Something You May Not Know About Steve Jobs

The following is an article posted today by Jim Daly from Focus on the Family that taught me something new about Steve Jobs. His story really highlights the difference adoption can make, both in the life of the baby, and his adoptive parents. Think you might enjoy reading it...

Because Paul and Clara Jobs Said "Yes!"

Steve Jobs  2/24/55-10/5/11

"What if Joanne Schieble hadn’t said “yes”? What if Paul and Clara Jobs had said “no”? Joanne almost didn't. The Jobs almost weren't even asked. Have you heard the story?

Steve Jobs is being lauded and remembered as the pioneer he truly was, a remarkable man with an amazing mind who changed the way the world communicates. By now you've probably read or heard that Mr. Jobs was adopted as an infant. Born in 1955 to an unwed mother, Joanne Schieble, his life took an incredible turn the very night he made his grand entrance.

Prior to giving birth, Miss Schieble had told her adoption agency that she wanted her baby to be adopted by college-educated parents. A couple was selected. But on the night of the birth, upon learning that Steve was a boy and not the girl they wanted, they turned down the placement.

And so it was in the middle of the night when Paul and Clara Jobs’ phone rang with a question that not only changed their lives and that of a little boy – but also, by extension, your life and mine.

But there was a problem. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Jobs had a college degree. Joanne Schieble was troubled by that and grew wobbly when it came time to sign the adoption papers. In the end, she did.

Perhaps Steve Jobs might still have founded Apple if that first couple had agreed to adopt him, or if Joanne didn't sign those papers, but I wonder. According to Steve, his father was a “genius with his hands” and just happened to work for a company that made lasers! The Jobs clearly raised Steve in an environment that encouraged and nurtured his extraordinary gifts.

Yes, we're born with a temperament and special gifts, but we are also shaped by the lives that touch ours."

Many lives have been touched by the genius of Steve Jobs. EZ loves his iPad and I love my iPhone. Neither of us has a MacBook, but many in our family do and they love them! It's hard not to think of Steve Jobs every time we use our Apple products now. What a mind he had, and it blessed millions of people because of a decision both his birth mother and his adoptive parents made.

Have a blessed weekend and may we all be a little more cognizant of the fact that we are shaped by the lives that touch ours!