A Beautiful Jess Podcast

Life Update and Safe Churches Conference with Camille

On today's episode there are some life updates from me and then after the break we talk to Camille from Victory Church about the upcoming Safe Churches Conference.

Diet and Other Topics with Stephanie

This week on the podcast Stephanie and I talk about how we try to manage all the social media noise around food and other household issues (such as taking your shoes off inside). 

Navigating Learning Differences with Rebecca

In our Season 2 debut episode, Rebecca joins us this week on the podcast to discuss the journey she has navigated with her son over his academic career from Kindergarten to now Middle School. From wondering, to suspecting, to testing and confirmation, she chronicles the highs and lows. She initially focused on coping mechanisms after receiving an official diagnosis of dysgraphia, and eventually moved to medication after waiting to confirm ADD. Rebecca and her son have been blessed in their journey with helpful doctors, school staff and family support in what for many is a long and arduous journey. If you are going through a similar journey, we hope you find encouragement in her story. As always, thank you for listening!

Pastor Keith Castleberry - Season Finale Part Two

This is it! Part Two of our Season One Finale with Pastor Keith Castleberry from Victory Church joins us to talk about the culture at Victory, how he has continued to strive for more awareness around mental health and the struggles of the modern church. He is a leader in the movement for Safe Churches, a conference to educate and inform our church leadership about the prevention and protection of those they are commissioned to shepherd. 

Pastor Keith Castleberry - Season Finale Part One

Join us for part one of our two part season finale! Pastor Keith Castleberry from Victory Church joins us to talk about his journey to becoming the wise, compassionate leader he is today. We discuss a little bit about his history, what led him to his ministry, and his education in the mental health field. I am so thankful that he has joined us to share some of his story and what has led him to such a wonderful ministry at Victory Church. 

All Things Education with Heather

Welcome back to A Beautiful Jess! We are so glad to have you back after our extended break.
 
I want to apologize again for the technical difficulties we experienced before the Holidays, as you will hear, we recorded and intended to release this before the Christmas break. Our team appreciates your patience and understanding.
 
Heather joins us on her second episode to discuss topics from Jane Eyre, listening and understanding students with different religious beliefs, and sharing her faith in her classroom without violating any of the guidelines that are in place. We also discuss our experiences with the education we received as children, which ultimately, we were both well-educated and prepared for college and our careers, despite some flaws in the system. I would challenge anyone to bring an education system without flaws to our knowledge. Heather also credits the Gallup StrengthsFinder 2.0 with helping her focus in on her strengths and use those in her ministry.
 
Heather and I then discuss the school voucher program, a widely discussed state issue which our legislature has voted against implementing (for now). Heather and I reference this article TIME: How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students. Heather and I agree that we do not think school vouchers are presented fairly to the public (whether in Texas, or in other states), and we also do not think that it would be in the best interest of our state to implement a school voucher program. We do encourage you that if this issue does come up again to inform yourself by talking to teachers, educators, and others who are working in our various school systems (public, private and charter) and get input from various resources before making your decision to support, or not, this issue. Here is another link which details the $6,160 per student public schools currently receive. Texas Tribune While both Senate Bills mentioned (1 and 2) passed the Senate, neither bill made it through the Texas House. TEA Financial 2021 - 2022 Actual Financial Data State Total (All Districts) “Unassigned Fund Balance” $17,101,381,769, or $3,403 per student. There are several different ways you can cut the money, but essentially, the TEA has unassigned funds that it could give to public schools.
 
Here is a link to the voter results in Brazos County for the November 2023 elections from our local newspaper, The Eagle. This is where I quote that less than 16% of registered voters came out for this election. Only around 10,700 votes were cast on the CSISD Bond Proposals. The population of College Station was over 120,000 in 2021. Schools are allotted very little funds from the state to implement security measures which are many times mandated by the state. They are allotted almost no funds for any improvements, additional buildings, updates to resources, etc. Many smaller projects are funded by athletic booster committees, PTO organizations, or local community members donating the time, materials, and resources of their small businesses.
 
As the host of A Beautiful Jess I do have a focus on local issues that touch my heart and affect those around me in my community. If you aren’t local to the area, I hope that you are still blessed by the wisdom Heather shares as an educator and a follower of Christ shining His light to those around her, especially her students. All links in this write up can be accessed by following the link in our bio to the episode information our hosting website, Podbean.

Trauma and Restoration with Heather

Heather is a High School English teacher; she is married to a First Responder and this week she shares a small piece of her experience as a teacher and as an adoptive parent. Heather has a strong love and burden that is evident to those around her for her English students at one of the local high schools and she is also the co-leader of our Sunday School department at Victory. Heather shares her journey from deciding to adopt to the heartbreak of not being able to adopt a child she and her husband had already begun to love and then to ultimately getting to adopt her son. There were many small details that God was able to work out where they were uniquely able to raise a wonderful young man despite the rough hand he was dealt in his early life. Heather was able to be an advocate for herself and her family within our church to learn about trauma and how to respond Biblically to trauma which led to a larger movement within Victory for more people to become informed and able to help others.
Heather’s story is deeply personal and she shares openly in hopes that her story inspires and encourages others. I am grateful that she has trusted us to respect her story as we share it with our wonderful listeners.
Heather references the Gallup (Clifton) StrengthsFinder https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx (not a paid ad) as a key to her personal and professional growth. 
Heather and Jessica uncover that they are more alike than they may have realized, starting with their shared love of reading, their strong personalities, and ultimately their love of talking! They talked so much, there will be another episode with Heather next week.

Tiffany - From Mistake to Ministry

This week Tiffany joins the podcast to share how situations in her life that were characterized as mistakes and accidents led to her current ministry. God is using Tiffany and her willingness to be the hands and feet of Jesus both at Victory and in our community to spread His love and provide a safe place for families to be heard. 
Jessica and Tiffany share some of the feelings they had to navigate as they became teen mothers, and the common struggles that teen mothers face. These conversations are still difficult to share, even twenty years later. Navigating conflicting emotions of shame and guilt with immense joy and love at being blessed with a new life is a confusing journey for teen mothers. 
We hope this conversation is encouraging to you, to get involved and share God's love in real, impactful ways, or just to know that if you are in a difficult season of your life, there are others that have struggled and are struggling but we can make it together with God!

Victory Christmas Concert

Quick shoutout to our upcoming Christmas Concert at Victory Church on December 3rd at 6PM. Go check it out and let us know if you can guess who you think is the upcoming guest!

Financial Accountability with Latonya

This week Latonya joins the podcast to talk about how God impressed her to reach out to Jessica and begin a journey of financial accountability. We share our struggles through setting up budgets and making tough decisions while trusting that God would see us through difficult times.