"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:12
Let me start by praising my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How blessed I feel at this very moment for His love, grace, and divine assistance in my life. Today was a wonderful day! Today my sister, Alyssa, my best friend, Jasmine, and I were able to meet Tim Tebow in person. Tim is such a great role-model and follower of Christ. We adore him for being the wonderful and beautiful person he is inside and out. Thank you Jesus for letting us meet him today!!!
However, the day did not show (in the beginning) many hopeful signs of us meeting him. Tim was scheduled to assist and mentor members of the D1 Sports Center with their training and workouts. After spending two hours in the hot Florida sun we spoke to a mother of two children who had heard more about what was going on with Tim Tebow. We could not get into the sports center because it was for a private event only -- meaning only members could go in and see him. The event was suppose to have ended by this time, but the mother said she saw Tim inside the building. So, obviously, he was still there. We waited again for a very long time. People were coming in and out of the building, so we quickly asked some of them about Tim Tebow. Sadly, we got very poor answers, like, "No, he's gone" or "You're wasting your time" or "He's actually still inside working out -- but he will be here all day -- so you better leave cause you're not going to see him" or "If he comes out they are going to sneak him out through a secret door, so you won't see him." Just about everyone said something to try and bring our hopes down, except for the sweet mother with her two kids.
Eventually it was lunch time and we needed to get some food. We knew Tim hadn't left the building and seemed like he was going to be in there for quiet some time working out. At this point we asked the kind mother to keep us posted with what was going on as we headed over to the McDonald's next door. (How ironic to put a McDonald's next to a gym, right? lol.) While we were eating the mother came over to us in the restaurant and told us she had to leave, but she overheard people saying Tim was going to be working out until 4:30 and then he was going to come out. At this moment it was about 2:15 in the afternoon. So, we decided to go shopping in the nearby area to kill some time until then. I mean, if Tim Tebow was seriously going be leaving in a few hours, why not wait a little longer to see if we could really meet him on his way out? Right? We've been waiting all day, why not wait a little more?
That is the key -- patience. With all things that happen in God's time we need to be able to wait for them with patience. With this mindset, we left the McDonald's and shopped around. Thinking about how wonderful it would be to meet Tim we decided to go into a LifeWay Christian bookstore to find a small gift for him. We searched for a while and I finally found a little stone cross with a bible verse engraving -- Matthew 17:20. I felt this was perfect! I loved the verse... so I got the gift, not knowing if I was really going to be able to give it to him or not.
After, we headed back over to the sports center. Now there was nobody there. It was dead. A few cars were in the lot, but there was no sign of Tim or anyone. So I took the initiative to peak through the windows. All the doors were locked, but we saw some men coming out and we asked them if they knew if Tim was still there. They hesitated to answer us and then one man said, "Umm, I don't know if he's still here. But if he is, he won't be coming out for a while."
Obviously all the doors were locked since he was still there. So I felt hopeful even with the disappointing answer. I told my sister and my friend I was praying a 54-day-rosary-novena, during Lent, for a very beloved friend of mine. I wanted to pray this novena, now, in front of the sports center, to ask Mary to intercede for us to help us meet Tim Tebow if he was still there. Of course, the novena's main intention was still for my beloved friend -- who is in desperate need of prayers -- but I also united to my prayers that of meeting Tim.
Once we concluded our rosary we immediately saw a bunch of men pile into a black van. As they turned to leave one of the men rolled down his window and looked at us while pointing to a white van that was just about to pull out of the lot. We thought, "Is that Tim's car? Did he really just point us to Tim Tebow?" Sure enough, as we came closer we saw people coming out from nowhere gathering around his car. I felt as if I was about to faint. Not only did we just finish praying for this, but it was answered so quickly I could hardly believe it. It was exactly 4:30 when we went up to see him. I realized if the sweet mother didn't come back to us in the McDonald's to let us know he was staying until 4:30, we would have probably left.
After waiting the longest time, and being one of the last people to see him, we not only got to talk to him -- but we even hugged him and gave him our little cross gift. This was such a special moment. In the end, it was worth waiting 5 hours for 5 minutes with Tim Tebow. We thanked him for being the wonderful person he is and we told him how we are keeping him in our prayers -- always. He was very happy and had such a compassionate smile. I knew he must have been very tired from working out all day, so he didn't say much, except "thank you." However, I'm so very grateful we had this opportunity and waited patiently for God's time and God's Will. Maybe if we saw him earlier we wouldn't have had the opportunity to find a gift for him. You see, God works in ways we cannot possible think of. I felt so happy to give him that little cross! It was special, because everyone else just wanted autographs -- wanting something from him -- but I didn't necessarily want that. I wanted to express my faith, my love, my hope, and my prayer for this beautiful man of God with a simple and sweet gift from the heart. Although he may never remember us, or our names, or the gift -- it was a blessed moment for us for those 5 minutes we got to share with him. 5 minutes we will never forget. So don't doubt God when His answers don't come when you want them to. Wait for His answers to come when He wants them too. Trust and have faith without hesitation -- for nothing will be impossible for you with God.
