Letters From Grandpa #363

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA

• 363

Dearest grandchild,

Pam was born Nov. 24, 1949 in San Francisco. As her father was a Colonel in the U.S. Army the family was constantly moving. When Pam was 12 he was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina. The family didn’t go to church and Pam says she had never heard a Bible story. For some reason, however, one Sunday morning Pam got her 8 year old sister out of bed and the two of them walked down the street to a near by church. Her father was playing golf and her mother was sleeping in, but Pam was on a rendezvous with destiny. When the invitation was given Pam went forward and gave her heart to Jesus Christ. Pam says: “I still can’t believe I had the courage to go up front all by myself”.

There is something both simple and profound about Pam’s conversion. Salvation always requires a personal decision! No one can do it for you! Pam therefore sets an example for everyone. There is a beautiful song which Dr. Garland Bare said was composed by a stone age savage from the Naga tribe. The Nagas were notorious head hunters. The entrance to every Naga village featured a display of human heads harvested by their warriors. While the conversion of the Nagas began with only one man, Nagaland, in North India, is now one of the most Christian communities in the world. The minister of tourism in Nagaland told me that over 90% of the people there are Christians. At any rate, the first Naga convert sang – “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. Though none go with me still I will follow.” Even though Pam’s parents did not allow her to go back to church, she never turned back from following God!

When Pam went to college at the University of Florida she met and married a man who shared her Christian faith. Pam graduated with honors in Journalism and Communication and in 1985 the family moved to the Philippines as missionaries. They already had four children when Pam discovered that she was pregnant again. Her pregnancy was complicated, however, by constant bleeding and amoebic dysentery which caused her to lapse into a coma. Amoebic dysentery is a deadly disease caused by a parasite found in contaminated food and drink. The medications for this dysentery are so powerful that they caused Pam to have a severe placental abruption. The doctors also feared that the medications might also have caused irreversible damage to her unborn child. The doctors strongly recommended an abortion in order to save her own life. Pam chose not to do so! On Aug. 14, 1987 she gave birth in Manila to a son. The doctor called him a miracle baby as “only a tiny piece of the placenta was intact”.

In case you haven’t guessed, that miracle baby was none other than the famous athlete Tim Tebow! As a home schooled individual Tim had to overcome the obstacle of not being in a public school athletic program. His athletic achievements were still spectacular. Against all odds he was named Florida’s player of the year, then Mr. Florida. The first home schooler to be so honored. In 2007 he won the Heisman Trophy and was also named Sporting News Player of the year. Three years in a row he was named the Gator’s MVP. In 2009 Sport’s Illustrated honored him as Player of the Decade. In his first NFL game he scored the longest touchdown by a first time quarterback in the history of the Broncos. In 2016 he signed a contract with the N.Y. Mets and hit a home run on the first pitch. This brief list only scratches the surface in honoring Tim Tebow for his amazing athletic ability.

Tim’s greatest contributions to society, however, involve his Christian witness. He prayed so much on the field that kneeling for prayer at a football game is called “Tebowing”. The Tim Tebow Foundation provides health and education for children with special needs. He has also been active in

raising funds for Shands Hospital Pediatric Cancer Center. A documentary on his life was released in 2011. Hundreds of churches have participated in Tim’s program called “A Night to Shine” which is a magical prom night for kids with special needs. It seems that the focus of his life in every area is to honor Christ. Tim was once the world’s most eligible bachelor and set a godly example for everyone by abstained from sex until he got married. After a story book romance he was married on Jan. 20, 2020 to Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters who was Miss Universe in 2017.

But Tim is not the only outstanding Christian in his family. His father founded the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association that is involved in church planting, pastoral training, orphan care, and training evangelists for the next generation. His mother Pam, in addition to raising five children, is a popular speaker who has inspired millions with her Christian witness. Christie Tebow, the oldest child, has followed her parents example and is a Christian Missionary. Katie Tebow is a model with three children. Robby Tebow is a film maker producing Christian films. Peter Tebow is a preacher with over 6,000 followers on his Twitter account. Tim Tebow, as we have said, is the youngest.

Pro-life advocates often use Beethoven as an argument against abortion. The argument goes something like this: “If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion? You would? Well congratulations —you just killed Beethoven!” A similar argument could be made regarding Tim Tebow. How tragic that millions of gifted babies like Beethoven and Tim Tebow have been vacuumed out of their mother’s womb and disposed of in a dumpster.

The problem with this argument, however, is that even Hitler was happy to save great musicians and gifted athletes. The whole idea of Hitler’s eugenics program was to produce a super race by selective breeding. Margaret Sanger agreed with this program and founded Planned Parenthood to abort babies she felt were inferior. She considered minorities as inferior and their babies as “human weeds”. Even today the majority of Planned Parenthood facilities are in minority neighborhoods. As followers of Christ we must place value on every life even if they are never famous. Even babies born with physical and mental handicaps are precious to Jesus and should also be to us. It was Ronald Reagan who noted the irony that everyone in favor of abortion has already been born. Too bad that unborn babies cannot vote on abortion and that their final screams in the womb cannot be heard!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce