Tim Tebow

Monday's w/ Michael

Again, I'm assuming most of Jane's readers are female so you have probably never heard of Tim Tebow. Allow me to tell you a little about him.

Tim's parents, Bob and Pam, were Christian missionaries in the Philippines when she became pregnant with Tim. While pregnant, Pam suffered a life-threatening infection with a pathogenic amoeba. Because of the drugs used to rouse her from a coma and to treat her dysentery, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion to protect Pam's life. Instead, she carried the baby to term, and both survived.

Later, the family moved to Florida where Tim was homeschooled. Though homeschooled, Tim played football for Nease High School, where he starred at Quarterback. During one game, Tim broke his leg. But he continued to play and finished the game. He was named the state of Florida's High School Football Player of the Year his Junior and Senior year. Tim led Nease High to the state title his Senior season.

After high school, Tim decided to attend the University of Florida. His Freshman year, he helped lead Florida to the National Championship as the backup QB. Tim took over as the full time Quarterback his Sophomore year. He threw for 29 touchdowns and ran for 22 touchdowns during the regular season. He became the first player in history to throw for 20 touchdowns and run for 20 touchdowns in the same season. His 51 touchdowns were more than 87 teams! At the end of his Sophomore year, he was awarded the Heisman trophy, given to college football's most outstanding player. Tebow was the first underclassman to ever receive that award. During his Junior year, Tim broke the school record for career rushing touchdowns, previously held by Emmitt Smith (Emmitt Smith holds the record for the most career rushing yards in the NFL).

Tim will be starting his Senior year at Florida this fall. Most likely, he will be playing in the NFL in 2010 (unless he would decide to become a missionary). But I think Tim's mission field is here in America. Explaining why he returned to Florida for his Senior year instead of going pro last year, Tim replied "The impact you can have is incredible." He also stated, "The No. 1 way you minister to people is through your actions. They see how you act, how you treat people, how you love people, how strong your relationship with Jesus Christ is.”

All of these accomplishments, all of these records...not too bad for a baby that should have been aborted.

Make it a great Monday!