In this second conversation with Coach John Mayberry, Dr. Stan Norman explores how God redirected a plan that once pointed toward North Texas and college soccer into a life of ministry through Christian higher education and basketball at Williams. Coach Mayberry traces the unlikely path from Foot Locker management, to working in recycling, to a last‑minute trip to Williams Baptist University that made it clear he was supposed to be here.

He shares why he majored in Christian ministries, how God shifted his calling from traditional youth ministry into college students, admissions, and coaching, and how serving as an admissions counselor and assistant coach prepared him to lead the Lady Eagles.

Mayberry unpacks his theology of calling and work, why he wants players to see him first as a Christian husband, father, and man of integrity, and how he prays specifically for the players God wants him to coach—not just the ones with the best stats. This episode is a clear picture of what lifework looks like when you trust that the Lord’s plan is bigger than your own.

In this episode of the Lifework Podcast, Dr. Stan Norman sits down with Coach John Mayberry, head coach of the Williams Baptist Lady Eagles, to trace an unlikely journey from inner-city Hot Springs, Arkansas to the sidelines in Walnut Ridge. Coach Mayberry shares stories of growing up in a blue-collar home, learning the value of hard work from a dad who never complained and a mom who logged 30+ years at the hospital.

He talks about church buses, zebra cakes, and a youth pastor with a basketball goal who introduced him both to the game and to a clear presentation of the gospel that led to his conversion in high school. You’ll hear how he fell in love with basketball late, honed his game in gyms all over Hot Springs, and eventually found his way to Williams, first as a student–athlete and now as the head women’s coach.

This conversation is a rich picture of lifework—how God uses family, work ethic, church, and sport to shape a calling that serves student–athletes today.

In this second conversation with Williams Baptist University head men’s basketball coach Josh Austin, host Dr. Stan Norman picks up the story right where Part 1 left off—at the moment when faith moved from the margins of Josh’s life to the center of his calling. Josh shares how a hard sophomore season, a stairwell conversation with a stranger, and a renewed hunger for God’s Word reshaped his priorities, redirected his dreams of the NBA, and clarified his desire to use coaching as a platform for ministry rather than just a pathway to wins and summers off.

From there, the conversation turns to calling, mentors, and the long obedience of showing up: Josh talks about the coaches who formed him, the step of faith that took him from unpaid volunteer to 24-year-old interim head coach, and the surprising way God “kicked him through” an open door into college coaching leadership. He also reflects on how God eventually led him and his family to Williams, giving them a deep sense of peace that this small campus in Northeast Arkansas was the place they were meant to plant their lives and ministry.

Josh and Dr. Norman then walk through one of the hardest vocational seasons of his career—a year of losses, culture challenges, and discouragement on the court—and how passages like Galatians 6 taught him not to “grow weary in doing good” even when the scoreboard said otherwise. Josh explains his coaching philosophy, why he believes every player is wired to want to win, and how he is working with team chaplain Pastor Jamar to help young men find their true identity in Christ rather than in minutes, stats, or results.

The episode concludes with a deeply personal story of loss and community: Josh recounts the night his family received a 1:30 a.m. phone call that their campus home in the Cove was on fire, what it was like to FaceTime while watching their house burn, and how returning to a smoke-damaged home and a daughter’s ruined bedroom became a classroom of grace. Through the hands and feet of the Williams community—housing, practical care, and presence—Josh and his family experienced what it means for the body of Christ to carry one another’s burdens, and how God often uses trials not only to sustain us, but to prepare us to comfort others with the comfort we have received.

If you are a coach, parent, student-athlete, or anyone wrestling with calling in a season that feels more like loss than victory, this episode will help you see how God can redeem disappointing seasons, redirect ambitions, and use even house fires and hard years to deepen trust, shape character, and reframe what it really means to “win” in Christ.

In this Lifework Podcast episode, Dr. Stan Norman sits down with Williams Baptist University head men’s basketball coach Josh Austin to trace how a small-town Arkansas upbringing, an IT-dad and jeans-factory-mom, and Saturdays filled with yard work—not screens—forged his relentless work ethic. 

Coach Austin shares stories from Magnet Cove, from spotlighting deer and folding Arizona jeans to getting pancaked by a future D‑end standout, and reflects on how his parents’ expectation-driven home and ag-style grit taught him that “winning” is a daily process, not just a final score. He also opens up about coming to faith as a boy on a back road in Wicks, Arkansas, how his mom quietly explained the gospel in a 1976 Ford pickup, and how that moment planted a relationship with Christ that would later deepen in college and ultimately shape his vocation as a Christian coach.

In Part 2 of their conversation, WBU President Dr. Stan Norman sits back down with Head Softball Coach Jessica Nutt to explore how God used closed doors, unanswered job applications, and long seasons of waiting to clarify her calling to coach. 

Drawing from her time at Kids Across America, in the classroom, and on the field, Jessica shares how relationships, not résumés, helped her see that investing in students through sport was exactly where the Lord wanted her. 

Today, she leads a 32-player program at Williams Baptist University shaped by the team hashtag “#FIGHT”—with “fight for Christ” at the center—and a culture where who you are matters more than your stats. Jessica talks candidly about learning it’s okay not to be okay, why how you treat people really does matter, and how mentors and former players have reminded her that coaching is a ministry of impact and gratitude, not just wins and losses.

In this episode of the Lifework Podcast, Williams Baptist University President Dr. Stan Norman sits down with Head Softball Coach Jessica Nutt to trace her journey from a sports‑saturated childhood in Bolivar, Missouri, to leading the Lady Eagles on the field at WBU. Coach Nutt shares how growing up in a tight-knit, church‑centered family at First Baptist Bolivar and coming to faith in Christ in fifth or sixth grade laid the foundation for her view of work, calling, and competition. She reflects on sibling rivalry with her identical twin, learning that relationships and how you treat people truly matter, and how distance in college helped transform conflict into deep, supportive family bonds.

Listeners will hear how a major “failure” in a high school CNA program closed the door on her dream of becoming a trauma surgeon and unexpectedly redirected her toward college softball, coaching, and eventually a career investing in young women. Coach Nutt explains why she tells recruits not to let a test score define them, how God’s plan is often better than the one we script for ourselves, and why she’s convinced she is right where she’s supposed to be—using softball as a platform to shape lives for Christ on and off the field.

In this second part of their conversation, WBU President Dr. Stan Norman sits back down with Director of Athletics Mitch Mathis to trace how a winding coaching career became a clear sense of calling and ministry. Coach Mathis shares how God used closed doors, hard seasons, and unexpected moves—from small-town Arkansas to inner-city Houston and back—to shape his heart for students, coaches, and families. He reflects on the mentors and “God-appointments” that marked his journey, the role of prayer in navigating divorce, transition, and leadership, and how he now understands athletic administration as coaching the coaches and pastoring the people God has placed in his path. Whether you serve on the field, in the classroom, or in the marketplace, this episode invites you to see your own work as ministry and your career as a canvas for God’s faithful, guiding hand.

WBU President Dr. Stan Norman talks with Athletic Director Mitch Mathis about how a blue-collar childhood in Pine Bluff, a catcher’s grind on the baseball field, and a winding spiritual journey shaped his work ethic, leadership, and calling in athletics.

In this first part of a two-episode conversation, WBU President Dr. Stan Norman sits down with Williams Baptist University Director of Athletics, Mitch Mathis, to trace the early story behind his calling, character, and career. Growing up in Pine Bluff in a hardworking, blue-collar home, Mitch shares how watching his father log timber, serve as a command sergeant major in the National Guard, and “fix” struggling units—and seeing his mother care for people as a hospital social worker—formed his understanding of work, responsibility, and leadership. He reflects on early jobs from candy striper to construction laborer, the blisters that tested his grit, and the expectation that if you took a job, you owed your boss a full day’s work.

Mitch also unpacks his spiritual journey: coming to faith as a 10-year-old during Vacation Bible School, drifting in the demanding rhythm of college baseball at Arkansas State, and later returning to church as a young husband and father who wanted his kids rooted in the local body. Along the way, he tells the story of how a Little League coach helped him fall in love with catching, why he walked on at ASU without even knowing where Jonesboro was, and how one unforgettable Senior Day game against Memphis became the perfect ending to his playing career. Candid and down-to-earth, this episode lays the groundwork for Part 2, where Mitch and Dr. Norman will explore calling, coaching, and how God orchestrates a life of service through athletics.

What do you do when the calling you thought would define your life runs straight into the brick wall of real ministry hurt? In this episode of the LifeWork Podcast, we listen in as WBU president Dr. Stan Norman sits down with former worship guitarist and once–full-time pastor, now digital recruiting coordinator, Bill Jeffery. Bill opens up about chasing the dream of professional music, stepping into local church ministry with big expectations, and then hitting rough waters—disappointment, confusion, and the grief of watching a long–imagined future fall apart.

Through honest stories and hard-won insight, Bill and Dr. Norman wrestle with what calling really means when your plans die, doors close, and “ministry” no longer looks like a church office or a title. They explore how God meets us in vocational wreckage, how He retools our gifts for new settings, and why serving in Christian higher education can be just as spiritually weighty as standing behind a pulpit. If you’ve ever wondered, “Did I miss my calling?” or felt burned by ministry but still hungry to be used by God, this conversation will help you see your detours as part of His design, not the end of your story.

In this first part of a two-episode conversation, we turn the spotlight behind the scenes to hear the story of Bill Jeffery—the voice you usually don’t hear, but the one shaping many of the stories told through the LifeWork Podcast.

Bill reflects on growing up in a divided home, encountering faith for the first time as a teenager, and finding refuge in church, music, and meaningful relationships during seasons of uncertainty and hardship. From small-town Arkansas to late-night conversations that clarified his calling, this episode explores how God uses disruption, disappointment, and unexpected mentors to form a life of purpose.

This conversation isn’t about a polished testimony—it’s about formation. About how calling often takes shape long before clarity arrives.

Part two continues the story, tracing how these early years eventually led Bill to Williams Baptist University and the work he now does behind the camera.