Because Paul and Clara Jobs Said "Yes!"

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. or 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.

The circumstances surrounding Steve’s adoption remind me of the hundreds of stories we’ve heard through our Wait No More campaign. Because couples are brave and courageous enough to say “yes,” children are given the greatest of all gifts – the opportunity to be raised in a loving two-parent home.

I wonder if any of you are currently praying through the possibility of becoming foster or adoptive parents? Has it ever occurred to you that waiting for a home right now might be the next Steve Jobs – but only if he or she is matched with a mom and dad who love and lift them up in order to help them do great things.

Paul and Clara Jobs said “yes” – how about you?