Happy Birthday, Steve!

Have you ever wondered what my favorite paragraph is of all the books I've ever read? (You haven't? I'm shocked! 😎)  It is found in a book entitled Ten Angels in a Pontiac, written by Grace Spencer Magee, Steve's mom. This story chronicles the cross-country trip that their family took in 1960. At that point in time, there were ten children ages 17 and younger, plus two parents, all traveling from New Jersey to California and back in a Pontiac station wagon.

In Chapter 1, Steve's mom listed all the children, their ages, and their enthusiasm level (or lack thereof) for this trip. Predictably, the older ones thought this was a crazy idea, and the younger ones saw nothing but exciting adventures ahead. But here is what she writes about Steve:

"Steve, age two, agreed, but he was happy no matter what, so the 'when do we start' question was not nearly so pressing. Just being included was enough to keep his happiness at the peak and his security at its' usual high level. In addition to the twinkle in his eyes, he was born with a pleasant, jolly disposition. I'm sure that he was sent by God as a special messenger of the very nicest form of happiness, and all of us knew that he had been doing a first-rate job of fulfilling his mission."

For those of you who personally know Steve, isn't it remarkable that this was written nearly 60 years ago? How incredible is it that the description that his mom wrote would involve language such as this - language that very clearly tells of being "sent by God as a special messenger of the very nicest form of happiness."  For many reasons I wish that she were still alive, one among them being that she would be able to see that as a minister her youngest son is still doing a "first-rate job of fulfilling his mission."  Only God could have guided Grace Magee to write about the amazing grace that Steve is now proclaiming. WOW.

Bonus: Steve still has that twinkle in his eyes. See below!