And we're excited
because we're kicking off a brand new
collection of messages that we're calling
"Lucky in Love." This is going to go until
St. Patrick's Day week. And what we're going
to be talking about is based in Genesis
chapter 24 through 26. And so starting next
week, we're going to be looking through
those passages of scripture at the love story. In our opinion,
one of the greatest love stories in scripture. And that is the love story of
Isaac and Rebecca, his wife. It's a special, beautiful story. So if you want to read up, you
could, for the next five weeks, be reading through
in your devotions Genesis 24 through 26. Of course, we're
going to be honing in on romantic
relationships, and marriage, and dating, and being engaged. And yes, we're going to
talk about sex because A, it's awesome and
B, it's important. And God has a lot
to say about it. But we're also going to be
talking about principles that are going to be helpful
for every sort of relationship. I know that there's conflict
in most relationships that we have. And so being able to navigate
and learn what it looks like to be a Christian
in a relationship. And to love people,
and to prefer people, and to honor people. And I think what Levi said
about reading beforehand is really a great idea. Because you'll have it in your
heart as we enter into it. And even God will speak to
you something different. And we'll highlight
something different. And so I would really
encourage you to do that. And to start off, before
we can get to Isaac we have to first talk
about Abraham. And Abraham was this father
of faith, this person that looms large in the Bible. But he was really
old when God gave him the promise of having a baby. He was 75, and his wife
wasn't much younger. And it wouldn't be 25
years, until Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90, that
they finally had this baby. The reason I bring that
up is because as we begin this new collection of messages,
it's heavy on our heart for some of you, the idea
of ever finding someone feels just as impossible as
a 100-year-old having a baby. And for others of you, the
marriage that you're currently in, for it to ever thrive and
flourish and be the thing that God wants it to
be in your life-- which is a source of blessing
and vitality and a weapon of evangelism in God's hand-- that might feel
equally impossible. And we want to extend hope to
you and encouragement to you. And so to enlist some
friends in that endeavor has been our goal here. And so we are so
excited to welcome to Fresh Life for the
second time, Tim Tebow, and for the first time
his wife, Demi Tebow. Welcome to Fresh Life Church. Thank you so much. We are so excited, Fresh Life. We just want you guys to
know we love your church, we love your pastor. Jennie we love you,
you guys are amazing. It's an honor for us to be here,
especially on Valentine's Day. Come on now. We're excited about it. We're excited to be with you. And your beautiful family. Yes. I just adore all your kids. They're just so sweet and
they just bring so much light and love into every room. And just what a beautiful
campus this is, too. It's awesome. Thank you for
having us, for real. We're so grateful. You guys have
become good friends and we've come together
quite a few times for meals and talking. And we text and
Facetime all the time. You guys inspire us,
encourage us greatly, and we love being around you. So we thought this would just
be a great way to kick off. Because I love the idea of a
conversation and the chance to share a story. So you guys just recently hit
a pretty important benchmark, and that is one
year of marriage. So you know-- [APPLAUSE] You know, we've pretty
much seen it all now, so we're sort of
experts in the game. Love is all about doing it. You're a year in. So we want you to tell
us all the secrets and tell us the whole thing. First of all, I
just want to say, probably after a
week one or two, you might have some
girls out there that are like trying to
give water to some camels out there after they read
their story, you know. It's true. That's Bible joke for 500. You must be home schooled. All right so-- Home school jokes to start. Shots fired early on
in the conversation. Well let's talk about this. Looking back on your first
year of marriage, obviously a good portion of that being
pandemic and quarantine and craziness. What are some of the high,
crazy, beautiful moments and memories just when you think
back on that year of marriage? Well a lot of
people they're like, hey what's it like
being married in Covid? I'm like, I don't know
what it's like being married not in Covid. So, we got that going for us. Yes, exactly. I mean, spring
training got shut down and I was home and Tim
surprised me coming home. And I was obviously just
caught so off-guard. I didn't even let her know. He didn't let me know. He just packed
everything and came home. And obviously I was so happy. She hits you with a baseball
bat coming around the corner. Thankfully not. And it was just so
special, just thinking at the time we'd have four,
maybe five, days together. You know next week we'll
go back and do everything will be normal again. And then maybe in two weeks
time, or next month, and then it ends up being a whole year. And we all know how
that story goes. But it's just been so
special as newlyweds to really have so much
meaningful time together. I mean, we didn't have an
option not to have a lot of time together. And we didn't really have a
lot of time together in dating, especially when we were engaged. So there were still-- Because she's in New York, and
you're all over the country. Yes. And then when she goes
home, she's in South Africa, you know. So that's an easy drive. Times zones. It's about similar to
getting to Montana. It's actually accurate. Once you get off the dog
sled, you get onto the plane, and it's very nice. Now yeah, that's a good point. A lot of your relationship
and courting and all that was long distance. So maybe a little bit just for
those who maybe haven't heard, the story of how you met. And maybe perhaps Demi,
as well, some things that you learned, good and hard,
about being in a long distance relationship. I'm sure many people
listening can relate and any advice you
would have, perhaps for those who are in a
long distance relationship. I think to start off, Levi,
being from South Africa, I never watch
football or baseball. We play rugby and
cricket there, OK. So, we're pretty big
in rugby and cricket. So I never watch
baseball, football. And-- And he's kind of a big deal
in both of those, so,-- I mean, I've heard. Minor league, or-- Hey! Anyways, I knew Tim as
the Night to Shine guy. And we actually just wrapped up
Night to Shine this past week. And I just want
to thank you guys for hosting three Night to
Shines, we're so grateful. Yeah, thank you so much. There's not a more
special, beautiful thing on the earth than
Night to Shine. Yeah, we'll talk more
about that in a little bit. Right, yes. But long story
short, Night to Shine is what brought
him and I together. I had a sister
with special needs and she was invited
to be a part of Night to Shine in South Africa
a couple of years ago, before she passed in 2019. But she was a little matchmaker. And it was just
so special getting to meet through something
that we both have such a deep and sincere passion for. And I think that's something
that really drew us together. And it just set a firm
foundation for us. She was like, hold on you
want my sister to go to what? A prom? What do you mean? What prom do you want my
10-year-old sister to go? You can send me all the details,
here's my email address. And then our first phone call
was two hours, 24 minutes, and six seconds. And six seconds? Not that anyone was counting. No, you know, no
one was counting. So we had never met in person. So we were going back
and forth, and then we're having these
phone conversations, and then texting. And she's like, well, I'm
about to go-- you know, she's Miss Universe. And she's like, I'm about
to go for seven weeks to seven different countries. And I'm like, you
know what, some jerk Prince is
going to sweep her off her feet on one of these
countries that she's going to. I can't pronounce half of them. And I'm like, you know what,
I got to ask her on a date. We got to find a way to meet. And so she was traveling sort
of near where I was playing, and I was like, if I finish
the game early on this night, I have a couple of friends
so it's not just one on one. With multiple people there, if
it makes you feel comfortable. Because I was trying to take
away every variable of why she would say no, you know. And I said, they'll pick you up. As friends we'll
be able to meet, it'll be super appropriate. And so, she said yes. And we met, and it was over. It was. On our first date-- group date-- he told
me he thought he just had his last first date. True story. That's a good line. Any gentleman looking for a good
line, I would just Google that. Or type that into your chat
or something like that. Just file that away. I think I just had
my last first date. Yes. Drops mic. But it was so true. That was for both of
you, you both felt that-- Oh yes. --at the same time. Oh yeah. 100%. And honestly, we
probably would have gotten engaged way sooner but-- How long did you wait? Well, eight, nine months. Yeah, but part of
that was because I had to wait until
baseball was done and find a way to get to South
Africa to ask her parents. Something that was really
important to both of us was-- your family is pretty
spread out all over, your sister is between India,
and my parents are back in South Africa--
and we just felt that was really
important for us to meet all of each other's family and
get to know them and spend time with them. It was really important
for me to honor her parents by getting to know them
and asking for their hand. Not just on Zoom, or
Facetime, or on a call. But in person. And I didn't make it easy on him
because I come from two homes. My parents were divorced
when I was really young. So he had to ask-- So I had to ask four people. -- two moms and and two dads. On opposite ends of the country. It's like Groundhog's
Day, just again and again. And every time I'm
coming with a new lie. Like, at the end
I was like, oh me and your dad are
going to go get ice. For an hour. You know. You got to find ways
to get away, you know. Or like a little farmers market,
maybe go buy 10 pancakes. I'm like, you didn't
even eat pancakes, Tim. That's hilarious. When I asked Jennie's dad
for permission to marry her we were at Disneyland and I
finally worked up the courage. Jennie had a migraine so
went back to the hotel. And we were in line for a ride. And I would get the
nerve to ask him but then the line
would move and I'd go, and he wouldn't be there. And he would be-- like he had moved to
the next stanchion. It happened like three times. But then isn't it a little weird
if people in front and back are listening? Everything's weird about
asking, but it's important. I honestly was super
excited about it. I really was. I was super pumped because
I just loved her so much and I was so
confident, so certain. But I truly looked
forward to it because-- I knew her parents pretty
well, but not super well, because we didn't get
to spend a lot of time being in South Africa. But I was so excited. I knew I was going
to love them more because they helped raise this. And I just was excited
about trying to honor them, even with the way that I
presented my words to them and why I wanted to,
and how excited I was. And I was just hoping
I could get that out clearly so that they
could see just how much I cared about her. You know what's so
beautiful about that, it's such a good example, both
of you, of asking our parents. Because I think that is a
tradition that's kind of slowly being lost. But that's something
that is so important. And like you said, it's
such an honor thing, being able to speak to her
parents and, first of all, thank them for raising who
you want to ask to marry. But I think that that's such
an example for young men in our church to know this. That this is actually a
really a special thing to do and important. But I don't think that
starts at the first time you talk to parents. I think it starts
before you ever meet your wife or your husband,
of trying to honor them. Honor them with your life,
honor them with your background. And nobody's perfect. We all mess up so many times. And so it's not that
you've got to be perfect. But it is saying, you know
what, I'm going to try. Before I met her,
I wanted to try to be ready for whoever
that was going to be that I was going to marry. I wanted to try to learn, to be
ready, to be prepared, to be-- obviously none of us are
total faithful, but-- faithful in the ways of, you
know what, I didn't want to do certain
things and I didn't want to look at certain things. And just so I could be able to
give so much of that to her. And being prepared
and honoring her wasn't just in the first time
I met her, the first time I asked her to go on a date,
or even when I proposed. It was long before I met her. But when I dreamed of her and
didn't know her name, but still really wanted to honor
her before we ever went on that date, or talked for
two hours, 24 minutes and six seconds. And six seconds. Now, Demi, what were you
attracted to about Tim? I mean obviously he's
not ugly, whatever. But, Marcia, Marcia,
Marcia, all right. But, deeper than just
the stunning good looks, what did you like about him? What attracted you about him? You know, Levi, I think it
goes back to exactly what we were just saying. It's just the fact
that Tim has lived his life in a way of honoring me
as his future wife at the time. And just knowing how much
he cared and how much effort and dedication
and diligence and detail he put into everything. And moving on from just
dating to getting engaged-- we have a pretty sweet
engagement story, you want to share that? Well I just think
in relationships-- Please do, so everybody can
feel like their engagement was awful. Please go ahead. The reason I'm saying
this is just how there's just consistency. Where it's not just from taking
her on a great first date, and making her feel special,
and doing extravagant things, buying gifts. It's about that consistency. And I think that really speaks
thousands of words, you know. And I think intentionality
is really important, right? I think one, making
your intentions known. And then two, it is
finding ways to honor, to love, to show that,
to care for that person, to be able to be generous with
your life, with your talents, with being stewardship
of that relationship. And it was also, I
wanted to give her a proposal that she would be
proud of every time she was asked for the rest of her life. And it was something
I wanted to give her. But it was also
something I, probably in a little bit of arrogance,
that I wanted to have for me, too, if we're
being totally honest. But how many times is
a girl asked about it. And there's been so
many times of, even friends and people around
me, that they're just like, oh I just love her so
much I wanted to ask her. But I'm like, is that
the story that you wanted to tell her family and
for the rest of your life? This is something that I wanted
to think about when she's telling her daughter someday. And then her daughter is
telling her daughter someday, that they're going
to be proud of. And I wanted to be
that intentional. And so for us, being
intentional means you're putting a lot
of lies into this true. I have everybody in on it. We lied a lot. A lot. Oh a lot. I had no idea. First of all-- He got all your family
from South Africa, right? He did, yeah. Well this actually started,
working in college football to do the National
championship on January 7th and she came with me. And I'm literally on
the sidelines doing TV and we're finishing, and
I'm like, where are you at? They scooted me off the
sidelines, you know. Yeah, right. And I'm like, where are you at? And all of a sudden she's like,
well, I'm in one of the boxes up here. And I'm like, what
box are you in? "I'm with the
president of Clemon." And it's Clemson playing
Alabama National Championship. And I finally went
my way up there, and she knows nothing
about football, but they already have
her with orange pom-poms and Clemson paws. I'm like, this is like-- I'm one of them now. Oh wow. No I just meant, in the box. You got to be a Gator. Go Gators! And so anyways,
they're awesome people. And Clemson hosted Night
to Shine on their campus. The Clems are amazing people. They can be forgiven
for all their sins. So we have to take
the next flight out, which was the last flight
out, to get back to Florida. That day we had our
Christmas, which was postponed because I
was in South Africa asking her parents for their hand. So we didn't have Christmas. So we had our family Christmas
and it's the first time she got to be part of it. And so we're all doing
the kids' gifts first, and that was on
the eighth, right? Yes, the eighth. And then the
morning of the ninth we had our adults' Christmas,
and we're giving presents away. And so one of the last
presents I give her is a ring. Like a little white
box, it looks like. I'm like Timmy,
I'm in my pajamas. I'm in matching pajamas with
your whole family right now. You're not going to
propose to me right now. And I'm like, I knew I
didn't want to open this box. And it wasn't an
engagement ring. But it was part of the plan. Throw her off. Thinking, dang, if
I just got a ring, there's no chance I'm
getting the ring, you know. Misdirection. Yes, misdirection. And I knew that she was just-- she's so smart and clever
and figures things out. And so I was like, I got
to pull all these stunts. And so our whole
family lied to her and said that every Christmas
we have a big Christmas dinner at my parents' house
where we all dress up. That doesn't happen, we're
usually wearing pajamas. I'm strssed out. I mean, I want to be
respectful towards his parents. Like an evening gown? No, no, but I was definitely
ordering some stuff online, like speed shipping,
trying to get things. His sisters are hyping it up. So I'm like, OK, everybody
is going to go over there. So they leave, and then I have
this brand new truck pulled up from one of our friends
who has a dealership. Big, green bow on it. Yes. And I was like,
actually babe I'm going to bring this
over to dad's and I'm going to give this truck to dad,
it's going to be a surprise. You know, in her head, I did
that-- it was also a lie, wasn't giving it to dad-- I 100% knew-- I just wanted her to
think tonight's about dad. And that way she wouldn't think
it's about her too, you know. I knew him well enough to know
that if he was going to propose he was not going to make it
about Christmas, his dad, and propose. And so that was really smart. So we get in the truck
and we're driving over. And I have my phone
plugged in the thing, it just happens to pull up our
favorite song by Matthew Mole. It's called The Wedding
Song, awesome great song. And so we're driving
there and we pull up. And the family's there
but they're all hidden. And she doesn't
know everybody else that's hidden in the house. I was like, before
we go in the house, let's walk out to the lake. Because the lake's a place
where, it's meant a lot to me. I have so many memories. I prayed there of where I
was going to go to college, I buried my dog there, just
buried my last dog there. And I always sit out there and
pray and think and talk to God. And so we had been out
there a few times before and I was like, let's
just walk out here, I want to show you
what I did for dad. And there's this-- And I'm like, no,
no, your dad's going to going to see the truck. And I was like, no, no, he's
not going to walk outside. And so we walk out there-- Like, he'll see
through the window. By the time we got halfway, I
wanted her to kind of think, well it could be different. So there's like
petals leading out to this arch, which is
built like a photo frame. She was like, are those petals
for your dad, you weirdo? I was kind of taking my little
jacket off, trying to fix-- Just pretending. And so we get out
there by the lake and I have this nice bench
that was like old wood that's really cool. And we get there and I
share some things with her and I flip it over and it has
some important dates of when we met, of that day, and forever. And then I tell her how
much she means to me, and just share my heart
with her, and get on my knee and ask her to marry me. And she says yes. And so then I was like, you know
this would be the perfect time to actually play
The Wedding Song. The song that just
played in the car. Yeah so I hit play,
and so we're dancing. And I face her a certain
way where her back is to this certain hay
bail that's right there. Well, Matthew starts walking
out from the hay bail singing. Oh my gosh. I'm like wait, where is
that song coming from? This isn't in your phone. And he's just standing
there serenading us. So she's like, what. And so we're celebrating. And then I turn her--
we're dancing to it, but I turn the other way. And then all four of
her parents come out. And I was like, I wish
your parents could be here. And she's like, I know. Then I turn around and
her parents are there. I thought, we're just
going to Facetime them. Ugly cry. Ugly cry. Ugly cry. And I did the same thing
with her friends, and then my family and everybody. And what she didn't know, just
so our family could experience it, is we had hidden
mics in everything and the whole thing
was being filmed. Because it was just
something we both wanted, was to be able to
relive that experience. And so it was just an incredible
afternoon and evening, and then we had
a party together. And I just wanted to honor her. Honor her family,
honor her parents, to make her feel like
a princess in every way and be happy and
proud of the story. And so much detail, and
trying to put as much of that into it as we can. Because I feel like
when you love someone, going out of your way
and being intentional-- and even when it means
it's a little bit harder, a little bit more difficult-- that also shows them,
in very clear way, just how much she means to you
or how much he means to you. And I think that's very evident
in the person that showed it best, of Jesus, going
so far out of His way to show what we mean to Him. And I really believe that we are
called to do that to the world, but also to our life partner. All right, we have to
acknowledge, great proposal. [APPLAUSE] Hey, Jennie and Levi
Lusko here, and we want to talk to you
about internships. Have we got an
internship for you. A Fresh Life internship,
and the application window has just opened and will
remain open until March 31st. So now's the time. Would you like to spend
your summer at Fresh Life Church exploring Montana,
serving God, making friends, maybe meeting someone you will
fall in love with and marry, like we did? Either way, we'd love
to have you join us. Go to
Freshlife.church/internship. That's
Freshlife.church/internship and sign up, apply. Do it. We'd love to see it. And now we're going to
jump back into the message. I have to say, that's
part of the story. There's still so much detail
that you haven't shared, so forever grateful for that. And just how much-- How about a little bit
about the long distance dating, any of the good,
bad and crazy of that. Oh yeah. I mean-- It's super hard. It's hard, and then
you playing baseball-- I would say dating was
easier than engaged. And then when it was engaged,
it was the added stress of not being around each other
and then figuring out family. Are we going to have it
in Florida, South Africa, where is it going to happen? Who's going to do all the
everything, planning it. And we're doing a lot of
things as that happens. Were there things
that helped you stay synchronized spiritually
any other way during that time? Yeah, I think the dating
engagement part was just really hard just because we
did not have a lot of time to be together. I mean, you would play baseball
and I would come from New York to try and meet you
or watch a game. And you might be able to
catch a breakfast or a dinner or something, and then
they're off to the next city or whatever to go play. And so that just
made it really hard to have good quality
time together, which I think is so
important when you try and get to know each other. But that led us to
have a lot of FaceTime, that you FaceTime on the phone. And that led us to have
really good conversations. And something that was
actually Tim's idea was to get a devotional. And I went out and I bought
two of the same devotionals, or books or whatever, and we
each had one and we would-- Do it together. --set a time. Know, OK, your baseball
game ends this time, tonight at 10:30, whatever. We're going to do at
devotional together. And we kept by that until we
finished one after the other. And I think what
that did, more so than just going
through a good book or devotional, it brought up
good topics of conversation. Great conversation, really
just to get to know each other. And I think, honestly what was
special in our relationship, is so many people, even early,
friends and family would say-- you know when they're
trying to give counsel or whatever-- are you sure
you have a lot in common? And on the surface we don't
really have a lot in common. But I do feel like we
have a lot in purpose. And it was really different. We have a lot in calling,
we have a lot of purpose, we have a lot of meaning, we
have a lot of significance, we have a lot of goals,
we have a lot of passion. But we don't have
a lot in common. She loves pageants,
I love football. I love baseball. You know I've never
really watched a pageant, except maybe the
last second when you're like, what's Steve Harvey going to do? [LAUGHTER] And that was the extent. And she had literally never seen
a football or a baseball game, had no idea. And she didn't
really know anything. She truly, for like the
first three or four months, she was like, oh that's
the Night to Shine guy. She knew me as the
Night to Shine guy. I did, I really did. I mean she really did. But it was awesome because I
didn't want to go to the house and get on a FaceTime
and be like, hey, guess what I went one
for three with a walk. I didn't want to talk about
the baseball game, or football. The stuff in common
is fine and it's good, but to me, it's
just not lasting. It's not necessarily
purpose-filled. It's not why I'm here. It's not why I was created. It's not why she's here. It's not why she's created. So in our first conversation,
we didn't really talk about what I
do, what she does. We more talk about
who I am, who are you. What has really formed
you, what has formed me. And more of the passion,
the purpose, the calling. And I was like, man,
that was so much more of an awesome conversation
than it would have ever been if we went to the same
university or something. And we have so much in common,
we both like the Cowboys. Like, that's not going to
get you through a trial. It's not. I just think, and I know
I hear a lot of people-- And if you're a Cowboys
fan, life's full of trials. I don't think it's wrong
to have stuff in common, I really don't. I think it can make certain
things easier, right? But a great relationship
is not based on what you have in common. I believe a great
relationship is based on what you have in purpose. And I just think they're
totally different, right? Sure, it might
make a date easier if we have more
things in common. I like this restaurant,
you like this restaurant. I want to watch this,
you want to watch this. It might make the little
things in life easier. But the hard things in life
are made drastically easier when you have the same
purpose, calling, and meaning. [APPLAUSE] And to me, those were just
so evident from the start. And I really felt like
that's one of the reasons I fell in love with her so fast. And to me I think it's easy
to teach those little things, right? It's easy to learn how to like
football or to know football. But it's harder to teach
someone passion and meaning and purpose. And calling, really, right? It wasn't even like
it was something that we tried to talk about. I think that was really cool. God broke my heart for
people with special needs when I was 15. And I met a boy in the
jungles of the Philippines who was born with
his feet on backwards and his village looked at
him as curse, less than, insignificant, and
he was a throwaway. And God broke my heart
and changed it to say, you know what, no one's
a throwaway in my eyes. And so he put on my heart
to fight for as many people that we call throwaways, or we
look past or beyond or above. And so that changed
my life drastically. Where her life was
changed drastically when she had a sister that
was born with special needs. And so, you know what, that
was something that drastically brought us together. And then I was blessed with
a little bit of platform, and she was blessed
with a great platform. And so in that we were
all like, this is cool, but how can we find a way-- Winning a championship or
Heisman is really cool. But if that's all
we do, we never change someone's life, right? Winning Miss Universe and Miss
South Africa is really cool, but if that's all you
did, you didn't really change someone's life. But if you take the
platform, and if you use it for something more,
for something greater, for something better
to transcend it, now you're able to change
someone's life, right? A trophy or a crown didn't
change anyone's life. But the platform,
and using it for God, and being able to share His
story through that, that has the power to change life. I think that's what's
so beautiful about how God brought you together
around the Night to Shine. And you, every year, plan
it around Valentine's Day, about this holiday. Why did you choose
this time of year to bring around Night to Shine? Because on Valentine's
Day most of the world celebrates a self-gratifying
form of love. And as Christians, I believe
that we believe in a selfless, serving form of love. It's the agape love
that God has for us. And the best definition
that I've ever heard is to choose the best
interests of another person and act on their behalf. That's what Jesus did for us
when He came to this earth and He lived a perfect life. But He chose to die a death
that we deserved to die. He chose our best interests
and He acted on our behalf. I believe that's what we're
supposed to do for humanity. That's what we're supposed
to do for each other. That's what we're supposed
to do for the hurting. That's how we're supposed
to live our life, is to choose the best
interests of other people and act on their behalf. And so I thought,
how cool would it be if we could find a way
to rally people in a time where we're getting
so-- and I'm not saying that Valentine's Day is wrong. It's not wrong to be
able to celebrate that. What I'm saying
is, if that is one, I believe that you're going
to be missing something in life, right? But when we're able to put
Him one, and next put them, and then after
that comes us, one, we're going to be more filled
because in God's economy, we're more blessed to
give than to receive. And somehow it actually
works that way. Wait a second, when we
give, we actually get. When we share, we have. And it's crazy, but you can't
actually do that until you say, you know what God, I'm going
to trust You with this, and I'm going to give them my
time, my ability, my resources, whatever it is, I'm
going to give it to You and give it to other people. And somehow in Your
economy when trusting You, I'm going to actually have more. But really, our society
says, if you do this and take all of this, I have more. You can have it. In God's economy, I just don't. So maybe I have more at Fresh
Life, but not in God's economy. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, beautiful. Well and what I love so much-- I mean, we as Fresh Life get the
honor of being a part of Night to Shine and honestly, it's one
of the most beautiful things that we get to be a
part of in the year. And I just want to say
thank you, for both of you, and your hearts behind
what is happening across the whole entire world. 700 plus events it all
looks different a little bit this year but it's so cool. And, yeah it's powerful. Shifting gears a little
bit, love to ask you this. You know, you guys are from
different countries, obviously South Africa and then
Philippines and America, so you have a lot of
cultures coming together. What complexities
and difficulties have there been blending into
the new Tebow household now? With all those different,
this is how we do things. We drive on this
side of the road-- A lot. Who said it would be the other? Yeah, no. Other side. The other, yeah. Right side. When she gets mad at me,
she speaks in Afrikaans, I can't understand it. I do. Say something in Afrikaans,
it's such a beautiful language. Ok, I'll to teach you
how to say "good day." Ready? [SPEAKING AFRIKAANS] [SPEAKING AFRIKAANS] Don't spit at me, though. [SPEAKING AFRIKAANS] [SPEAKING AFRIKAANS] means
like, that's good, right? Yeah. It's like, that's awesome. That's cool. You can really use
it for anything. If something tastes good,
something looks good, something's pretty,
somethings cool-- Like how we use "sweet"
or "cool" or "awesome" or whatever. Yeah. So good. Yeah so good. All right. So y'all, when Levi's preaching,
y'all can just be like, oh [SPEAKING AFRIKAANS]. I like it. Put it in the chat,
[SPEAKING AFRIKAANS].. It's L-E-K-K-E-R? Yeah, it sounded like you were
saying something different-- Liquor! No, no, no. Wait until after church. Yeah, and I think coming
from different cultures and backgrounds,
there's a way that-- He's still-- I was laughing at him. He's still on the other thing. You need a moment? No, he's good. Yeah, go ahead. I think it can make a
relationship so much more colorful and fun, and just
learning from one another. And I'm still learning
different foods and sports and traditions. Honestly, places in the
US and certain places, how they're different. Going from the South, to the
Midwest, to the West Coast, to Montana. When I won Miss
Universe, I moved to New York the very
next day with only my three little suitcases. And that was the first time I'd
ever been in the United States, and I moved here
for a whole year. So, culture shock, a little bit. So, she flew into Vegas and
then went to New York, so-- Don't judge the whole country
based on those two things. What was some of the biggest
examples of culture shock? You know, because
I think sometimes we're blind to
what we grow up in. And for you coming from
South Africa, what was it that's very different
here in this country. You know, I would say growing
up in an Afrikaans culture. Because South Africa
is such a cool country. We're kind of just like a
mixing pot of the world. We have 11 official
languages which brings in 11 official cultures
and traditions and even religions. So, I feel like something
that was very beautiful to me that I learned from just
being based in Florida now, was just how openly people
speak about their faith, and how proud they
are to be Christians and to be followers of Christ. And I thought that
was really beautiful coming from South Africa. You know, and just having so
many traditions and religions, I feel like everyone's a bit
more reserved and a bit more-- not necessarily respectful--
but want to take everyone into consideration. So it's not that
easily spoken about. And that was something
that I had to work through. The first time someone asked
me what can I pray for for you, was when I moved here,
when I was 23 years old. That was the first
time someone asked me-- a random person, someone
that I had not met before. And I thought that
was just so beautiful. And that was something that
I really had to get used to and grow into and
become comfortable with. It wasn't something that I
was comfortable with at first. And just getting to
spend time with Tim and just having great
conversations about religion. It makes you more
and more comfortable just speaking about it. And I thought that
was really cool. Something was so cool
earlier last year, the Tim Tebow Foundation
have a yearly retreat. And one of the things
that you spoke on, Timmy, was how to share the gospel. And I thought that was so cool
and you did such a great job on that. Because it's not
something that everyone is always comfortable
with doing. Because one, you
might not know how, or you're just really
uncomfortable with approaching people. And you actually
have a really cool-- Well that was something
where, Covid had hit. And so, we're doing
so much on Zoom and our team's all
over the place. And some are in person
spread out in the building, and some were on Zoom. And so we're having a really
deep talk with our team. And our team, I mean,
they just love the Lord and they're
committed to serving. And we got an amazing
team at the foundation that love helping people
and serving people. But through a long conversation
somehow we brought it up, and I was like, everybody,
just raise your hand if you would feel comfortable
right now, regarding the situation, standing up
and presenting a clear gospel presentation. I mean, it's people
that love the Lord and are so ready to serve. And it wasn't necessarily
the majority of the room. And I went back and I
was kind of ashamed. Not at them, but at myself. Because I had never
brought it up. And I believe that we are told
to be prepared for the hope that we have in Jesus. And be ready to give
a reason, right? But so many times,
we always say that. Be ready to give
an account or be ready to give a
reason for the hope. But we forget the be prepared. You see being prepared is when
you get ready for a sermon. What do you do? You go read, you practice,
you prepare, you talk it out, you do something. Throw up. You just kinda-- Yeah, throw up, you know. When I would get
prepared for a game, let's say we're playing in
a national championship, I would spend hours and
days and weeks and months preparing for that moment. You pretty much prepare for your
entire life for that moment, to win that national
championship. It means so much. But that's just a game. In getting ready
to propose to her, I prepared that for months
and months and months. I got a jeweler, and I found
a ring from South Africa, and got my whole family
and friends involved. And lie after lie to
be able to set it up. And it's for a good thing,
it's for a noble thing, it's for an honorable thing. It's to honor her. That's not a bad thing. Trying to win a championship
is not a bad thing. But what we're talking
about is the moment when we get to clearly share the
good news of the gospel, which is the best message in
the history of the world. [APPLAUSE] In a moment where it could be
that time where someone makes the choice to say yes to Jesus,
and they go from darkness to light. They go from dead
to alive, they go from lost to son or daughter. It will be the greatest moment
in the history of their life. But we don't prepare. So when we had our
retreat, our retreat was on first going over what's
our job, what's God's job. Going through it, presenting. And then we took turns on our
team presenting the gospel. And then we talk about it. Because we want to be prepared. We want to be prepared when
we're sitting in a plane and someone asks you, why do
you wear that cross necklace? We want to be prepared when
you're in a taxicab and someone says something, right? We always want to be prepared,
not to tell our story, but to tell Jesus' story. [APPLAUSE] We always want to be prepared. And you know what, we can
practice and be prepared, which we're called to do. But we also have to know
that in that moment, that God is faithful and
He's going to show up. And when we share
His word, that God is going to do
something with it. We might not always
see the results. But we can have faith that
our God always shows up, and His words are not
going to return void. But you know what,
it's not going to return if we don't say it. The moral of the story is,
we get in the infrared sauna and practice. No, honestly, we get in the
infrared sauna one night, and it's like one of
our nightly routines and we love it because-- That's a cool quirky
thing, though, you guys. That's fun marriage
time together, though. And honestly, some of
these are the weirdest, but it's the best. The pool, the hot
tub, the sauna, is where we have our
best conversations. Well really what happened was we
usually pick out like a series that we watch together. And so I think we finished
the series we couldn't find any other good
one, so we're like, OK, let's practice how
to share the gospel. Actually, she brought
that up to me. And it's kind of one of those
moments I was like, yeah, of course. That was so awesome. She just was practicing
presenting it to me. And then we were
talking through it and it's like,
what are the things that if you have a short,
that you leave out, that you bring in. What-- I left Jesus in the
grave a couple of times. Oh yeah, you don't
want to do that. Don't leave Him in the grave. He rose! Got to get Him out,
got to get Him out. Man, OK. That is precious and
beautiful and powerful. Jennie and I were talking about
questions we wanted to ask you and one of the
things we thought of is, team dynamics,
people dynamics, relationship dynamics, outside
of just the romantic ones. You know, Demi, Miss Universe,
pageants around the world, then-- what I didn't know,
and you told us when we we're hanging out
on a trip once was-- that afterwards there's
a whirlwind global tour where you have to go with all
the different winners from all the different countries
and represent. And then of course, Tim, with
the different football teams you've been on,
baseball teams you've been on, lots of
relationships there. Have there been some things
you've learned about conflicts and dealing with
difficult people? Both of you, would love
to hear you speak to that. Just from, man, some people
are just harder than others to be around and talk to. And maybe some
things you've learned dealing with difficult people
in conflict in relationships. Levi, I think, having
met a lot of people and had the privilege
of traveling quite a lot and experiencing so
many different things, I've kind of
learned that you get to choose who you allow
to speak into your life. But you get to choose. And that's really cool. But the really cool
part is that you get to choose who speaks
life into your life. And I feel like since
I made that choice, a whole new world
opened up for me. And yes, some of my
friendship groups might have gotten a
little bit smaller. But the handful of friends
that I have today I know are the ones that,
to be really honest, I actually only met them
after we got married. And they probably would
have been my bridesmaids. But I know that they
are the ones that will be there through
everything, that they are sincere and truly care
about me, have my best interests at heart. And how cool is it that you get
to choose those people to be in your life? And it might just be two
or three or four people. But just make sure
that the people that you choose to allow
to speak into your life, that they speak
life into your life. I think what Demi
is really referring to is that small group of
people that you trust, right? You trust when she
sits down at coffee and she wants to
talk about whatever. We had a fight, or
how to deal with this, or I'm reading this in scripture
but I don't understand it, let's talk about it. You know those
people that you were willing to take their advice. And that's something that's
really important to us. As we just believe Proverbs
is, "he who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion
of fools will suffer harm." And, "in a multitude of
counselors, there is wisdom." And those are two Proverbs
that we just hold on to dearly. And so that's why
it's a tough decision. You know I've called you many
times, hey what do you think. Because I want to ask wise
people what they think. And we really want to do that
in that small intimate group, have wise counsel. We want to walk
with those people. But then I think
there's the other side of also us pouring out. And that looks very different. That's also something
that we really try to be focused
and intentional on. We talked about
intentionality earlier. But even in those
little moments, how could we be intentional
in the relationships? Maybe it's just shopping at a
Publix, or it's around there, it's an airport, or
it's with even friends. You might not share your most
intimate details with them but I can still share something
that could impact them. And so many times we wait
until they're super close to us until we try to invest in them. And just because they're not
close in your inner circle doesn't mean that we can't
love them and care about them and share with them. And so I think it's
really a balance of trying to balance both of those. Of not letting
social media or all these other things
speak it to us, but still using that
platform to speak in to them. And it's like, hey, one
side we're turning on, the other side
we're turning off. And I think that's
really, really important. Because if not,
then you're going to get a lot of
cluttered information, especially for all of
the young people today. Is you're getting
so many people that are trying to tell
you who you need to be, who you need to listen
to, how you need to look, all these different things. And flat out is, let's just
be honest, most of them aren't right. Because there's only one
person that's opinion you need to value, but above
all the rest, and that's God. And it's very clear
how He feels about you. It is very clear. You are fearfully
and wonderfully made. You were created in love,
by love, and for love. He has an Amazing Grace. And actually in Christ Jesus
he calls you a masterpiece and said, before you ever born
he wrote a poem about your life that is a masterpiece for
good works for you to do. That's how he feels about you. So when you look at
social media and you think, I wish I was
taller like this person, I wish I was shorter,
I wish I had more Super Bowls like this person-- Tom Brady. I wish I had-- oh no one does, it's cool. I wish I had Levi's
hair, or whatever it is. Then you're not
actually saying, one, I'm not actually mad at Levi. What I'm actually saying
is I'm mad at God. Because God, I wish You
would have made me different. But you know what,
we can trust God because God is a
perfect God that's never made a mistake ever. And He definitely didn't
make a mistake on you. So you can trust God
that I'm not a mistake. I'm fearfully and
wonderfully made. He knit me together. He loved me so much that He
chose to design me exactly the way I am. So I don't have to let in
all those other voices that say, you need to do
or be or this or that. No no no, listen. I'm going to listen to
His voice about my life. I'm going to listen to
His call on my life. Well I would love,
before we close-- first of all Jennie
and I are so grateful. Thank you for sharing
with our church. Thank you for sharing
your beautiful lives, and what an encouragement
to all of us. Thank you. Thank you for what you guys
do for this state and all around the country, all the
people that listen to you guys. And you writing your book,
I know what an encouragement it was to Demi. And it's just so cool
to see your impact, and that's why we're
grateful to be here with you. And we just know God's going
to use you to do so many more amazing, great things. Because you guys have just been
so faithful and also driven. Well that's so kind,
you guys are precious. This camera here, maybe
someone watching at home-- I just had in my
heart as you guys were talking-- someone
who's listening to this all and they're like, that's great. But maybe they just feel super
discouraged this Valentine's Day. Maybe with their love life, or
maybe they don't know Jesus. I would just love to give
you guys just a few minutes, just talk to that person who
feels either far from God or far from love, and
just encourage them. And, if you wouldn't mind,
one of you-- maybe Demi-- would love to have you pray for
us all to close this time out together. Yeah. You want to go first? Yeah, I can. Yeah, you go first. I would just say to
that person watching that's thinking I don't
know when that person is going to show up. And you know, there were
times for me that I was like, dang, God, come on I
don't want to wait. And I really didn't. But at one, I'm so glad
that I waited for her. And so grateful that
Demi's in my life. But I would
encourage that person that feels like
you're waiting on God. And yes, you might be
waiting for that person, but you're not
waiting in general. No, it's totally wrong when
we hear people talk-- and they probably said it to
you-- of you just need to wait and be patient. No, I don't believe it at all. You don't need to wait and
you don't need to be patient. You need to wait
for that person, but in life you're
not waiting at all. You're going after your
passions, you're pursuing God, you're pursuing being prepared
for what God has in store and the person
that has in store. Listen, you're not
sitting on the sidelines, you're playing the game. But eventually you're going to
have a teammate in that game. So it does change the
game a little bit, but it's not like you're
going from the sidelines onto the field. You're already playing the game. So we need to have that
mindset of, no, I'm preparing, I'm pursuing what God
has on my life, what God has called me to--
the purpose, the passion, the meaning. Like that doesn't
necessarily change when you have someone
else step onto the field. Because you've been
preparing for when that person comes
and they show up. So you are not waiting. You don't need to wait. You're playing a game. Go compete. Go be the best. Go run with endurance. Go pursue what God has for you. Go pursue what's on your heart. Don't say, oh you know
what, when I get married or I find that person,
then I'm going to go do all these things. No, because maybe
God's preparing you so that you're ready when
you meet that person, so that you can be
prepared for that moment. But don't wait. And you're not waiting. And I believe that
God has something amazing in store for you. And it's not because I'm
just trying to hype you up. It's because I believe
that scripture. I believe that's Ephesians 2:10. I believe in Christ Jesus
you're a masterpiece and there are good
works for you to do. And it doesn't mean just
when you get married, it means right now. And then you also might be
able to do really cool things together, of good works
when you're married. But you can be prepared
for that moment now, and you can do those things now. And then when you have
that other person, then it's even more
special, because you do get to share your life. But you don't get to start your
purpose when you get married. Your purpose started
when you were born. When you were fearfully
and wonderfully made. When you get married,
then you just get to share your purpose
with someone else. And yes, it's special. But you also get to experience
special and purpose and meaning before you meet that person. So true. And Timmy, I think
just to add to that, I think before we met I was
pretty content with who I was. And I was just having
the greatest time and getting to travel the
world, that was awesome. And yes, I wanted
to share all of that with someone, with
my life partner. Of course I wanted. But you know, what was so
special when I met Tim, not for one second that
he complete my life. When he came into my life
he did not complete my life. I was happy with who
I was before we met, and therefore Tim
only added and added and added so much to my life. So much meaning, so much
purpose, so much to share. And I thought that
was so special. I think in a season
of singleness we can be so discouraged
just not knowing where that person is that you
might spend your life with. But I think that's such
an important season, to create good friends, to
create good relationships. Because I also think
once you're married, it's so important you still
have those relationships because you can never put all
of your joy in just one person. And that ultimate joy comes
from Jesus and comes from God. And I think if you're
able to establish that in that season of
singleness, that is so awesome. And I think that will
only add to a marriage. I know it did to our marriage. And that's something
that I'm so grateful for, that I wasn't just sitting
waiting for my husband to complete my life,
but to add to my life. And I thought that
was really special. So that's just a little bit
of encouragement from my side. Would you close in prayer
and pray for anybody maybe feeling far from God
or needing encouragement this Valentine's Day? Dear Lord Jesus, we
just thank You so, so much just to be together. That we get to be here
with Jennie and Levi and this amazing
community, Lord. Thank You that we get
to celebrate love. Love that You created. You created us in love, by
love, and for love, Lord. And we know that the plans
that You have for us. Plans for hope and
a future, Lord. We know that You have knitted
us together in our mother's womb and that You have
created us so special. And that You have picked out
the perfect person for us. Lord, I want to pray for anyone
that feels lonely in this time. In the season of
singleness, Lord, that they will find their
joy and their confidence and their love in You
first, Lord, before they find that in any other person. And when they do, Lord,
I pray that they just be able to share
that, and contribute to each other's lives, Lord. Never trying to complete
each other's lives, Lord. Because You are the one and
only that can do that, Lord. Lord, thank You so much for just
creating us so specifically, with so much intent. We praise You and we
honor You forever, Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, you guys. God bless you, appreciate it. God bless you, thank
you for having us. Fresh Life, we love you guys. Thank you.
