Tim Tebow Foundation helps widow proceed with adoption of an orphan after losing her husband

When Christine Mullican lost her husband unexpectedly, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go through with the adoption they’d been planning — until the Tim Tebow Foundation stepped up to help.

Mullican and her husband Joel had begun the process to adopt a Chinese boy they named Alexander Joel shortly before his death.

Alex, who is deaf, was found abandoned at a train station in China.

In a video recently published by the Tim Tebow Foundation, Mullican discussed how losing her husband from a pulmonary embolism almost ended her dream of expanding their family through adoption.

“Our plan for how we were going to pay for this of course involved both of us working together,” Mullican said.

But then Mullican was given a grant from the Tim Tebow Foundation to help her with her final adoption expenses.

Mullican said the grant “gave me such a sense of peace and relief that I really was going to be able to do adopt Alex.”

The Tim Tebow Foundation gave Mullican an additional grant to help with Alex’s medical expenses, such as fitting him for a hearing aid.

Mullican said that at first Alex was unhappy and scared, but he soon came out of his shell.

“Alex has brought just so much energy, happiness… He’s so loving, so much like Joel in so many ways,” Mullican said. “It’s a wonderful reminder that Joel is still with us, and also great just to have completed our family in this way.”

Erik Dellenback, the Tim Tebow Foundation’s executive director and president, told TheBlaze in a statement that "We were so blessed to be a part of Alex's journey.”

“After hearing Christine's story and how she tragically lost her husband, we knew we wanted to help bring Alex home,” Dellenback said. “Every child deserves a loving family and it means so much to the Tim Tebow Foundation that we are able support these amazing families through our Adoption Aid program, which has now given 64 grants to families and already seen 52 of these kids come home to their forever families.”

“While these numbers are great and the focus can tend to be more on statistics, the reality is this - We would do everything we do for just one child,” he added.