Happy Sunday, friends.
I am thankful for Sunday today for the simple fact that tomorrow is Monday, and we get to step into a new week and out of the last.
Sheesh. Being an adult is tiring… Can someone build a button to go back to trampolines and Pokemon cards? My wife traveled this week. Our childcare was out of town. Work was more needy than usual. My 19-month-old is teething, learning an attitude, and told me yesterday, “No way Daddy go away,” but not like in a playful way 😵💫.
We needed to buy a new car, which is a blessing that, in our current circumstances, comes with dealing with banks. Fun stuff. Towing broken cars. And a laundry list of more minor-adulty-nuances, but to spare this from becoming annoying, I will leave it at that. You get the point.
There were good things too. I got to go to the zoo with my wife and daughter. Beni is so fun with the animals. The wonder in her eyes as we walk from exhibit to exhibit is a newfound joy in my life.
Jes and I watched Anchorman last night. It was her first time watching the movie… and I can proudly report that she loved it.
We got a new car, and it checks every box that my wife dreamed about. Praise God for His attention to the little details.
Finally, and probably most impressively. I bought over 500 dollars of T-bone steak for just around 100 dollars. King Soopers was running a $5/pound sale with a limit of two “value packs.” Well, Jes and I went in separately and bought a couple. Went to another store and bought a couple. One thing led to another, and we have a whole lot of steak vacuum-sealed in our freezer.
With all of that said. This week was crazy busy! I had said in the last post I wanted to podcast about The Screwtape Letters. I ended up podcasting about Nehemiah during Beni’s nap, but I have the Screwtape podcast outlined, and my goal today is to record it Monday morning.
I have been stuck on the books of the prophets, both minor and major.
I really do believe that those books are so important for us to read in the time of the world that we live in today as Christians. They talk about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the deliverance of God’s people from both their own sins and from their enemies.
But for some reason, I was led to read Nehemiah this last week. I don’t know why. Honestly, up until a couple of weeks ago, when I started researching the minor prophets, was I made aware that Nehemiah was even a book in the Bible? Lol. I receive your judgment.
But it isn’t even a prophetic book; it is considered historical, haha. But as I was looking for the prophetic books IN MY TABLE OF CONTENTS, it caught my eye.
The world that we live in today as Christians is not for us. We are under attack, and we are persecuted just like the Bible said we would be. We face opposition constantly, and I believe that the book of Nehemiah runs parallel with what we are experiencing today. It just happened a fewwwww years earlier. The book is a playbook for us, and we can learn lessons from it that can be applied to our lives in 2023.
I am hoping to record a podcast today around what the Lord has shown me through it. It has been a cool revelation for me. Hopefully, it will be edifying to you too.
The links to my podcast are right here ▶️ Apple & Spotify
🤓 Life Lessons Learned
I don’t want to ever share something that is inauthentic. Truthfully. I did not listen to a podcast this week.
So I do not have one that I recommend.
BUT I do have a new cool thing that I am going to start periodically, including. I reached out to a handful of men in my life that I trust and asked them a couple of questions that I feel would be beneficial and encouraging to other men.
I think there is value in transcribing and sharing lessons that real men in real life have learned. And I think they are more readily received if they come from a variety of sources. I saw a piece of content like this in another publication, and it was super cool, but my initial thought was, “ 30 things from this guy is great, but I want to read 30 things from 30 different guys because this guy and his marriage is one way but every marriage is different, and I wonder if there are men who do not relate to the things he is sharing?”
These won’t be solely around marriage. They will be broad sweeping. This week happens to be around marriage and finances.
I asked two questions, and over the next couple of weeks, I will share the responses one or two at a time.
I am literally going to copy and paste the texts. No commentary or additions. Answers straight from them to you.
The first question was
“What is one thing that you do to intentionally love your wife well?”
First off,I think it’s important to know your wife’s love language and be intentional to fill that up. My wife would tell you that after becoming a mother her love language changed to Acts of service being pretty high on the list. It may not seem super glamorous but doing the dishes, and cleaning up around the house makes her feel super loved and seen.
A close second would be planning date nights where I make the plan. Even just once a month goes a long way.
- Tanner Childs
One way I intentionally love my wife is by acts of service. I try to do everything I can to make her life, as a stay at home mom, easier. Lord knows it is no easy task teaching and taking care of children daily. These acts include allowing her to sleep in on the weekends, cleaning the house so she doesn’t have to, cooking dinner after a long day so she can get some rest, and by making sure I not only do my part as a husband but as a father spending quality time with my children.
By doing this I get that quality time with my kids but she also gets a break to have some alone time to decompress or relax.
-Jareb Leedom
The second question was this.
What is one lesson the Lord has taught you in your finances? It could be a habit, a mindset, a tip, or a trick.
We have gone through a recent battle with our attention to money. And yet, no matter what we do, we add nothing. God has always provided for us. Literally always. We make wise decisions but whenever we enter a new phase of life with expenses (like kids), we are not in need.
We had been putting our confidence to do life in money, and it only and always needs to be in the Lord. Don’t be reckless, but if God provides for the birds, how much more will He provide for those He made in His image? Faithfulness, a fruit of Holy Spirit.
- Josh Kingry
One lesson the Lord has been teaching me with my finances that it’s much more important how I manage money than how much I make. I recently stepped into a career change that meant taking a pay cut, but because God called me I know he will provide.
My new mindset isn’t to strive for treasure on earth, but rather to be a good steward of the gifts God has already given me to multiply it for his kingdom.
-Cole Zander
The purpose of this newsletter is to be a resource for you. I would love your input on questions that you would like me to have answered. Things that you are working through.
Proverbs 24:5 says this.
“The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger. So do not go to war without wise guidance. Victory depends on having many advisors.”
Seek knowledge from people who have learned it firsthand.
📚 Weekly Book
I have not started these books but I bought them. It’s a step okay. lol
I took a test earlier this week that identified the ways that you connect with the Lord.
The potential outcomes were
Adoration
Compassion
Conversation
Creation
Expression
Fasting
Learning
Meditation
Movement
Reformation
Remembrance
Solitude
My results came back with a top three in order of remembrance, Learning, and Expression.
Aka, Testimony, being a nerd, and being artsy fartsy with God.
The test also included recommended reading, and I bought two of the books related to remembrance.
I can’t recommend them cause I have not read them yet!
But I will let you know how they go. Also, I have a tattoo of an Ebenezer (a pile of stones) on my wrist, which may or may not have been the deciding factor in this purchase.
If you want to buy these books, you can buy them here.
“Do This in Remembrance of Me”
💪🏼 Weekly Challenge
The Bible that I study out of today was bought for me by a man that I had never met before when I was 12. My mom and I met him at a Christian book store, I shook his hand, and he told me to go pick out whatever Bible that I wanted. My mom and dad were going through it financially, and my mom opened up at their bible study that it was crushing her that I had been asking for an adult bible, but they couldn’t afford the study bible that I kept pointing out. A man in their bible study pulled her aside and asked her to have us meet him at the store so he could buy me a bible. If he only knew the trajectory change that his actions resulted in. Actually, as I type… I am sure he knew, and I am sure that is why he did it.
My challenge to you this week would be this. Be aware of the gentle or not-so-gentle nudgings of the Spirit to be uncommonly kind or unexplainably generous. You never know the life change a simple action can have. God moves in different ways than we can fathom.
🙏🏼 Weekly Prayer
This week I am praying for two things. I wrote in my journal earlier this week that I want God to empower the men who are deemed “normal” or “ordinary.” The guy who is a great husband, he is a great dad, a great friend, a brother, employee but doesn’t have the flashy social media-attracting personality. The guy who shows up handles his business and does it well. I want God to build up men in the quiet because influence in our world’s standards equates to followers and retweets, but influence is zero indication of spiritual authority. I am praying for men to recognize, reclaim and rebuild using the spiritual authority they build in the quiet.
The second thing is for marriages. I am praying for my marriage and for my friends’ marriages. Marriage is hard. The enemy hates marriage, and that makes it even harder. I am praying for a covering of the convenience that my friends have made.
Would you join me in both?
I hope that this week’s edition of the Weekly Weapons Newsletter was beneficial to you in one way or another.
As this thing evolves, I would LOVE feedback or just responses.
You can email me at mitchparsonscreative@gmail.com
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Until next time.
PEACE✌🏻