Jennifer's Story

Jennifer's Story
Jennifer Beckham is a wife, mother, evangelist, Bible teacher, motivational speaker, founder of Jennifer Beckham Ministries and the author of the best-selling book and Bible study curriculum, Get Over Yourself: 7 Principles to Get Over Your Past and On With Your Purpose.

Prior to her life in ministry, Jennifer had the opportunity of a lifetime to live and work in Orlando for MGM-Studios (now Hollywood Studios) and then in Japan as an entertainer for Tokyo Disneyland playing the coveted “Princess” roles of Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Mary Poppins. Her childhood dream had come true! But not long into her entertainers’ contract, Jennifer found herself wrapped up in a secret life of sin and self-destruction. Buried by the weight of hefty competition and the constant demand to be "perfect", she developed an eating disorder to stay thin and employable. Disgusted physically and emotionally, Jennifer began looking for love in very wrong places. Her dream had quickly spiraled into her worst nightmare—that was, until one fateful evening in Japan. On January 14, 1994, while attending a Billy Graham Crusade at the Tokyo Dome, Jennifer gave her broken heart and life to Jesus. That unique salvation experience began a life-altering journey that later led her into full-time ministry.

For more than a decade now, Jennifer has traveled extensively throughout North America preaching God’s Word, sharing her powerful testimony, and teaching practical, biblical principles to hundreds of thousands in churches and conference centers to both men and women of all ages.

In addition to her thriving ministry, Jennifer serves as a leadership trainer and keynote speaker for several corporate, secular organizations. She also serves as a motivational speaker and character educator for the Department of Education in the public school system. To date, Jennifer has had the wonderful privilege of speaking into the lives of more than 400,000 students in more than 450 public schools, integrating positive values and speaking candidly to teens about real-life issues such as drug abuse, promiscuity, suicide, family hardships, eating disorders, cutting, and low self-worth. Known for her authenticity and approachability, Jennifer’s willingness to share from her own personal struggles creates an atmosphere for self-examination, learning, laughing, crying, reflection, and ultimately, healing.

Jennifer has appeared as a featured guest on several radio and television broadcasts including The 700 Club with Pat Robertson, Life Today with James and Betty Robison, Daystar’s Celebration with Marcus and Joni Lamb, and 100 Huntley Street in Canada.

A Florida native, Jennifer resides in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband and fellow minister, Anthony and their two beautiful children, Cole and Jordan Paige.

And now for “Jennifer’s Story” in her own words...

The Little Girl
I was born and raised in Palm Beach County, Florida. The fourth of five children, I was raised in an incredibly loving, close-knit family. I have fond memories of family vacations and each of us kids having our own designated sleeping bag spot in the back of our family station wagon as we traveled. One trip that holds a special place in my heart was our trip to Disney World when I was seven. After a long day in the park, I stood along the parade route that evening with my family, watching The Main Street Electrical Parade. It was the perfect summer night. As the music started and the excitement spilled onto Main Street, the crowd went wild. As Cinderella passed by in her magical stagecoach, I waved at her, she waved at me, and I snapped this photo of her. Then—as corny as this may sound—I looked up at my mom and said, “That’s what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a Disney Princess!” (And the rest is, as they say is...history!)

The "Good" Catholic Schoolgirl
My dad was a man full of wisdom. One of his family rules was that no matter where we were at suppertime, we always had to get ourselves home because, “a family that eats together stays together!” Another wise family rule was that our family attended church together every Sunday morning without exception. We were raised Catholic and each of us kids attended Catholic school. I enjoyed going to church with my family, but, if Im being honest, attending private school was often unbearable. I struggled to feel like I was ever “good enough” and had a very difficult time getting along with the girls in my school. (Perhaps this is where I get my passion to now help youth to deal with the many issues they face in school on a daily basis.)

The Athlete
Because I despised school so much, I immersed myself into sports to relieve the stress of it all. I played volleyball and basketball, but my true passion was girls’ softball. I played almost year-round from the time I was five years old. My brothers taught me at a young age how not to throw like a girl so I soon developed a throwing arm that could rival most boys. I played short stop and I loved it! I was fortunate to be a part of some outstanding teams. In fact, my high school team, The Lady Gators of Palm Beach Gardens High School, won several consecutive 4A Class State Championships. (In our town, we were like celebrities!) I played on a traveling All-Star teams as well. That was the time of my life! My amazing family was a phenomenal support—sitting through four to five games a day in the scorching heat, every summer for years. They were my biggest fans. I loved looking into the stands and seeing them there.

The Daughter
It was also during that same time—my freshman year of high school—that I suffered one of the greatest losses in my life. My dad, Darryl Mitchell, passed away at the age of 50, after a very courageous two-year battle with cancer. Losing my dad left an empty seat in the stands, and an even bigger emptiness in my heart and life. This is when I first began looking for love and comfort in all the wrong places. I quickly turned to dating relationships to keep me preoccupied from the pain. Unfortunately, many of those relationships left me more wounded than I was to begin with. After graduation, I chose to hang up my cleats to concentrate more on studies and a career outside of softball.

The Entertainer
While pursuing a degree in Mass Communications and Public Relations at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, I began pursuing my childhood dream of working with The Walt Disney Company. During my freshman year of college, I auditioned and was hired by Disney part-time to do “character work” on weekends, which still allowed me to focus on school during the week. I instantly loved my job and the excitement that came with it. Then, after several months working at what was then Disney’s MGM-Studios, I gathered the courage to audition for an eight-month entertainers contract to work for Tokyo Disneyland. (That was a big deal in "character world!") To my amazement, I was chosen out of thousands of girls to be a full-time “face character” for Tokyo Disneyland! And the position I was hired for? “PRINCESS!” I couldn't believe it! I was hired to perform as the princess characters of Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and even Mary Poppins!

After deferring college for my eight month entertainer’s tour to Japan, I found out an amazing fact: The Main Street Electrical Parade stagecoach — the very one that Cinderella was sitting in when I waved at her from parade-side at the age of seven — would be the same stagecoach that I would sit in as Cinderella in Tokyo Disneyland! I was so excited! I truly felt that I was about to step into my destiny and that my life was just starting to come together, just as I dreamed!

The Addict
Unfortunately, shortly into my contract-time there in Japan, the “pixie dust” began to wear off as I found myself bombarded by fierce competition and the constant demand to look perfect at all costs. The entertainment world revealed itself as anything but pretty. (Surprise, surprise!) Eating disorders, forced vomiting, and starvation were just a few of the things I found myself getting involved in just to stay thin and employable. Feeling disgusting physically and emotionally, I soon reverted back to my old ways of looking for love in an attempt to avoid the pain and disappointments of life. I was seeking some sense of worth, but with every bad choice, I grew more and more insecure and desperate. By day, I was the "perfect" Disney Princess but by night, I could barely look myself in the mirror. I was full of shame and self-hatred, wrapped up in self-sabotaging behaviors, and became more miserable and lonely by the day.

The Disciple
When I finally found myself at my lowest point, two of my cast mates, Ally and Kristen, began to befriend me. These girls were different than the other girls. They were both Christians who didn't get involved in all the “girl drama” going on at all times. We began working together a lot and on our breaks, we'd have long conversations about God and faith. I was intrigued by how real and seemingly tangible their God was compared to my [warped] understanding of a God who was aloof and merely tolerating my existence. I loved hearing their "version" of a loving, gracious God. I was hungry for love, and they knew it!

Then, on January 14, 1994—a day that will forever be inscribed on my heart— Ally, Kristen and I found ourselves working the early shift together. After work, they urged me to go with them to a Billy Graham Crusade at the Tokyo Dome later that night. Reluctantly, I agreed, not really knowing what was in store. Seated in that massive auditorium, I listened to Billy Graham minister a simple message about Gods love, then cried uncontrollably and asked my friends to walk with me down to the front so I could pray. It was there (in a foreign country where less than 1% of its population professed Christianity!) that I asked Christ into my heart and life. You see, I had always known about God, but my decision that night at that altar marked the start of a true relationship with Jesus Christ. It didn’t take long for me to recognize that my time in Japan was a set-up from a loving God who saw that I needed a way out of my pain and my shame. I realized that I wasn't there to become the perfect Disney Princess, but rather, to discover that my true worth and beauty could only be found in the reality that I was God’s cherished Princess!

The Preacher
After my salvation experience, life didn’t instantly get any easier. In fact, I struggled daily to fit into my new self and leave old habits behind. I desperately wanted to be free of all my old junk, but I often slipped up and made stupid choices. Still, somehow I knew that while God hated my sin, He still loved me. It was during the next three years of floundering in my newfound faith that I met a gentleman named Anthony Beckham. Anthony was an evangelist and a true man of God. I admired his faith and wanted to be as secure in my faith as he seemed to be in his. We spent a lot of time together over the next few weeks, mainly talking about God and the Bible. I grew closer to God than ever before and in the meantime, grew closer to Anthony as well. Then, within eight short weeks of meeting, Anthony and I were married! (Crazy, I know! That’s a whole ‘nother story entirely!) Immediately, we began seeking God’s purpose for our lives together. Anthony was already in active ministry and I was fully prepared—and extremely excited—to serve in the background supporting him in any way I could.

Then, one morning early in our marriage, I awoke very early with a thought on my mind that I felt compelled to write down. Ten pages later, I realized that it was more than just a thought—God had poured out a sermon into my heart! Never imagining myself as a speaker, I naturally assumed that God had intended for me to give the sermon to Anthony to preach it. I ran into the bedroom, jumped on the bed and woke him up to tell him my revelation. I figured that I could write the sermons, and he could preach them. But, apparently, God had different plans! Before long, I was standing in front of our home church ministering that very message. Without even realizing it at the time, that day marked the start of my ministry. Since that day, I have spent the past 15 years traveling extensively—both with Anthony and independently—ministering all throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The Author
Burdened by the many struggles of those who came searching for answers around the altars of my services and conference sessions, I wrote and released my first book, Get Over Yourself: 7 Principles to Get Over Your Past and On With Your Purpose in late November, 2009 in an effort to provide a resource that would help them follow through with their healing and commitment to freedom. Then in 2011, I released the video-based Get Over Yourself 11-Week Bible Study Curriculum which serves as the book’s companion pieces for small groups and Bible studies. The wonderful success of the book and its curriculum has afforded me the incredible opportunity to minister on TV, radio, and alongside some amazing men and women in the faith, sharing God’s Word and spreading His message of healing and freedom to others. I love what I get to do for God! I’m currently working on my second book—to be released in Spring of 2013.

The Speaker
I was first given the opportunity to serve as a motivational speaker in a public school assembly about eight years ago as part of the Power Unlimited Strength Team—the team my husband, Anthony, founded in 2004 as an effort to speak life and hope to students inside public schools. This unique ministry team is comprised of world-class, all-natural athletes who use amazing demonstrations of strength during school assembly programs to create dialogue with students about the many serious life-issues that they face every day. It's an incredibly effective ministry that not many are afforded inside our public schools. But when the team began recognizing the obvious, urgent need to reach out specifically to the female students attending their school assemblies, they asked me to come onboard as a keynote speaker for the team. That’s when I fell in love with that ministry work! In each assembly, I was given the opportunity to speak candidly about the tough topics of promiscuity, depression, eating disorders, cutting and low self-worth —and the message began to penetrate the hearts of students who had been touched and wounded by life's painful experiences. God did an amazing work through our words and He began using us mightily together inside the public school system throughout the US and Canada. As a result, Anthony and I formed Voice of Choice, Inc. (or VOC) in order to better respond to the growing need for “character education” in the schools. VOC now serves as the outreach “arm” of Jennifer Beckham Ministries. (You can read more about our public school outreach, Voice of Choice, Inc, by clicking here.)

Since then, Anthony and I have had the privilege of speaking into the lives of more than 400,000 students in more than 450 public schools. And God is increasing our efforts by allowing us to partner with several health organizations and community programs so we can make an even greater impact in each county we are invited into. It's a truly awesome experience! So, as a part of this tremendous Voice of Choice outreach that is impacting students and their parents with Truth, I continue to travel both independently and with Anthony and his Power Unlimited Strength Team conducting school assembly programs designed to teach, equip, and encourage students to stay in school, make good choices, exercise self-discipline, cope with peer pressure, and ultimately, empower students to choose what is right during critical moments of their lives.

Additionally, I personally have several school assembly programs that I do specifically for all-girl audiences in middle schools, high schools and colleges. These assemblies are in high demand these days due to the many issues our girls are facing today. I truly love helping students realize their true value and worth so they can begin to make better choices for their lives!

And...aside from my work in the public schools, I am also blessed to serve as a keynote speaker and leadership trainer for several secular organizations in corporate venues as well. I love these opportunities! While I may not be able to preach directly from the Bible or even speak openly about my faith in these types of venues, I truly believe that the basic, foundational leadership principles found in the Word of God are relevant to any and all arenas of life and can bring great success to all who apply them.

The Happy Wife and Proud Momma
As God continues to pen my story, I will tell you that my deepest joy comes from my role as a wife and mother! My precious hubby, Anthony, and I live in Jacksonville, Florida with our two unbelievably amazing children. Our son’s named is Cole and our daughter’s name is Jordan Paige. They make me so incredibly proud!

Anthony, Cole, and Jordan are the three most precious gifts I’ve ever been given! They inspire me to wake up each and every morning, determined to keep “first things first” in my life. I understand that without balance and a

firm foundation, nothing else will ever stand. I also realize that no success in the world will ever mean a thing if I don’t have my family by my side to share it with. For these reasons, I choose daily and very consciously to stay focused on what matters the most—my relationship with God and my relationship with my family.

My Heavenly Father, my incredible husband, and my loving (and crazy!) children keep me balanced, centered, and true to myself and to my call...one day at a time! And when each of them are given their rightful, respective places in my day, all the rest of God’s awesome blessings are just icing on the cake!

Resources

Discover seven practical, biblical principles that will get you beyond the pain, the shame and the heartaches of life in order to achieve balance, fulfillment, confidence, and a true purpose for living.

About Jennifer

Real. Approachable. Inspiring. Encouraging. Engaging. Insightful. Relevant. Relatable. Funny. Honest. Passionate about Restoration.

Testimonials

Jennifer Beckham was AMAZING. And the most impactful speaker from Friday Night’s Main Stage!

Conference Attendee
IMPACT 2011 LTD/Amway Event

I know that Anthony and Jennifer desire to see the lives of our young people touched in a powerful and positive way. Their unique style and delivery as motivational speakers will captivate any audience from elementary to college aged students.

Del Wright
FCA Regional Director

You came to my school today [for an abstinence assembly]. I just wanted to tell you that you saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life. I was just going down the wrong path, so thank you so very much for helping me before I did something really stupid.

~ High school student, GA

Jennifer Beckham was so compelling...The content of her talk is very useful to men and women in today’s very troubled world. It was certainly an inspiration to me.

Country Club Manager and CMAA member
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

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