwell, Georgia to Port Orange, FL in January of 1997.  Seth came two years later.  He is our native Floridian.  We were thrilled to add our first daughter to our clan when Ethan married Amy Marie Brager June 18, 2016.  Ethan and Amy both graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University with degrees in Air Traffic Control.  Seth is graduating from Spruce Creek High School this May and will be attending Berry College in Rome, Georgia in the fall.  He was recruited for the golf team at Berry and is going to pursue a degree in Biology.

I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I was 9 years old.  I have attended church since 9 months before I was born, so it was only natural for me to accept the Lord at a young age.  Even though I strived to follow him daily, serving Him in many different ways as the years passed by, I can say that I truly made Him Lord of my life at the age of 23.  I love serving Him, ministering to all people, and being open to the opportunities that He blesses me with.  My life verse is Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  I have prayed this verse over my family for years.  I asked God to guard the hearts and minds of my children every night as I tucked them into bed.  This world in which we live can at times seem so dark.  Fear and anxiety seems to creep in so easily to our thoughts, and at times dictates our actions.  My prayer is that each of you that is reading this bio experience the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding”.  God Bless.