0:00 Setting the Mission: Faith & Finance

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2:07 Introducing Mitchell Tull II

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4:33 A Journey of Military Service

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7:02 The Biggest Financial Trap

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11:03 Defining Financial Readiness

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15:04 Grounded Through Prayer

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16:43 Leading With Kingdom Discipline

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19:46 Managing The Christmas Cycle

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25:58 Trusting God Through Service

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30:59 Transitioning With Purpose

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35:26 Call to Action: Your Financial AAR

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:00:02]:

My soldiers, everyone that fell under my charge, you heard God in every speech I gave at 1700 every day. We had to salute that flag after that. God bless y'all. That's how I ended every speech I ever gave. And people will come talk to me about it. Your whole mission, your vision is God and finance. I think you can't have one without the other.

 

Shay Cook [00:00:26]:

Ever felt those awkward vibes when religion and money come up? You're not alone. Welcome Welcome to Yahweh's Money, the podcast where we tackle the crossroads of faith and finance. I'm Shay Cook, an accredited financial counselor and the CEO and founder of Crusaders for Change, LLC. Join us on our journey as we discuss topics like tithing, saving, and conquering debt through religious perspectives. Let's get started. 

 

Shay Cook [00:00:53]:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Yahweh's Money. Today we're going to be talking about the Soldier Sentinel, navigating the military life. Cycle with faith and discipline with none other than my brother Mitchell Tull II, who we'll be introducing shortly.

 

Shay Cook [00:01:10]:

So the life of a soldier is one of structure, sacrifice, and mission first. But when the uniform comes off or when the deployment ends, many service members find themselves in a different kind of battle, the fight for financial peace. Today in a special episode, as we welcome a decorated soldier, leader, and member of my family, my brother Mitchell Tull II. Hey, bro. With 24 years of service in the US Army, Mitchell has navigated the unique military life cycle from the first paycheck and basic training 100 years ago to the complexities of retirement. We're discussing how discipline of a soldier translates to the discipline of kingdom stewards. So our main scripture for today is 2 Timothy 2:3-4. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

 

Shay Cook [00:02:10]:

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. What does this say? It says a soldier's focus is singular, to please the one who enlisted them or themselves, right? So in our financial lives, we are often entangled by debt and worldly distractions that keep us from our primary mission. To be a good soldier, quote unquote, of Jesus Christ in our finances means maintaining a level of readiness and discipline so that we're always available for God's deployment wherever he may call. So from signal and military intelligence to supply and maintenance, Mitchell has seen every facet of the military machine, including being a dependent. I think he's been everything and a part of the military. So from being a child from our father, military, to even serving in the military, and now he's working as a civilian. So after 24 years in the military and retiring over a year ago, almost 2 years ago, right?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:03:12]:

Almost. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Shay Cook [00:03:13]:

He brings a wealth of knowledge on how to maintain your integrity, your family, and your finances while serving your country and your God. He's my little bro, a husband of over 20 years. And a father to 3. Hey, bro, welcome to the show.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:03:26]:

Hey, sis, how you doing? It's 22 next week.

 

Shay Cook [00:03:30]:

Oh, wow.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:03:31]:

Yeah, it's been a long journey.

 

Shay Cook [00:03:33]:

Yeah, it's been a long journey. Good Lord. Tell us more about yourself.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:03:38]:

What can I say? I'm Shay's baby brother. I ain't no baby, but I'm a baby brother. Um, yeah, served 24 years in the Army, respectively. Loved every minute of it. Didn't plan on staying that long. I didn't. I came in the Army basically for education, just to escape from what I was going through in our neighborhood. And God told me to stay.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:04:01]:

I was oblivious back then, but now I know it was him that told me to stay. And the plan worked out phenomenally.

 

Shay Cook [00:04:08]:

Yes, it did. And you were able to provide for your family in many ways. And after having them 3 kids, you had to stay for that reason too.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:04:16]:

That, that was the whole reason. To be 1,000% honest, I've never told tell nobody that. The reason why I stayed in the Army is because of my family. My original enlistment was 4 years, and back then you can re-enlist every 2 years, and I was doing that just to get the money. I mean, get a bonus every 2 years. So I kept doing that and doing that, and then I met my wife and we had my first son. After that, it was no escape. Yeah, it's a constant income.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:04:43]:

I love what I do, what I did. I ain't gonna lie, sometimes I miss it.  Hmm. I do. I really do. This is a great journey. I mean, I mean, God showed me a lot on it. I mean, yes, I'm paying for a lot. I do have a lot of struggles, a lot of things.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:04:58]:

I'm not going to say regrets, but a lot of things that I deal with emotionally, mentally.

 

Shay Cook [00:05:06]:

Physically. Yeah. You got that PTSD and all that going on, which a lot of service members have from serving overseas or not, even just serving at a base in America. It's a lot that they put on you when you serve this country. So that's why we should honor you and do everything for you and all the service members that have ever served, because it is one of the most honorable positions in this country.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:05:29]:

I appreciate that.

 

Shay Cook [00:05:30]:

Well, thank you for joining us. We gonna learn more about you in this episode, but let's get into our rapid fire questions.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:05:37]:

Alrighty, let's go. 

 

Rapid Fire Questions Jingle [00:05:40]:

Take your seat. Let the wisdom inherit. Let's hit the rapid fire questions.

Say what's on your spirit. Take your seat. Let the wisdom inherit. Let’s hit the rapid fire questions. Say what's on your spirit.

 

Shay Cook [00:06:05]:

All right. What is the biggest financial trap young soldiers fall into during their first enlistment?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:06:12]:

I thought about that hard this morning, sis. I got the perfect answer and I've been saying this for years, but sometimes you're oblivious to what you say to people. Mm-hmm. But you don't understand why you saying it. So I thought about it. Now this, it's like a little scenario. You go to basic training, they pay for everything, your food, your clothes, your everything. Then you go to AIT, which is Advanced Individual Training.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:06:37]:

And that's where you learn your job. Now me, I started off as a 35 Echo, which was radio and, um, comsec repair. It's now a 94 Echo. My school was 11 months. So I say 3 to 6 months you in school. And they taking care of everything. I mean, every 2, I think it's twice a week, you take your bedsheets to a facility in line. You march there.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:06:59]:

You drop your bedsheets off. They give you new fresh ones. And that's how you change your sheets. Oh wow. Your pillows and everything. So this the trap. After that, when you get outta AIT, you go to your first duty station, and then when you in process, they give you this application. And this application is for a thing called a Star Card.

 

Shay Cook [00:07:17]:

I know about that card.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:07:19]:

I mean, we heard about it all our lives. Now when you get this Star Card, once you fill out that application, you're immediately approved. So you gonna walk out that office, go straight to the PX and start buying stuff. Yeah. These soldiers come out of that with nothing, because you go into your barracks room, they give you a room. Army does take care of you. Well, I'm gonna say military. Mm-hmm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:07:40]:

It's all similar. You go to your room, it's nothing in there. You got your bed, you got a closet, you got a desk. That's it. Now you need sheets, you need pillows, and you need a TV. So now when you get this star card, they give you, let's say you came in just for the sake of the conversation. You coming as an E-2, so you making probably back in my day, you was only making like $650 a month. So they give you a credit limit of $5,000.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:08:06]:

Yeah. So immediately you in debt right there, because you know what you're going to do? You're going to go to PX, you're going to buy a TV, and at the time you're going to buy the biggest TV.

 

Shay Cook [00:08:14]:

Exactly.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:08:17]:

Oh, I got $5,000, I'm going to buy a PlayStation.

 

Shay Cook [00:08:20]:

I was about to say, you read my mind, bro. I was about to say you going to buy that PlayStation, or back in the day, whatever it was, Nintendo, whatever it was.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:08:27]:

I'm going to get 2 controllers because I want my friends to play with me. Then you start to think about, I gotta dress. I've been in the uniform for 2 years, or however long using basic ART. I'm gonna put it normal, let's say 6 months. So now I need some clothes. So now you gonna go buy some clothes, go buy some food. You gotta eat, so you gonna buy some food.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:08:47]:

But now I got $5,000. Most of these cats like myself— well, that's a story for another day, another podcast. I came in the Army with a little money, but you, I mean, they come in, they go, I want you to stay. And then you got your friends. And we all know this is, it's a sad part of the military. I mean, you can't walk into no military, now I'm not downplaying the military. Don't let me—

 

Shay Cook [00:09:08]:

No, we know, we know. We love the military. It's done a lot of great things for our families.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:09:12]:

It's a system. Like you walk in any shop at the first thing you see is the alcohol.

 

Shay Cook [00:09:16]:

Yeah.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:09:16]:

Oh, I never had a bottle of D’ussé. I got $2,500 left on my card. So let me get this bottle of D’ussé on. Everybody in the barracks gonna love me.

 

Shay Cook [00:09:26]:

I'm gonna get 3 of them.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:09:28]:

You know what I mean? So you immediately in debt. Mm. And that's your first day.

 

Shay Cook [00:09:33]:

For those that don't know, a Star Card is a credit card for the place on base.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:09:38]:

You buy sheets, towels, socks, uniforms. First impression is the last impression. So you want to be fresh when your leaders see you. You buying everything, you're immediately in debt. That's my story, so I can tell it. Yeah, I mean, probably about $6,000 in debt in my first year in the Army. Wow.

 

Shay Cook [00:09:59]:

Let's go into the next question. In the Army, they talk combat readiness. What does financial readiness look like for you?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:10:06]:

To explain the financial part, I gotta explain the first part. Okay. To be combat ready, you gotta be physically and mentally ready.

 

Shay Cook [00:10:12]:

Exactly.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:10:13]:

We always just say that you gotta be physically and mentally tough.

 

Shay Cook [00:10:16]:

Okay.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:10:16]:

Now we go through a lot of strenuous training before we leave. Now, I think we got one of the best arsenals and best military in the world, cuz I seen personally the different type of trainings that we go through. On my deployment before last, I was a guardian angel. That training was strenuous. Like it was every day. Repetition is the father of learning. So the more you do things, the more it becomes second nature to you. And we literally do PT every day.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:10:42]:

But anybody that's been in the military or thinking about going in the military, just understand this one principle, and I'm gonna get back to what I'm talking about. The one principle, you're gonna do PT anywhere and everywhere you go. No ducking it. So don't try to just jump out and go somewhere else. I'm not gonna do PT. No, you're gonna do it everywhere. Financially, I mean, you don't think about it your first deployment. Mm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:11:03]:

Because you, you haven't experienced it. Now, my first deployment, I love Obama, but he hit me with a 15-month one. So my first one was long. No, most deployments now are 9 months. Hmm. And the longer ones was 12 months, but I did a 15-month for my first one. Oh, wow. It was stringing in and I just had a newborn.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:11:24]:

I was still freshly married. I, I got married March 13th, 2004. My wife left. March 27th, 2004. Wow. That was our first, my first experience dealing with how to deal with deployment financially, because she was going first. But yes, you get extra money tax-free, but if you got a significant other, they're still in the, in the States, they still gotta live. So life don't stop.

 

Shay Cook [00:11:50]:

Yeah.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:11:51]:

Now I wish they, they hit you with a TSP. You got different savings plans that they, they offer you, which are things that you should take advantage of., but this thing about new money, and that's the thing I told all my soldiers after I learned myself, that you get this new money. Now your whole paycheck's tax-free. You get hazard duty pay, you get separation pay if you married. Mm-hmm. And it's other pays and incentives that you got, like even if you re-enlisted when you overseas, it's tax-free. Mm-hmm. So you seeing all this new money that you've never seen this amount of money at one time.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:12:25]:

Before. And there's a side part to that too, cuz you gotta pay taxes on that. Mm-hmm. You don't think about that. I didn't. Yeah. I mean, so you get all this money and the first thing you think about is the things that you never had. Mm-hmm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:12:39]:

I was watching both my sisters together, which is lovely, on Shay's podcast. I was amazed, like, man, my sister's dope. And then I thought about it, like, they don't know. Yes.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:12:50]:

We, we're a military family and we see our father and he went through TDYs and stuff like that, but he never, there wasn't no real war popping off like that when he was going through it. We seen the military side of it, but we didn't, we never took into account like the extra money, what you do with that. Yeah. Some people say invest it, save it. So when you, when you young, my first deployment was 2000, so I was 26 years old, 25 years old. So it was like, When I get back, I'm getting rent.

 

Shay Cook [00:13:18]:

Oh, wow. You were Alana's age. That's crazy. Well, my daughter is now. Yeah. So it sounds like to me being financial readiness for you looking back is having the knowledge, having goals, you know, having a plan, making sure your family's taken care of, you are taken care of. But when you're young, you're not thinking about a lot of that. But if you want to be financially ready, that's what it looks like.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:13:38]:

After everything I've learned from you, if we had somebody in our life to tell us that, Yeah. I don't know about other services. I'm pretty sure they have them too, but the Army has programs now.

 

Shay Cook [00:13:47]:

They do. All the services do the financial readiness programs.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:13:50]:

But we don't take advantage of them. I ain't gonna lie to you. We be like, nah, we good.

 

Shay Cook [00:13:55]:

Exactly. That's another episode. So, so let's get to the last rapid fire question. So after 24 years, what is one spiritual habit that kept you grounded through your deployments?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:14:07]:

Prayer. Because I know. He answers it on his time. I know that now. Back then I prayed for it and I still went through this situation that people lost their lives and I had to see it or I had to take it or I had to be the one to, to take it. And fast forward 24 years, I'm, I'm mentally paying for it and it's, but the prayer got me through it. I'm alive.

 

Shay Cook [00:14:30]:

Yeah. Amen.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:14:30]:

You can't come out alive and not take no, no luggage with you.

 

Shay Cook [00:14:33]:

Yeah, really. Thank you for that. And thank you for your service, number one.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:14:37]:

Thank you for your support.

 

Shay Cook [00:14:39]:

Yeah. And thank you for being there for our country, obviously through your service, but also for being there for yourself and for your family, you know? So that prayer keeps you in line with all of that. All right, let's get into the main discussions. Let's talk about that military life cycle that you've been from literally A to Z, from every phase of it, from the early years to transitioning to civilian life. Like, let's talk about the financial phases. So, you kind of already got into that. You said you're young, you're 25, and you're in your first deployment. You haven't, got a newborn.

 

Shay Cook [00:15:10]:

You got all this stuff going on. And then as you started going through, and now let's talk about the later stages, like, you know, getting multiple deployments under your belt, being a leader, like, what are you teaching your soldiers when you're in those later phases of your career?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:15:26]:

First, let me say this, and I know it sounds kind of conceited, And you was at my retirement ceremony, so I'm gonna say this again. I was a great leader.

 

Shay Cook [00:15:34]:

You were, and I got to see that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:15:36]:

I didn't say that when I had the uniform on, but now I'm out, I'm gonna say that. I took care of so many people because my thing, my theory was it's all about the people. You take care of your people, your people take care of you.

 

Shay Cook [00:15:45]:

Take care of you.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:15:46]:

Yeah. And I got that from my father. So it, it's like every time I take care of somebody, it'll come full circle. Still get calls today, sis. I got called 2 days ago about a soldier thanking me for what I did for him and his family.

 

Shay Cook [00:15:56]:

I love that. What's your top 3 that you done told your soldiers? They reap the benefits of your knowledge, of your experience, your mistakes and failures, which all lead to success most likely if you keep moving. Tell us more about that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:16:10]:

All right. Number 1, always tell my first-time soldiers, get what you need, not what you want.

 

Shay Cook [00:16:16]:

Mm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:16:16]:

Okay. Now you always had a, like with the Star card and, and 'cause you're a soldier, people give you more benefits. Like, okay, you was just loaned. I give it to you at this percentage instead of this percentage. You, oh, I got it for me. And they get what they want and they see and not what they need. Two, watch your debt. Mm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:16:35]:

Because it starts young. 95% of the people that I know, military-wise and civilian-wise, their debt started in their 20s. They carried it off to their 40s and 50s. And this is the third one. My father, me and my father talked about this. Invest. Mm-hmm. I've said it, but I ain't push it.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:16:53]:

Hmm. I wasn't doing it myself, so I don't wanna push nothing on somebody else I'm not doing myself, but I would give him that idea. I had a soldier named Michael Sealy. He invested in himself and he used his money that he was getting to invest and he invested in Bitcoin. That was his thing he chose. He made $2.9 million and they ended up putting him up because he made too much money. Those three things, to answer your question. Those 3 things I would say I wish I did.

 

Shay Cook [00:17:18]:

Yeah. That's what you tell your soldiers. And then, you know, you can carry that on to sharing with your kids. You know, we're doing some training with C4C Crusades for Change now where we're teaching teenagers in high school and letting them know, like, you need to learn your needs versus wants. You need to learn how to budget and do have a spend plan, tell and show, know when your money's coming in and going out and control your debt as you get older, especially, you know, student loan debt or a tax debt, whatever debt it might be, personal loans, cars, houses, whatever your debt may be, control that, especially if you're using credit cards. That's a big one because this country is in a lot of credit card debt from the Star Card to whatever card it may be. If it's a retail card, people get caught up in that. You go into the malls and stuff back in the day, not a few, but now it's the Amazon and all those cards online that people get caught up in.

 

Shay Cook [00:18:04]:

And so, or pay now, pay later, you know, be careful of that. But then, like you said, investing, whether it is— I'm not going to advise. We're not— as a financial counselor, we're not allowed to advise where people put their money, but definitely get the knowledge and the resources to understand what's best for you, whether you're risky or conservative or whatever, you know, how risky you want to be in investing. Definitely do some research on that because there's many opportunities to grow your money and build wealth and legacy from that. So that's some good advice. All right, let's talk about how do you apply preventative maintenance to our spiritual and financial lives? I think a lot of what we've been talking about today is like dealing with after you done made the mistakes or you spent all the money and stuff. So what kind of preventative maintenance outside of what the knowledge you just shared right there? Give me one example that you was like, all right, I learned the lesson. Now I'm going to prevent myself from getting into that, you know, situation financially.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:18:59]:

I got a perfect one for you. Okay, Christmas.

 

Shay Cook [00:19:03]:

Those stories about Christmas, I'm gonna pause you right there and I can't wait to hear it because we grew up in a family that went buck wild buying us gifts, especially we're in Alaska with them dang on dividends and buying us so many gifts to the point my brother was there, he was a witness. He's 2 years younger than me, so it was us together and then my sister came, our sister came in later. Them presents Especially that year when Mama bought that Nintendo and we got like 15 games. You found it in the basement. No, no shade to our parents. They loved us and they were just trying to shower us with what they didn't have. But man, Christmas can get you in trouble. So tell me a story about how Christmas and how now you prevent yourself from going crazy, which I don't think that's so much true because you can't.

 

Shay Cook [00:19:46]:

My brother still go crazy on Christmas.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:19:48]:

I do, sis. Maybe I learned this from my parents. They showed us a great Christmas for like the first 10 years of my life. I mean, they went extraordinary, put theirself in debt. I did the same thing. Pop always told me, I don't know if he told the girls, but he always told the boys, be better than your father.

 

Shay Cook [00:20:07]:

Well, that's the goal for any child.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:20:09]:

I don't know if that resonated with me different, cuz I was like, I wanna give my kids more than I had. My oldest is 20. I never stopped doing that, but I put myself in debt. It's a theory, sis. This is a scenario. You had the money saved up for Christmas. I've been there, learned that from you. So I saved for Christmas.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:20:26]:

It's not recent, about 4, 5, 6 years ago. But I saved the money up and I spent all that, get them all their gifts, and they ask for more stuff. As a father, I don't know how mothers feel. I asked my wife about it. It's another conversation too. But you want to give them everything they want. So you be like, I'll put this on credit. 'Cause this what's gonna happen in, in February, I'm gonna get my W-2s and then I'll be able to pay that credit card off and then I'll be back.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:20:53]:

Hopefully February, March, April, May show up. You don't never do it. So now like you, you accumulate that debt and then you take that with you to the next year.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:02]:

That's real, bro. That's real. We got a lot of clients like that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:21:06]:

Yep. And it's not like you bragging or you, you trying to show off for your kids. For me, the joy I see on my family's face when they come downstairs, that's worth $25,000.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:19]:

No, it's not. But okay.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:21:23]:

I'm just saying that out loud.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:25]:

No, no, I'm being judgy because this is my brother.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:21:27]:

Logic leave, that don't make no damn sense.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:28]:

Yeah, I'm about to say, this is my brother, and so I can say this to him. I wouldn't say that to no client. But, uh, yeah, I mean, I understand where you coming from. You know, thank God I married Nathaniel Cook Jr. because our first Christmas, I tried to do that. My husband looked at me and like, what you doing? He was like, first of all, my daughter was 1 year old. We were in Germany and I dressed her up in a brand new outfit. Was taking pictures, got all these gifts.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:54]:

And he's like, what are you doing? First of all, she's not going to remember it.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:21:57]:

Okay.

 

Shay Cook [00:21:57]:

And second of all, 

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:22:00]:

I bought her some pink Tims. I remember that.

 

Shay Cook [00:22:01]:

Toya bought her something special too. And so everybody was buying her special things that year. My husband just had a very different theory on around that. And so he was like, we don't need to be doing all the dressing up thing. And that was more like from the Tull side of fam, like my dad, dad's side where we got dressed up for Christmas. We don't do that anymore. But when we talking about the gifts, it was like, you're going to raise entitled, privileged kids by doing that. And so my husband's—

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:22:25]:

you won't. I disagree with you on that. Sorry, sis, but I do. I do. Because my kids, they do appreciate everything. Well, I'm not gonna say all of them.

 

Shay Cook [00:22:34]:

I'm about to say you got some entitled kids. First of all, every kid under Lana Mitchell, from their 3 kids, is entitled and privileged whether they appreciate it or not. Because us 3, me, you, and our my sister have been— we have been blessed financially to provide for our kids. And so they are— yes, you have. You ain't poor.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:22:55]:

You ain't— not now. All right, we got— we gotta specify this. We gotta clean this up. I'm talking about now. Are we talking about like 5, 6 years ago?

 

Shay Cook [00:23:05]:

I'm talking about if you compare us to the really low, you know, low-income people too. And I— we've all been there. Yes, we didn't start off rich. We ain't rich now. You know, we rich in love and blessings and either, but we ain't rich in money. I mean, it all depends.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:23:21]:

We—

 

Shay Cook [00:23:21]:

some of us might be, maybe.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:23:21]:

Let me put this disclaimer out, sis. Yeah, this is how I see it. So when we move back to Maryland, I got clout for my clothes from 7th grade to 10th grade.

 

Shay Cook [00:23:30]:

I know, I was there.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:23:31]:

She had to wear some of your Sassoons because the Fingerhut order ain't get there in time, and I had to fight for that. So, you know, I mean, this is how I looked at it. I'm not trying to nobody struggle or— yeah, nobody what you went through, but the people that was clowning me was in Tommy Hilfiger, back then it was the thing, Nautica, Polo. They was fresh. They had the flight jacket I wanted. I ain't get it till I was grown. But I mean, they had all— they was clowning me, but I lived in a house. I ain't had the clothes, but I lived in a house.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:24:03]:

They didn't have a house, but they had the clothes.

 

Shay Cook [00:24:05]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That still exists to this day. Yeah. Back then you weren't looking at it like that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:24:10]:

No, I was just mad at him. Like, I want this. And I wanted it, but I didn't get it. But now look at it. I was comfortable. I had my own room. I didn't share a room with nobody. I appreciate my parents now.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:24:22]:

Thank you, thank you, Pop. Thank you, Mom. 

 

Shay Cook [00:24:24]:

You are literally validating exactly what I just said earlier. We, all of us, are privileged and entitled. So, and we have raised privileged and entitled children. That doesn't mean that they're not appreciative. They are entitled. But getting back to what we were talking about with your military and all of that, I mean, how did you trust God when you were having a steady paycheck and you like, now, you know, man, I can— even though some other times you were using credit, you know, you had that security. So did you veer away from God because you had that security, or were you always aligned with him because you were thankful?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:25:01]:

Regardless of popular belief, I've never, since the age of 16, started away from God. Ever. Not once. Well, probably about a 6-month period, but other than that, nah, I never. And you want to relate it to the military, I gave the same speech to every deployment I went to. I told all my soldiers the same thing every time. We coming back. Because the misconception is we're fighting for the country.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:25:23]:

And that's what I really want to put out. I put out to every soldier I meet, like I still work in the same building. I retired in. So I see the soldiers that used to work for me and they still, Sergeant told me like, nah, Mr. Tull. But the same thing still, it still applies. Like, we don't go to war to fight for this country. We go to war to fight for the mission, but our goal is to bring the person to your right and your left back with you.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:25:47]:

That's what we go there for. It ain't about the war, the politics. We had this conversation, me and my homeboy, a couple nights ago. I told at least 20 mothers, I'm gonna bring your kid back. And you heard my retirement speech. I've knocked on wood, but I have never lost a soldier.

 

Shay Cook [00:26:02]:

Thank God.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:26:03]:

Thank God. I've never, all my deployments, all the conflicts I've been to, 13 confirmed kills, all that. I've never lost a soldier that was under my charge ever. And I equate that to the training. Like I said earlier, repetition is the father of learning. So I beat it in them every day. So it's second nature to you.

 

Shay Cook [00:26:23]:

Yeah. Training, but God first, right? You're saying that you trusted God and he was there.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:26:28]:

I never took God out the military. And I know people like, yo, Mitchell, Sergeant Tull, whatever you wanna call me, like, why you always talking about God? And a couple of people I brought to, to the Lord. It's something when a bullet flying over your head, you start to believe in something.

 

Shay Cook [00:26:42]:

Hey, Amen. Amen.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:26:42]:

Yeah. I mean, you see somebody die, I mean, you never seen it before. It's a reality that hits you like, okay, this is not playing. I need somebody, a higher power, whatever you believe in. God is going to be apparent in everything in my life. And my soldiers, everyone that fell under my charge, you heard God in every speech I gave at 1700 every day. We had to salute that flag after that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:27:08]:

God bless y'all. That's how I ended every speech I ever gave. And people will come talk to me about it. Your whole mission Your vision is God and finance. Mm-hmm. I think you can't have one without the other.

 

Shay Cook [00:27:22]:

Mm, Amen. We're stewards of that. He gives it to us. He gives us everything. We're just stewards. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:27:26]:

And when you put the military into it, your faith is what brings you home. And I, I've never left the soldier, but I know people who have and they be like, yo, he gung-ho. He, he came out, he wanted to kill people and all that. That's, to me, that's devil type stuff. And they come home broke or they don't come home. Or they come home different. Or they come home to a situation. Y'all heard about the drag stuff, because I was down there for that.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:27:50]:

I was down there for that. That was my second deployment. They come home different. Yeah. Me and my wife, we prayed. She prayed over me when I was deployed.

 

Shay Cook [00:27:59]:

You know all of us were praying for you. Mama, Daddy, sister, sister-in-law.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:28:02]:

We were prayer warriors. I got some prayer warriors. I got some, I got a bunch. Thank God for y'all.

 

Shay Cook [00:28:12]:

Amen. Amen. Because that, that's crazy. And we're praying for those that are going into war now. And we've already lost some lives in the last couple of days with everything going on. So we definitely continue to pray, pray for them and their families. Just got to keep God in it or whatever. Like my brother said, whatever you believe in, keep God in your money, keep God in your life, keep God in your family, keep God in your military service, because now I don't know how people do it without him.

 

Shay Cook [00:28:35]:

I don't know how people do it. It's just a lot.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:28:38]:

I'm going to sit back to that. Like, if it wasn't for God, I wouldn't be here. Amen. Things I've seen and done, it's amazing. Yeah, I wear hearing aids and all that, but you still here. It's a sacrifice. You got to give something to get something. And then to come home, I had to give something.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:28:55]:

That's how I look at it. That's my justification of it.

 

Shay Cook [00:28:57]:

No, I love that. That's good. That's good. Now, you know, according to the Military Family Advisory Network, so shout out to MFAN, worked with them back in the day, nearly 1 in 6 military families experience food insecurity, and a significant percentage of active duty members report high stress regarding their transition to civilian employment. This highlights that even with a steady government paycheck, without a kingdom-focused plan, and like my brother's saying, without God, the soldier's life can be one of financial desertion. So let's talk about, you know, the Army teaches you to leave no man behind, and every service has their own phrase and model and so forth. But in the kingdom of God, we are called to leave no resource behind. My brother's 24-year journey and beyond is a testament to the fact that you can serve your country with excellence while keeping your heart stayed on God.

 

Shay Cook [00:29:49]:

Whether you're in the barracks or a boardroom, the mission remains the same: be a faithful steward of what the commander-in-chief, that is G-O-D, God, has in place in your hands. So, bro, any final thoughts?

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:30:02]:

If it weren't for God, my finances wouldn't be where I am right now. Like right now I'm comfortable. Yeah, you are. For those who want to experience the military, I got a biased opinion about it. I always tell people to stay, cuz the thing that comes at the end of that journey will set you and your family up. I'm talking about medical, which is a, a big thing that everybody thinks about. Medical bills, I'm paying, pray for my wife, she has cancer and medical bills got her $600,000. If I didn't have TRICARE prior, I would've been, I'd be in a financial struggle right now.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:30:41]:

Education is what a lot of parents always think about with their kids. That's a big thing. I'm paying for my kids' school, student loans. Shay, my sister went through student loans. You was financially stable enough to take care of my niece, but a lot of parents don't have that. They don't. In the military, all 3 of my kids go to school. If you stay in Maryland, they go to school free.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:31:00]:

They go out of state, they taken care of, and the government pays me to send my kids to school. That's the second worry. The third worry, you talking about like insurance and stuff. Not just medical, I'm talking about car insurance, everything. Military, you retire, they bless you on that. This is just superficial, just, just a little small thing. Just, just throw that a little out there. I don't have to register my vehicle for the rest of my life because I'm a retired military.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:31:23]:

So I mean, it's so many perks.

 

Shay Cook [00:31:26]:

Perks and benefits. Yeah. He also disabled too, so that adds a little bit more to it. So not all everybody is disabled.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:31:33]:

I'm a combat vet.

 

Shay Cook [00:31:34]:

Yeah. So you get even more top on top of that because of your, yeah, your, your statuses.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:31:40]:

Yeah. It's a lot that goes into that. Yeah. And for the sake of this conversation, I'm really coming from the heart with this. The military is a great institution for a lot of young struggling, confused. My sister don't count it, but I got 2 degrees, but she like, nah, it's just the same thing. But I worked for both of them and the government paid, the Army paid for them. So I'm educated.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:32:01]:

And what you said to end this conversation, you said the transition between coming out the military to civilian, like you said, sis. Now for me, I'm blessed. I'm extremely blessed. I thank God literally every day for this. No joke. When I get in my truck in the morning, I start, I thank them for this. I was still in the Army when I got my next job. Mm.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:32:20]:

Technically, I have not been without work since 15, but I was blessed to have that. A lot of people don't have that.

 

Shay Cook [00:32:25]:

You're right. You're right.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:32:25]:

I mean, I went to Hawaii and I seen veterans living under bridges. I mean, my family went to feed them and everything, went to the church and did the shelters and all that. It's unimaginable to me. It's just like, how can you serve? Mm. And the, and they not taking care of you.

 

Shay Cook [00:32:39]:

Your country not taking care of you. That's a whole nother episode. But yes, that's wrong.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:32:43]:

Yeah. Well, I've been deployed 3 times, but he was at a time I only been deployed twice and he's been deployed 3 times. He can't, he living under a bridge.

 

Shay Cook [00:32:51]:

He gets a check.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:32:53]:

Yeah. But he can't survive. So the point I'm making, transition. Yeah. And I, I want my sister to put me on a separate podcast, not with, just, just to discuss this. Cause this is a real issue. But I have the answer, but I have an answer. I don't have the answer.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:10]:

Only God has the answer, but I have an answer. Set yourself up while you're in.

 

Shay Cook [00:33:16]:

Yeah, exactly.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:17]:

Yeah. Set yourself up. 'Cause when I, when I retired, my father always told me, it's gonna come faster than you think, son. Yeah, it did. And then I had to figure out where I'm gonna live, how I'm gonna eat, how I'm gonna feed my kids. Oh, I got a son going to college the following year after I retired. Where I'm gonna work? 'Cause regardless of how I believe, everybody saying you get one retirement, you're good. No, not in America.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:35]:

Not in America. You still gonna have to work.

 

Shay Cook [00:33:39]:

Exactly.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:39]:

You got to work. But the point I'm making is how trust in God, plan. Yeah. But don't rely on your plan. Mm. Rely on God's plan.

 

Shay Cook [00:33:50]:

Amen.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:50]:

Amen. The best way to make God laugh is to make your own plan.

 

Shay Cook [00:33:54]:

Is to follow your plan.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:33:55]:

Exactly. Yeah. I had my plan locked out 5 years before I retired. He shut that down through 3 or 4 alley-oops in there, 3 or 4 miss conceptions, and I follow his plan. People always say, give it to God, let go. Mm-hmm. I finally listened today. My sister told me, give it to God, bro.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:34:13]:

Pray on it and let it go. I did. And the woman called me about a job. I mean, my homeboy set it up for me, but Brandon, Brandon Scott, thank you for that. And I've been set ever since.

 

Shay Cook [00:34:22]:

So that's a blessing. What a blessing. 

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:34:23]:

My plan failed, but I was trusting God and financially I'm, I'm okay.

 

Shay Cook [00:34:29]:

The right plan was implemented and executed, which was God's plan with yours. And he was listening to you.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:34:35]:

Now I'm going to get off the soapbox, but that's—

 

Shay Cook [00:34:37]:

No, no, no. I appreciate that. And I would add, let everybody know, conduct, as we call it in the military, AAR, after— conduct an after-action report, right? Sit down and look at your financial information. Are there leaks in spending that are compromising your mission? Identify one recurring expense that doesn't serve your family's long-term security and discharge it. And then additionally, pray for our service members. Specifically, ask God for the spirit of discernment for those transitioning out of the military. I would even add those going into war right now, and those just out there suffering, that they would find identity in Christ alone and not just rank or retired pay. So thank you, bro.

 

Shay Cook [00:35:16]:

Super proud of you. Thank you for blessing this podcast and everything you do, and just love you and appreciate you.

 

Mitchell Tull, Jr. [00:35:24]:

I'm proud of you, sis. Keep doing what you're doing, baby.

 

Shay Cook [00:35:26]:

Thank you. Thank you. A big thank you for listening to this episode. We hope you found today's chat about the intersection of religion and money insightful. We would love to hear your feedback. Hit that subscribe button or follow the podcast, and please feel free to leave us a review. For the latest Yahweh's Money content, visit us at crusaders4change.org or find us anywhere you listen to podcasts. Until next time, stay financially fit and spiritually inspired.

 

Shay Cook [00:35:58]:

And remember, it's always better Yahweh's way.