Tim Tebow: I Want to Adopt Kids 'From Every Continent'
Former NFL star turned minor league baseball player Tim Tebow "can't wait" to start a family, he said last week, and he wants to adopt a child "from every continent" on earth.
In an interview with People magazine Friday, Tebow, who is 29 and a bachelor, said that one day he wants "to sit around the dinner table every night and see kids from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, right here in the States."
"How cool would that be? It's one of my favorite things to dream about," he said.
His future wife would have to share that same desire, and the New York Mets outfielder likes the idea of a family comprised of many races.
"Of course I want a woman who I'm attracted to," Tebow continued.
"But I'm looking for someone who loves Jesus and loves people. Someone who makes me want to be a better person for her. And she has to want kids, and has to want to adopt. That's a requirement."
Tebow, who was born in the Philippines to Baptist missionary parents following complications in his mother's pregnancy, has a heart for kids, particularly those who are sick or have developmental disabilities.
In 2010, he launched the Tim Tebow Foundation which was "primarily created to show God's love to children around the world," according to its website.
In February, his foundation sponsored its third "Night to Shine," a prom for people with Down Syndrome and other special needs disabilities at 375 locations around the world, in all 50 states and in 11 other nations.
Lead singer Gary Levox of the group Rascal Flatts wrote a song for the event, also called "Night to Shine."
"I think when you look at God's family, it's not about color," Tebow told People.
"Love knows no color. I want my kids to grow up with an appreciation for every single person, no matter what they look like. That's what unity looks like to me: knowing that you can love people who aren't the same as you are. I want to teach that message to my kids; I want them to live it."
Tebow further noted that adopting kids is "in God's timing."
"All I can do is be ready for it to happen," he said.
Tebow is also the author of New York Times bestseller Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life's Storms, his second book in which he describes how he found himself unexpectedly unemployed after getting cut from the New England Patriots. He was without a home or car but held onto his faith in Christ.