The Thing About Tim Tebow

A lot has been said about Tim Tebow. They say he's overrated, they say he's a mediocre football player, they say that he's a religious grand stander. I guess that people can (and will) say whatever they want.

I don't care much about football (except for the Florida Gators), I think that a lot of athletes have lost the joy of what they are doing a long time ago and are now only in it for the love of money. They use their spare time to advertise deodorant, shoes, cereals, candy bars, car insurance, etc. and that has become more of their real job than the 60 minutes that they spend on the field each week.

Tim Tebow was a good quarterback at UF. He went out and did what needed to be done on the field and, although the media started to fall in love with him, he never really let it go to his head. He spoke of God and Jesus, he used his breaks from school to go on missions trips, and he always talked about the team effort.

When Tebow went to the NFL, I was certain that he would become lost in the sea of professional athletes much like Rex Grossman, DeShawn Wynn, and Tavares Washington (former well-known UF alumni that also went into the NFL). After all, the NFL is filled with incredibly talented athletes. Why would I have expected to see Tim Tebow back on a national stage? Add to that that he was drafted by the Denver Broncos, a team that had been under my radar for years. I was so surprised by the fact that he was drafted into the Broncos that I asked the Hubs, "Denver still has a football team?"

Needless to say, I thought that the next time that I would hear from Tim Tebow would be 5 or 6 years from now as a commentator for ESPN or on a commercial selling used cars from his very impressive showroom in downtown Gainesville (don't laugh, it does happen).

It was surprising to hear that he had become a starting quarterback. To hear of "miraculous" upsets in his following games was nothing new to those of who had followed his college career, Tim Tebow knows exactly how to manipulate the football field. And when he's on? That boy can seriously play some football.

But everybody has bad days. Sometimes, those days even fall on Sundays. And Tebow has taken the knocks, he has taken the blows to his character, his ability, and his reputation. The one thing that he will not rest silently on is the near-constant insults to his beliefs. And that is the thing about Tebow.

When I discovered "Tebowing" a few months ago, I blogged about how awesome I thought it was...

Tim Tebow is living the life that Christians are called to live. He is not embarassed of his relationship with God, he does not hide his love of Jesus, he is living - unashamed - in the spotlight of international fame as follower of Christ. He is not uncomfortable in that spotlight (and I can't say that I wouldn't be, if I were in his shoes).

This morning, I was amazed to see my Yahoo page:

The Number 2 Trending Now Topic? John 3:16

When is the last time that a Bible verse was a trending topic on any search engine? I am pretty sure that that has never happened.

The real thing about Tim Tebow is that he has opened a national dialogue about religion and having a relationship with Christ. To some, he has made being a Christian cool, to others he has proven to be a fine example of an authentic believer. When Jake Plummer, the former Broncos quarterback stated that he wished that Tebow would curb his references to Jesus Christ and his faith, Tim replied:

"If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity?

"And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ is that it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And so I look at it as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him the honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity. And then right after I give him the honor and glory, I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory.

"And that's how it works because Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates. I respect Jake's opinion, and I really appreciate his compliment of calling me a winner. But I feel like anytime I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise, he is due for it."

I love that this guy, with offers to endorse anything in the world is, instead, using this platform to endorse who and what he believes in. I love that he has so much conviction in his beliefs that he is willing to face daily persecution from fellow players, the media, and naysayers. I love that there is so much "controversy" revolving around his beliefs that it is causing him to be the headliner on every news story since Christmas. I love that in the face of everything our American culture is between the Kardashians and the Lohans, that this one young man is able to stand up and proudly proclaim our Lord and Savior. 

My only wish is that we could all feel the call of God on our lives so wholeheartedly, that we should all be able to live and proclaim our beliefs as eloquently and unashamed as he does. After all, it is what we have been called to do:

"No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." - Matthew 5:15-16

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

Back in July, I bought a 38 cent fish from the Wal-Mart. I figured it would be a few days worth of fun and entertainment for just a few dollars.

At first, Goldy  (We do not know Goldy's sex. Everyone that knows him calls him a he, except for Z who swears it is a girl) lived in Z's room on the table next to her bed. There were two rules, 1) we don't pet fish and 2) the fish never comes out of the bowl. If, only, in the mind of a 3 year old, it could be so simple.

There was the unfortunate instance of the Clorox Clean-Up. Goldy survived that and was then moved to the kitchen so that I could monitor the goings on of the fish. Z has a stool in the kitchen so that she can be my "helper" and she would stand for hours 20 minute intervals and marvel at how big and strong her fish had gotten.

Over the summer, he had a small ant infestation and in the course of spraying the counter, I am afraid that Goldy may have gotten some residual contact with the bug spray. After a thorough cleaning of his fishy bowl, he was again replaced to the kitchen counter to continue in his swirls about his tiny world.

Later, we received Oliver. Oliver is a cat that apparently likes to drink fish and rock soup with a side of plastic plant. Every day, several times a day we were chasing Oliver away from his entree new friend and redirecting his interests with toys.

After a week, I had had it, my hands smelled of catnip, the flipping cat knew all of our diversions and no one wanted to play this cat and mouse fish game anymore.

That is how Goldy has become the bathroom fish. He started on the back of the tank, but I decided that that was too cruel. Now he lives on the counter. And the only contact that he makes with people is when they are half naked. Or feeding him (do not be fooled. That is me, only me. I am the only apparent source of food for any single living soul in our household. Not sure how that works, but it is my job.)

They say goldfish only have a memory of about 3 seconds. Could someone explain why, every time I sit down and look over at Goldy, he looks like he is cussing me out? It's starting to really make me feel paranoid.

Silly Crazy Christian Girl

I do not like ambivalence. It's one of my least favorite words. I am either very, very passionate about something or extremely icy cold.

The Hubs mostly just toes the line. He is not very passionate about most things and just goes through life trying to just get along. It drives me batty, for lack of a better word. If he could just find that one thing that he truly loved...

In the Bible, Jesus talks about ambivalence. He talks about being either hot or cold, but about never being lukewarm because that will get you spit out of his mouth. I like how extreme this passage is, you are either good or bad but being both is something He can't even digest! If you want to read the actual words from the Man himself, you can click here.

At any rate, our church does a fast at the beginning of every new year to refocus our hearts, our attentions on God. Last year, I was preparing for my very first fast. Now, our church is not one to dictate to you what type of fast that you should engage in. It could be something small, like no electronics after 5 PM or a full out fast.

This was my chance! I was gonna show God just how much I burned for Him. I was gonna fast and pray SO HARD that there was no way that He would not know that I am His all-time favorite fan! And with that excited and dedicated heart, I stopped eating food.

For 21 days, I only allowed myself water and 100% fruit juice (it was supposed to be 28 but I almost passed out which caused my friends to freak out and force feed me potato chips until I quit sweating and started acting normal again). When I was supposed to eat, or would think about eating, or smell food, I would immediately sit down and start reading chapters out of the New Testament. "Did you hear that, God, I just read the Lord's prayer?", "Did you see that, God, I just finished Luke, you know you wanna bless me now, God, right? Right?" 

I was a praying and reading fool, but when my body failed me a week shy of my intended date?

I went right back to the way I always live. Putting off reading the Bible, shoving prayers off for another day, not being a disciple to others, not teaching anyone anything about the true grace and love of God. I just went back to being me.

Next week, we embark on yet another fast. A fast that is intended to draw us closer to God, a fast that will reset our prayer and reading time goals. This year is gonna be different...


I am looking forward to abandoning Facebook for awhile. It will be good for me. (Did you really think that I was gonna do the food fast again?)