Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid” to learn anything. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled from public school and then refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, said, “Can’t act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.
Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, one of the all-time, best-selling books, was encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress by her family. Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him “hopeless” as a composer. F. W. Woolworth’s employees at the dry goods store said he had not enough sense to wait upon customers. (Copied)
Forrest Gump’s mother said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”
The Apostle Paul wrote: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Sometimes, if we allow it, the negative folks in this world treat us like we are the nail and they are the hammer! Negative people can rob us of the peace God would have us to know. Join us this Sunday as we learn how Jesus dealt with negative people in “Testing Time.”
Written by Dr. Randy Mickler, Senior Pastor, Mt. Bethel UMC, 4385 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta / East Cobb. Reprinted from Mt. Bethel’s March 13, e-newsletter. Randy will be retiring after 28 years of service at Mt. Bethel UMC. A celebration is planned for Sunday, June 5.
