“Rely not on your wealth…. Say not: ‘Who can prevail against me?’” The first reading from Sirach is one of my favorites. Kind of sounds the opposite of the way people today think, doesn’t it?
I grew up being told that making a lot of money means you are successful. That was very much ingrained in my head. So, I started my adult life by trying to do just that. I fought my way through 19 people who were trying to get the same job, and I got it. It was for a large corporation with 35 branches around the country and I would be in one of them. It was without a doubt the most stressful job I have ever had! I was hired to be a purchasing agent.
Come Monday morning, I was told that I was to do that before 8:00am and after 5:00pm. Sitting before me was a four foot catalog that I knew nothing about. It was pieces and parts that had to do with hydraulics and pneumatics. I would be selling on the phone during the day to our customers. GULP! Learning and selling thousands of new parts and then ordering them and selling them on the phone in the early days was very stressful! I was bound not to fail.
I worked a lot of extra hours on salary to survive. This was a job totally run by negative motivation. I do not recommend that! However, after a year I was promoted to inside branch manager. It was still stressful because I was promoted too soon. Time moved on and I was still determined that I would make it. I worked very hard.
One day I came home earlier than usual. For some reason I came in the back door. I opened the door into the kitchen where my wife was doing dishes and our two little boys were standing near her. They both looked at me and had no idea who I was! They were about 3 and 1 years old at the time. They went and stood behind their mother as if they didn’t recognize me. I’m a lover of children and it broke my heart. I had been leaving the house before they got up and returning after they were in bed. At that moment I decided that climbing the corporate ladder was not as important as my family. So, I let go of my desire for success and backed off working so many hours.
Looking back 50 years, I believe it’s what the Lord really wanted me to do. He was calling me to not rely on wealth but on Him. I didn’t make as much money as I could have but we had enough to raise eight children with a stay at home mom. Now, with 31 grandchildren I am majorly blessed!
Serving with joy!
“No confíes en tus riquezas… No digas: ‘Yo a nadie me someto’”. La primera lectura de Sirácides es una de mis favoritas. Suena un poco al contrario de lo que la gente piensa hoy día, ¿no crees?
Crecí escuchando que ganar mucho dinero significa que eres exitoso. Eso estaba muy arraigado en mi cabeza. Entonces, comencé mi vida adulta tratando de hacer exactamente eso. Me abrí paso entre 19 personas que intentaban obtener el mismo trabajo, y yo lo conseguí. Era para una gran corporación con 35 sucursales en todo el país y yo estaría en una de ellas. ¡Fue sin duda el trabajo más estresante que he tenido! Me contrataron para ser agente de compras.
El lunes por la mañana, me dijeron que debía hacer eso antes de las 8:00 a. m. y después de las 5:00 p. m. Frente a mí había un catálogo de cuatro pies del que no sabía nada. Eran piezas y partes que tenían que ver con hidráulica y neumática. Durante el día, yo vendía por teléfono a nuestros clientes. ¡Aprender y vender miles de piezas nuevas y luego pedirlas y venderlas por teléfono en los primeros días fue muy estresante! Estaba resuelto a no fracasar.
Trabajé muchas horas extras por salario para sobrevivir. Este era un trabajo totalmente dirigido por una motivación negativa. ¡No lo recomiendo! Sin embargo, después de un año me ascendieron a gerente interno de la sucursal. Todavía era estresante porque me ascendieron demasiado pronto. El tiempo pasó y yo seguía decidido a lograrlo. Trabajé muy duro.
Un día llegué a casa antes de la hora normal. Por alguna razón entré por la puerta trasera. Abrí la puerta de la cocina donde mi esposa estaba lavando los platos y nuestros dos niños pequeños estaban de pie cerca de ella. ¡Ambos me miraron y no tenían idea de quién era yo! Tenían alrededor de 3 y 1 año en ese momento. Fueron y se pararon detrás de su madre como si no me reconocieran. A mi me encantan los niños pequeños y eso me rompió el corazón. Había estado saliendo de la casa antes de que se levantaran y regresando después de que se acostaron. En ese momento decidí que ascender en la empresa no era tan importante como mi familia. Así que dejé de lado mi deseo de éxito y dejé de trabajar tantas horas.
Mirando hacia atrás 50 años, creo que es lo que el Señor realmente quería que hiciera. Me estaba llamando a no depender de la riqueza sino de Él. No gané tanto dinero como podría haber hecho, pero teníamos lo suficiente para criar a ocho hijos con una madre que se quedaba en casa. ¡Ahora, con 31 nietos, soy un hombre muy bendecido!
¡Sirviendo con alegría!
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 55 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty-one grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Featured Image Credit: Katie Harp, unsplash.com/photos/10-us-dollar-bill-and-coins-T4mMxYS31z0
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