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At first glance there doesn't seem to be any connection between these two famous American athletes.
Tim Tebow's fame and notoriety was a result of his brief success playing for the Broncos. The Broncos were 1-4 before he became the starter, but began winning with him on the field. What made him famous, however, was his kneeling after every win to thank the Lord.
Aaron Judge is a New York Yankee rookie who has created quite a stir leading the league in spectacular home runs. The connection between these two is that both their mothers allowed them to live.
Tebow was born in 1985 and the family moved to the Philippines where they served as Baptist missionaries and built a ministry. Prior to becoming pregnant with Tim, his mother contracted amoebic dysentery and fell into a coma. She discovered she was pregnant while recovering.
Because of the medications used to treat her, the fetus experienced a severe placental abruption. Doctors expected a stillbirth and recommended an abortion. The Tebows decided against it citing their strong faith and on August 14, 1987, she gave birth to Tim in Manila.
Not much is known at this time about Aaron Judge's birth mother but he was adopted the day after his birth by Patty and Wayne Judge, who both worked as teachers.
Aaron was told he was adopted when he was ten years old after asking his parents why he didn't look like them. He also has an older brother, John, who is also adopted. While we know very little about his birth parents, we do know that he is a Christian and frequently tweets about his faith during religious holidays like Christmas and Easter.
This is another connection with Tim Tebow who was very demonstrative about his faith while in the NFL.
While Aaron Judge has been very private about his faith, he has been drawing tons of attention with the power of his bat. He is 6'7", weighs 282 pounds and has hit record-defying home runs which have brought fans to the Yankee games even while they are on the road.
After Tim Tebow failed to be taken serious by the NFL teams, he is now trying his hand at minor league baseball and was recently promoted by the New York Mets to their high class A team in St. Lucie.
Both Aaron Judge and Tim Tebow have drawn a multitude of fans to their games. Many fans come to Tebow games in the minor leagues wearing his best selling t-shirts: while Judge fans carry signs with his name hoping the cameras will focus on them. Some wear white wigs in his honor. One young fan came with his father with a sign that said it was his first game and he came to see Judge hit a home run-Judge obliged.
One can't deny that both Tebow and Judge make watching baseball exciting again but I can't help but marvel at how their lives started out so precariously and yet here they are magnificent specimens in their prime of life.
Sooner or later, if she is till alive, Judge's mother may reenter his life although Aaron has said he considers Patty and Wayne Judge his only parents whom he loves very much.
In an interview, he said: “Some kids grow in their mom's stomach; I grew in my mom's heart. She's always showed me love and compassion ever since I was a little baby. I've never needed to think differently or wonder about anything.''
Whatever the circumstances of his birth, praise must be given to his birth mother for making the supreme sacrifice for her son. I have always been involved with crisis pregnancy foundations that help women in need of the support they don't get from their family.
Many of these clinics have been targeted by abortion advocates and their Democratic politicians beholden to their funding. One of the first things former Attorney General and disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer did during his re-election year of 2002 was to launch a witch hunt against crisis pregnancy clinics, accusing them of false advertising and deceptive business practices.
Why did he go after charitable organizations whose only purpose is to help women during an extremely difficult time in their lives?
The answer is quite simple: These clinics took away business from his biggest supporters.
A New York NARAL Political Action Committee brochure reads: "NARAL/NY was central to the narrow yet critical triumph by Eliot Spitzer in the race for Attorney General" in 1998. The brochure also quotes Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, as saying that "NARAL/NY was instrumental in my victory."
Spitzer had also subpoenaed 10 other crisis pregnancy centers. Why? It's really all about money. Every time these crisis centers help a woman keep her baby, abortion providers like NARAL and Planned Parenthood lose support and revenue.
I've also tried to support, as much as I could, the Good Counsel Homes, (another pro-choice target,) which provides shelter to pregnant women and their babies if they choose to keep them.
Adoption as the alternative to abortion hit close to home many years ago when I learned as a young mother myself that my oldest sister had had a child when I was very young and had given her up for adoption.
I met that niece many years later and she is a dear part of my family. Soon after this revelation, my sister tearfully asked if I was ashamed of her, I hugged her and told her she was one of the bravest women I knew.
All women who refuse to kill their babies even when they are either in medical danger or at a difficult time in their lives deserve our utmost respect and admiration for their choices.
Mrs. Tebow and Aaron Judge's birth mother, I salute you.