SMU Football Chaplain & Athletes United Co-Founder Wayne Dickens

Zach Zenner: From undrafted free agent to Detroit Lions running back 🏈, Starting personalized peak nutrition coaching business, fatherhood & marriage advice, faith through adversity 💯

Without further ado, I am super excited to announce that the latest edition of authentically is officially released featuring none other than Zach Zenner! With an incredible journey from going undrafted out of South Dakota State, not giving up, and being signed by the Detroit Lions, having a successful NFL career as a running back, to becoming an NFL agent and starting up his own holistic personalized nutritional coaching business with a passion for peak performance, helping busy moms, dads, athletes, and more - we talked about a whole range of topics, while keeping it real.  From his favorite memories with the Detroit Lions to Detroit food to marriage & fatherhood advice to faith & his walk with Jesus to the importance of maintaining physical health with the hopes of being there for your family long-term to Remember the Titans and, yes, Pokémon, my hope is that this conversation saturated with depth, realness, authenticity, nostalgia, and reppin’ our faith + families will bring you some laughs, fun, insight, learning, and encouragement today wherever you are on your journey. Zach’s story is inspiring and I hope this motivates you + your family. You can follow Zach’s journey: IG: @zzenner34 [https://www.instagram.com/zzenner34/?hl=en] X: (@zenner31)  [https://x.com/zenner31?lang=en] You can sign up for a free consultation with Zach for an optimal nutritional lifestyle at Zion Performance’s website here: zion-performance.com [http://zion-performance.com] _________________________________ Credits: Photos - @zzenner34/IG , @zenner31/X , NFL Detroit Lions pictures: Getty Images Video - Lions highlights: NFL/YT, South Dakota State highlights: SDSUAthletics/YT #faith #football #NFL #lions #detroitlions #sdsu #jackrabbits #detroit #southdakotastate #Christian #manhood #Christianmen #family #marriage #parenting #fatherhood #dads #health #nutrition #holistichealth #optimalperformance #podcast #authentically

TCU Athletics + FCA chaplains and life & character coaches Chauncey Franks & Coleman Maxwell

The sports chaplaincy shadowing tour continues. Throughout this journey so far, we’ve featured Houston Rockets chaplain Mike Rosas, former Rockets chaplain Ikki Soma, Detroit Pistons chaplain Jonathan Wynne. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it was an honor to shadow TCU Athletics Life & Character Coaches Chauncey Franks and Coleman Maxwell! Amber and I drove up to Fort Worth for a day trip so I could shadow Chauncey and Coleman and was honored to feature them on this very special episode as we talk about so much REALNESS, from the importance of having men of color and diversity in the workplace, especially in leadership positions, TCU being in the national championship, the “sacred and secular” places - navigating the sacred within secular settings, important lessons they’ve learned, and so much more. So, without further ado, please sit back, relax, and enjoy this next episode with…TCU Fellowship of Christian Athletes - Chauncey Franks, TCU Athletics Life & Character Coach, Football Chaplain, Leadership Mentor, and Speaker and Coleman Maxwell, TCU Athletics Assistant Life and Character Coach! I gotta give a HUGE thank you to my dear friend & brother in Christ, Randy Roberts, for setting me up with shadowing Chauncey. If you feel led to support the great work that Chauncey, Coleman, and their families are doing at TCU FCA - a vibrant ministry at TCU, dedicated to investing in the lives of student-athletes and coaches, focusing on fostering faith, leadership, and character, helping shape the next generation of leaders both on and off the field - with a vision to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes - and a mission to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church, please show them some love at: https://www.tcufca.org/ [https://www.tcufca.org/] You can follow TCU FCA on IG/FB/X at: @tcufca If you feel led to support the great work Wayne Dickens, Randy Roberts, and their families are doing - both at SMU and UT, please show Athletes United some love at: https://athletesunited.org [https://athletesunited.org] As non-profits, they rely on donor support! Athletes United:❤️ Uniting the hearts of coaches and athletes with Jesus Christ. You can follow Athletes United SMU at: @athletesunited.smu And Athletes United UT at : @athletesunited.longhorntx

SMU Football Chaplain & Athletes United Co-Founder Wayne Dickens

The sports chaplaincy shadowing tour continues. Throughout this journey so far, we’ve featured Houston Rockets chaplain Mike Rosas, former Rockets chaplain Ikki Soma, Detroit Pistons chaplain Jonathan Wynne. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it was an honor to shadow SMU football chaplain Wayne Dickens last year. Amber and I drove up to SMU for an evening and we were honored to see their ministry in action on campus with a Mustangs United Rally, being able to connect with student-athletes from different sports, bringing together different sports ministries with having some fun fellowshipping, praise & worship, a message, testimonies, and more. Afterwards, I spoke with Wayne, talking faith, fatherhood, marriage, sports ministry, NFL experience, and dealing with trauma and pain. I have been so excited to release this episode. So, without further ado, please sit back, relax, and enjoy this next episode with…Wayne Dickens! I gotta give a HUGE thank you to my dear friend & brother in Christ, Randy Roberts, for setting me up with shadowing both Wayne and Chauncey Franks at TCU (stay tuned for that episode). If you feel led to support the great work Wayne and Randy are doing - both at SMU and UT, please show Athletes United some love at: https://athletesunited.org [https://athletesunited.org] As non-profits, they rely on donor support! Athletes United:❤️ Uniting the hearts of coaches and athletes with Jesus Christ. You can follow Athletes United SMU at: @athletesunited.smu And Athletes United UT at : @athletesunited.longhorntx

The Next Chapter: Masters of Arts in Sports Chaplaincy

It’s official: I have a Masters Degree: Masters of Arts in Sports Chaplaincy! 👨🏽‍🎓  This is the first time I’ve publicly announced this as I was focused on being present + just doing the work behind the scenes even when no one was watching - aka integrity - and while working full-time, course by course, class by class, exam by exam, paper by paper, kept stacking the days up until…August 15, 2024 - my last class! Little did I know that our champion Everett would be born just 16 days later! Fitting, because, that’s the number room he ended up being born in and that’s the most famous verse of all-time: John 3:16. I felt called to start this degree 📜 and, of course, finish it. I felt the Lord leading me to this when I turned the 30 in January 2022, got accepted to Liberty and officially started classes in January 2023. I wanted so badly to do this even at the least to have a healthy knowledge of who our Good God truly is in order to best train up our children in the healthy ways of the Lord. It’s fitting because when stepping foot onto campus earlier this month, it was evident that Liberty’s literal motto is training champions for Christ, which is what Amber and I are doing in our home, training our champion Everett for Christ, we been laying brick-by-brick 🧱 the foundation of our marriage + home on Christ, breaking generational curses of broken homes by placing Jesus at the center. I’ve had to relearn who our Good God our Father is in a healthy way, who would leave the 99 for … you. 💯 And me. This is our God, who is just + loving, who IS THE TRUTH, THE WAY, THE LIFE, and brings joy and life in abundance. It is also fitting seeing the verse where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty on campus because this is our goal, to have a home where our family can know with everything in them they are FREE to be who God calls them to be . A home filled with freedom 💛 Infused with joy Founded on God, Spirit-led, Jesus-centered. For as for me and my house, we serve the Lord. 🏠  Let go. Let God. Let’s gooooooo 🔥  Whatever He does with this, I’m hype and excited for it. If it was solely for Amber + I’s home in having a healthy knowledge of the Lord to train up our children in the true authentic ways of who our God is, it was all worth it. Training champions for Christ. Shout out to my queen 👸🏽 , who was so encouraging, especially when I didn’t know if I could do this when I was starting out my first classes and it felt overwhelming. And to my prince, who was in mommy’s womb throughout my time taking classes in 2024, my inspiration.  Time & time & time again, God came through in the clutch, to help with each and every assignment after long days at work, to finish, many times just in time before the assignment was due, and it never ceases to amaze me how much God shows up in mighty powerful ways. This degree is dedicated to God. All glory to Him! 🙏🏽

Meet Everett Charles 🩵: MY SON!

Everett Charles 🩵. My son. My all-star 🏆. My MVP. Everett Charles, this is your story. This is how you entered the world. This is how God brought you here. This is…another example of how GOOD our GOD IS 🙏🏽! Born 6+ weeks early, you were just ready to be here. Strong and brave. Bright and brilliant. Athletic with chill moments. Content in Christ in all circumstances. Giggly with a sweet smile. Meticulous and observant. Wise beyond your years. Funny, fun, and filled with the joy of the Lord. Handsome and confident. Know what you want and strong like your momma. We had a whole other plan utilizing prenatal care with the wonderful midwives at Luminary Birth and Wellness Center. But when Amber’s water broke early, all those plans immediately shifted when the midwife transferred your care to the hospital for what was now a high-risk pregnancy. God came through because He knew this is exactly how He wanted you to enter the world, son. As we know, God’s ways are better than ours, His plans are supreme and as for me and my house, we serve Him, King Jesus! His love has already been fashioning you and shaping you, even before you were in your mother’s womb, He has been handcrafting you since the beginning of time and it’s an absolute HONOR to be your father, precious, sweet, strong & brave Everett. We thought we had more time to name you lol so after a few days of prayer, we encountered this Bible verse etched in stone at the hospital chapel: “God is our refuge and strength,     an ever-present help in trouble.” - Psalm 46:1 It was confirmation to name you Everett, for we know that GOD IS EVER-PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE, EVERETT. Everett means strong and brave, professional yet also rockstar. It is fitting because you are truly all of that AND MORE. IT IS AN HONOR TO BE YOUR DADDY, DEAR SON. I LOVE YOU! All my love, son, Daddy 💙