After reading Tim Tebow's book Through My Eyes for RA Boot Camp, I was incredibly inspired. I've always thought it's important to let people know how they've impacted you for good. However, since Tim is an NFL player with the Denver Broncos, and not a personal mentor or family friend, you all get to read about it instead... If you haven't already read his book, please do! I promise you won't be disappointed.
Dear Tim-
I realize the chances of you actually reading this are slim, but I still felt compelled to share with you how your story is affecting a small Christian college in WI, and all the people here who are holding you up in prayer.
After serving as an RA in college and graduating, I’m now serving my alma mater as a Resident Counselor, mentoring students and RAs who were once my classmates and coworkers, and putting parents at ease when they send their kids out on their own for the first time. On Monday we will begin our annual RA Boot Camp. Two weeks of fun and hard work, building relationships with our team, and preparing them to handle any residential crises they might face in the coming year.
At the beginning of summer, all our RAs receive a package with their training materials, policy manual, and a book to read for our fall book review. Usually it’s something like The Purpose Driven Life or The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This year, our director surprised us by choosing Through My Eyes.
I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about her book choice. First of all, I’m a hardcore baseball fan, so while I don’t hate football, I am indifferent toward the sport. I expected your book to be all about football, and to be bored. It wasn’t, and I wasn’t. Football aside, most of the past books chosen for boot camp were written by middle-aged men, so I was also a little doubtful there would be much for my RAs and me to learn from someone in our own age group. Incorrect once again.
With the exception of two of my male RAs, who insist they don’t like you for the simple reason that you are a Bronco, and the Broncos “robbed” the Packers of a Super Bowl victory in 1997, when we were all in elementary school, our staff has been exceptionally inspired. I even know of one who is trying to emulate your workout routines.
Before I was half through your book, I was so impressed with your character that I purchased an additional copy to send to my brother in a care package when he returns to college. He is kind and intelligent, with a solid faith, but I know he sometimes struggles with bonding with his teammates, who are occasionally unsavory. Sometimes he makes wise decisions, and sometimes he makes mistakes, but having the misfortune (or blessing) of growing up in the middle of five sisters, forming relationships with his male teammates is very important to him. It will be good for him to read about another young man who knows about hard work and leadership, but also about disappointment and temptation, and is trying to do the right things. So, above all, thank you for setting an example for “kids” like my brother.
Actually, it turns out I need to purchase a different copy for my brother, as a family friend recently received a call to serve at a church on the UF campus in Gainesville, and I sent him the copy I purchased for my brother as an installation gift.
As I continued to read, I started underlining portions of your book to use in book discussions with my RAs. One of the most obvious parallels would be to relate your football teams back to our Residence Life team, but I think the more relevant point is that each one of us has a unique platform to serve God. It may not be on as grand a national stage as you, but whether our platform is in front of thousands, or a single person, God has gifted us all with unique talents and life experiences. It’s our responsibility, as children of God, to be good stewards of those gifts, to grow them, and to bloom wherever He’s planted us in life. Whether that’s leading a football team on the field, sitting on the sidelines, or cheering from the stands… Whether it’s nurturing a future campus leader, reaching out to an alienated or international student, or showing compassion to an embarrassed freshman while you hold her head over a toilet… Personal triumphs and broken hearts… We never know what God’s going to use to shine His light into someone’s life, so everything we do must be done to His glory.
I found many personal parallels in your story as well. From the tight knit family, to the mom who found every opportunity to teach me… My father was even a pastor turned medical missionary… I am, literally, eternally grateful for the people God placed in my life to make me who I am today, but also for the unique challenges I faced that helped me grow my own personal relationship with Jesus. It is not easy to be the pastor’s kid in a big church in a small town. A lot of people look at you to set the example for your peers, and that can be a lot to ask from a kid.
I’ve seen in the lives of many prominent public figures, authority figures in my own life, and even in my father’s own ministry, how taking a public stand for Christ can also be an invitation for Satan to put a target on your back. God delights when we lead one of His children to Him, but Satan delights in leading His children astray, and when you are held up in the public eye as a Christian, there’s a bit more distance for you to fall. I wholly believe that Satan specifically targets those with the strongest faiths and the greatest opportunities to build up, or cause damage to, the Kingdom of God. That is why I am committing to lift you up in my daily prayers.
I am praying that God continue to speak to your heart, and use you to bring Him glory. I’m praying for protection of your body as you take part in a contact sport, that your career would not be cut short by any drastic injury, and that He give you the stamina to optimally condition the body He gave you for football. More importantly, I’m praying for protection of your mind and spirit. Now that the lockout is over, I see what you meant in your preface about “spilled ink.” I’ve read some very negative things, some of which are rude or hurtful, some of which are downright inappropriate and unnecessary. I pray that the negative comments brush past you and you find comfort in the only Word that matters. I also pray that the positive words delight you, but do not allow you to become arrogant in the abilities and opportunities that God has given you to use in your earthly life.
I am praying that God continually build and fortify a genuine support system around you; trustworthy people close to you who can lift you up when your spirits sag, but also keep you humble, by speaking the truth in love. I pray for your family, and old friends, but also for new friends and outlets outside of the sports world. I am praying that, with this support system, you will have the defenses to withstand the temptations Satan lays in your path, and continue to be a light to those in darkness.
I’m praying for the work of your foundation and those working with you through your foundation. For people, like Adam Hubbs, who’ve already been impacted by your platform (and entered in at least one stranger’s prayer journal because of it), and for those still in need, who’ve yet to come to your attention. I pray that generous donations will allow you to continue your work, and that the Tim Tebow Foundation will remain true to its mission and never lose focus. In addition to your own foundation, I am also praying for your family’s and your father’s ministries, and their continued work in the Philippines.
Also, I pray that God begin preparing your next platform, whatever that may be, so that whenever the time comes for you to leave football (hopefully a long time from now), you are eager to take that next step, confident that you are going in the right direction.
There are at least 35 other members of our Residence Life staff who will be praying for you during the upcoming season, and beyond. I’m sure there are many others, also, who have been equally impacted by your story. We will also be paying extra close attention when the Broncos come to Green Bay in October.
I thank God for you, Tim Tebow! Keep shining!
