Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow's mother was urged to have an abortion

She became sick while a missionary in the Phillipines

Tebow's family ties - News - GainesvilleSun.com

We taught our children from a young age that in everything, you give thanks to the Lord," she said. "There's something supernatural that takes place when you trade your anxieties for God's peace."

Pam says most of Tim's life lessons began at home, on the family's 44-acre farm on the outskirts of Jacksonville, where all of the Tebow children were home-schooled.

She credits her husband with using the farm to teach the five children a strong work ethic � something that she says has allowed Tim to excel on and off the football field.

"They would mend fences, take care of the vegetable garden and the cattle," she said. "There were things that were required of them. Part of my husband's strategy was to build strong men, not just build fences."

For Pam, though, Tim's story begins years before life on the farm in Jacksonville.

In 1985, she and her husband moved to the Philippines, where they served as Christian missionaries.

Hoping to expand their family, they prayed for "Timmy" by name.

Just before she became pregnant, Pam fell into a coma after contracting amoebic dysentery, a bacteria transmitted through contaminated drinking water.

Her treatment required a series of strong medications. As a result of those medications, doctors told Pam the fetus had been irreversibly damaged, and they strongly advised her to have an abortion.

She refused because of her faith, she said.

Pam spent the last two months of her pregnancy on bed rest, and on her due date  Aug. 14, 1987. she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who she described as "skinny, but rather long."