Tim Tebow's Mom Wants You to Embrace God's Opportunities

PAM’S STORY
At twelve years old, Pam and her sister decided to walk to a nearby church to attend the service. She made the decision that day to make Jesus her Savior. People from the church visited her home and gave her a Bible, but her parents were offended because they didn’t know about her decision to follow Christ. They never let her return to the church again. At seventeen when Pam entered the University of Florida she did not understand what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus. Her worth was focused on who she could impress and what she could achieve, but somehow deep down she knew it needed to be more. One day she got on her knees and cried out to God for help and He answered. The next week she began attending a Bible study and her relationship with the Lord began to grow. She also met Bob, who had started a Campus Crusade for Christ chapter on the campus. He taught the Bible study that she had begun to attend. Bob and Pam eventually married, started their family and began working in ministry.

After several years of marriage Pam began homeschooling their growing family (a career she did not retire from for twenty-five years). Bob had gone on a mission’s trip to the Philippines and was so excited to share the gospel with the Filipinos. Once he returned he turned his attention back to pastoring their church and never mentioned the possibility of returning to the Philippines. One night after getting her children to bed Pam felt a prompting from God. There was a clear realization that God wanted Bob and her to go to the Philippines as missionaries. When Bob returned home he shared the news that he felt God had called them to the Philippines. Pam shared that God had called her to the mission field too. Bob had taught their family, “Faith is like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the bigger it becomes.” Over the next few months he set up the board for the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association and transitioned their church for his departure. They trusted God for the resources they would need. Their family of six arrived on the island of Mindanao in 1985. Shortly after they arrived Bob had to travel over 500 miles to Manila to renew their visas. Pam insisted on being positive for her children despite their living environment which included: crawly things, no running water, cold bucket baths and hand washing their laundry. They even hired a house keeper who could catch mice with her bare hands. A month passed while Bob was trying to return to them on a very slow passenger boat. In the meantime, some of the Filipinos began to help them search for appropriate housing. The owner of one of the homes refused to rent his home but then his wife had a dream where God told her to rent to the American missionaries. Pam and her family were very thankful. The home was nicer than she had prayed for and even had a bathtub (an answer to her prayer)!

They faced challenges their second year in the Philippines. While Bob was away preaching Pam developed a serious care of amoebic dysentery. She refused an IV since she had seen the medical staff reuse a needle on a previous visit to their facility. When Bob returned home he flew her to the hospital in Manila. The housekeeper who spoke little English stayed with the children, but there was no working phone at the house so they were both concerned about the welfare of their children. While Pam was in the hospital Bob ran into a Filipino man he recognized. He told Bob that he had just seen their kids at the home of some missionary friends. Pam was so thankful her kids were being taken care of because she would spend the next eleven days in the hospital. A few months later Pam had a relapse and Bob took her to a doctor on the closer island of Cebu where she was prescribed some stronger medicine. After one dose, she read about the side effects which included placenta previa and birth defects, she threw the medicine away just in case she might get pregnant again in the future.

MIRACLE BABY
In 1986, Bob told the Lord if He would give them another son they would name him Timothy which means honoring God. Pam instantly remembered taking the medication when she had the relapse from amoebic dysentery which had harmful side effects. She prayed the one dose of the medication which she had taken would not have any impact on a future pregnancy. Pam and her family prayed for another child and soon she become pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult because she had profuse bleeding and cramping. When they met with a doctor he did some tests and informed them that Tim was, “a mass of fetal tissue – a tumor.” The doctor felt Pam was in danger and insisted on her aborting immediately in order to save her life. Pam and Bob left the office speechless and never returned. Pam was not able to travel to better medical facilities in Manila because even slight movements would cause the bleeding to increase. Despite the grim diagnosis Pam and Bob stayed optimistic. Together they were convinced to leave her life and the life of Tim in God’s hands. As the months passed she stayed busy homeschooling and playing games with the family – all from her bed. Towards the end of her pregnancy the bleeding stopped suddenly. They flew to Manila where they met an American doctor. When Tim entered the world the doctor said, “He is a miracle baby.” The doctor couldn’t explain how Tim had survived. After Tim’s arrival the doctor told Pam he had been monitoring a huge cyst which he operated on a few days later. The doctor informed Pam and Bob that if they had stayed on Mindanao, Tim would not have survived and she would have died from uterine shock.

When Tim was nominated for the Heisman Trophy in 2007 ESPN did a two-hour taped interview with her and Bob. Three days later they were shocked to see a video clip from her testimony. It aired on live television after Tim was announced as the winner of the Heisman trophy which gave her an instant platform for a pro-life message. Ten years later, she had the privilege of sharing her story in Washington, D.C. at the annual March for Life in front of four thousand people.

BECOMING INFLUENTIAL
Everyone has the power to positively influence others. It doesn’t matter your age or race your degree or even your job. Pam says, “Our influence is not about whether we are adequate. It’s about allowing God to use us and our experiences to leave an eternal imprint on the people we encounter in our lives.” Bob is passionate about sharing the gospel. His willingness to allow God to use him has brought more than a million lives a year to Christ.

Pam has been encouraging people for many years on how to use the influence God has given them to eternally changed the world. Her goal is to point people to the God who created them to be influential. Ultimately, she says, “The key to having positive godly influence is to know Him and be connected to Him… by drawing closer to God and allowing Him to change us and use us to impact those we come in contact with.” She has identified six points of influence:

• Master – When God becomes our Master this is the most important step toward positive influence. If you have influence without Him you are exalting self by trying to impress others. When you grow in your relationship with Him you have positive influence.
• Manual - Pam says nothing has influenced her more than reading the reading, studying, and applying verses of scripture to circumstances in her life. When you know firsthand the impact of a verse or passage then you can show people in your sphere how to experience its influence for themselves.
• Prayer – This is an important tool of influence because it connects us to our Master. Your faith builds when God answers your prayers. When you share those answers to prayers with others it encourages them to talk to the Lord about their needs and requests. Pam uses the acronym ACTS which stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication when praying. It greatly influences her prayer life and all the people and situations she prays for.
• Mindset – Your thoughts have a direct effect on your actions. Select the right mindset which will positively impress upon the lives around you. “Influence is not accidental; it results from making deliberate, determined, and repeated choices, beginning in the mind and then acted out day by day,” shares Pam.
• Mission – By spending time in prayer and in God’s word you will discover God’s mission for your life. Fulfilling your mission with godly passion also draws others to the Lord.
• Passion – When you are passionate about loving the people in your spheres and making a positive imprint on your world, others are motivated to follow your example.

“Our life choices are like rocks tossed into a pond, producing ripple effects that inspire those in our spheres and beyond to think and act differently,” shares Pam.