给予者之心

杰瑞·鲁德93年, 文图拉本地人, 在肯特·施利希特迈尔身上找到了一个早期的英雄, 他的老师和教练在圣. 约翰在奥克斯纳德的路德教会和学校.

“肯特是我的英雄，”鲁德说. “I decided I was going to be a Lutheran high school math teacher and coach. 我要演肯特·施里克特迈尔.”

巧合的是, Ruud enrolled at Christ College Irvine (now 欧文康考迪亚大学) the first year “Coach” Schlichtemeier came to work there in 1988. But when Ruud first tried his hand at coaching a high school sports team during his senior year, 他意识到他就是不喜欢它. 他的职业规划停滞不前, he found himself working at Dollar Rent-a-Car thinking, “这令人沮丧。. I got a college degree, and I’m making $6 an hour?”

Ruud applied for a job in his father’s industry—plastic packaging, 特别是塑料管和塑料管, the kind found on every item from ketchup bottles to cosmetics. He began selling plastic tubes used for hair gel, 防晒油, 各种化妆品, 个人护理产品, toothpaste and so on to product manufacturers—and found he had a talent for it.

他说:“有时这归结为价格问题。. “You can win or lose business depending on how good your service is, but a lot of times people buy from people they like. I think it’s very much a relationship business.”

His company sold plastic tubes to large consumer goods companies like Procter & 甘布尔、联合利华、欧莱雅和其他公司.

大学毕业后不久, 他娶了一位年轻女士, 丹尼斯, 他是在一家披萨店工作时认识的. With his promotion to management in the plastic packaging company, they moved to New Jersey. It was intended to be a brief move, but they have lived there ever since. Ruud advanced to become vice president of the personal care division for North America and the general manager for the tube division. His company was bought and sold by a series of private equity companies, 然后在2012年以Berry Plastics的名字上市, 现在的贝瑞国际.

But the pace and the time away from home wore thin. “我走遍了世界各地，”鲁德说. “I was Marriott’s platinum elite for life and was gone about four or five nights a week traveling, 一年125个晚上. 我已经厌倦了.”

He left for a much smaller company just ten miles from his house and became executive vice president of sales. “I thought it was a better life choice,” he says.

与此同时, 杰里和丹尼斯抚养着两个女儿, 两人现在都二十多岁了, and connecting strongly with their local church. Born and raised Lutheran, Jerry says, “I’ve loved Jesus for as long as I can remember.”

他们主持了许多活动，并领导了一些小组, nurturing younger people in the faith and helping plant new churches.

“I want to be an active disciple for Jesus,” Jerry says. “我喜欢指导年轻人. 我给他们发短信，随时待命. Then when somebody’s going through something, they call you. One guy wanted help with his finances, to make sure he was doing it right. One has since gotten married, and we mentor him and his wife.”

The goal, he says, is Matthew 28: “Make disciples to make disciples to make disciples.”

Ruud is known for his love of tie-dye patterns.

He wore a tie-dye cummerbund and tie at his wedding. If a friend has a baby, Jerry and 丹尼斯 give the child a tie-dye onesie.

He is also passionate about people and is “dogged about keeping in touch with friends,” he says. Six years ago he rallied former 欧文康考迪亚大学 classmates to attend 同学会 together and got 30 people to come from Texas, Florida, Nebraska and elsewhere.

“我和人们通过电话交谈，”他说. “我会保持联系并跟进. I had a lot of fun at college—probably too much fun in some areas. 但我有一辈子的朋友. I get to talk to someone from Concordia almost every week.”

他也喜欢支持 鹰体育 和创建 捐赠基金 in the names of people important to him from 欧文康考迪亚大学. 他召集朋友一起创造了 比尔·斯帕索夫纪念基金, in memory of the beloved maintenance man 在欧文的康考迪亚大学 who impacted the lives of many with his service and generosity.

“我仍然有, 在我的地下室, my bed frame from Concordia because I needed a bed when I graduated,鲁德说. “比尔说，‘上来吧. 我们有多余的床没人用. 拿其中一个.他对很多人都这么做过.”

Ruud and others also created an endowment honoring Schlichtemeier. “Bill is with the Lord, but Coach is still alive so I wanted to do something for him,鲁德说. “When our company sold in 2018, I set up an endowment fund for Coach.

I sat down with Tim Jaeger and with Kent and told them what I wanted to do.”

路德的父母, who are members of a Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod congregation, 模范的良好管理, a habit that he and 丹尼斯 have adopted in their giving. “我喜欢捐钱. It’s not a painful thing for me to write a check,” he says. “我喜欢给学校捐款. 这让我感觉很好.”

Living within their means has enabled them to bless others more. “We never expanded our lifestyle when we made more money,” he says. “That phrase, ‘Trying to keep up with the Joneses,’ can really get you in trouble.”

这些天, Ruud’s main passion is walking more closely with Jesus and with other believers, 加深了他对圣经的了解.

“我喜欢去教堂. 我喜欢被喂食，”他说. “我想有更好的圣经知识. 三年来，我一年读一次《亚洲体育博彩平台》. Last year, I recruited five guys to do it with me. 我们在发短信聊天. We read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice, 诗篇和箴言两篇.”

When he feels it’s time, Ruud challenges other men to start leading their own Bible study groups. Several of the guys in his present Bible studies are CCI/欧文康考迪亚大学 graduates. “我们进行了很好的讨论，”鲁德说. “这是可怕的.”

他也鼓励其他人去创造 捐赠基金 以对他们有意义的人的名义.

“As you get older, you want to have more of a legacy,” Jerry says. “An endowment fund is a great opportunity to do that. You can be creative, and if you have like minded friends then you don’t have to do it by yourself. 就像一起读《亚洲体育博彩平台》一样. 有更好的方法吗?”