Be Your Child's Advocate

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

Pam and her husband, Bob, served for many years as American missionaries in the Philippines. The couple had four children when Pam discovered that she was expecting again. Her fifth pregnancy was difficult from the start, with a great deal of pain and bleeding. A number of times, she was certain she had lost the baby. The couple made an appointment with a female doctor, who was supposedly the best doctor in their city to find out the options for saving Pam’s life.

“An abortion is the only way to save your life,” the doctor told Pam. “There’s only a mass of fetal tissue - a tumor.”

Pam and Bob walked out of the doctor’s office, shocked and a bit numb, but resolute in their determination to keep the baby. The Lord filled Pam with an unexpected and indescribable peace that sustained her through the pain, bleeding, and uncertainty that occurred throughout the rest of her pregnancy.

Finally, in the delivery room at the Makati Medical Center in Manila, Pam gave birth to a baby boy, followed by an enormous blood clot that was even bigger than the baby.

The attending physician told the couple, “Your child is a miracle baby. I can’t explain how it happened, but he beat all the odds. Only a small part of the placenta was attached, but it was just enough to keep your baby nourished all these months.”

Before the baby’s birth, his dad had prayed, “Father, if you want another preacher in this world, you give him to me.” Bob had decided that he liked the name Timothy, and he hoped that the baby would be a boy. He told God, “you give me Timmy, and I will raise him to be a preacher.”

Little Timmy grew up to become Tim Tebow, a record-setting football player for the University of Floriada who went on to play in the NFL and became the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy. Tim openly shared his Christian testimony, and he gained additional media attention by wearing eye black that read “Phil. 4:13” and “John 3:16.” As a result of his success, Tim Tebow has earned the opportunity to share the Christian message with thousands of people. God answered his dad’s prayer: Timmy became a “preacher” after all.

*story provided by Marla Alupoaicci in her book, Prayer Warrior Mom*

What a beautiful story! Tim’s parents are an inspiration of what it means to "stand in the gap” for your children. Your prayers matter. Be the advocate for your children or unsaved family members.