Tinlee Jeffrey’s favorite color is yellow.
It’s bright, it’s bold and it’s fun – exactly like her.
She’s scrappy, a fighter who has been defying odds all her life and understands the value of living. Probably because she has stared suffering in the face and survived.
For the junior at Barron High School in Barron, Wis., her can-do attitude and sunny disposition came at a cost.
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When Tinlee was born, bacterial meningitis ravaged her brain. Doctors gave her a 1 in 10 chance of surviving. The tiny baby fought and became the 1. But the illness claimed her hearing, and she spent half her life in a world of whispers.
Fourteen surgeries later, she regained 50% of her hearing, and received her first pair of hearing aids in fifth grade. At age 12, she asked her mom why she couldn’t hear like everyone else. Learning about her early battle with meningitis shook Tinlee’s world. So she began a search for meaning and purpose in all that happened to her.
Around this time, Tinlee went to church for the first time, and it was like entering another world. She learned about a God who loved and made her, and as her understanding grew, Tinlee began to see a connection between her soccer skills and her Creator.
She had started playing the sport as soon as she could walk, and it quickly became her passion. Playing soccer gave the goalkeeper from Bloomer, Wis. a place to belong, and she played on recreational, state and national teams.
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Still, being hearing impaired presents unique challenges. On the pitch, it’s hard to hear the whistle, and she often can’t tell when the game is over.
Tinlee also faced bullying from peers, who called her names, took her hearing aids and hid them. The harassment was constant.
Yet, as Tinlee’s faith grew, so did the strength of her character. She developed the maturity not only to recognize her bullies’ background of hurt, but to ask them questions that made them think about their actions.
Still, Tinlee felt an emotional burden that took a toll on her mental health. But as she learned more about Jesus and her worth in Him, she recognized her value and came to understand that mental health isn’t a weakness. Today, her openness about her struggles gives others a space to be vulnerable with their troubles, and to know God still loves them, no matter what is happening.
In March, she spent five days during Spring Break writing her testimony and about her struggles with mental health, which turned into a book, From Fear to Faith.
She hopes that those who read her book and hear her story take away a simple truth: No matter what you’ve gone through, have joy.
“There’s so much good coming,” she said.
Her boldness and tenacity for God’s truth are already reaping blessings. Students and adults reach out to her and share how her story has encouraged or helped them during a dark time.
Kind of how soccer helps her.
“Goalkeeping is the one time I can beat my mind,” she said. “When my mind says I can't stop the ball, then I try extra hard to do it. That's always been my output. Whenever I'm having a tough day, I just go to the soccer field for three hours and kick the ball around.”
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Tinlee fused faith and soccer at a local Fields of Faith event in Northwest Wisconsin went she saw athletes from all over come together to worship Jesus. It sent her into full FCA mode, and when she transferred to Barron High School, she started a Huddle.
“I’m known as the Christian girl, which is awesome,” said Tinlee. “If anyone has a question about faith, they come to me.”
As the Huddle Leader, Tinlee and her group of student leaders prepare devotions and plan meetings. She prays before games and leads team devotions. She was baptized last July, and this past summer, she attended a regional FCA Leadership Camp at the University of Northwestern in Roseville, Minn. Tinlee was 100% committed, all in, full send.
Whether playing for Barron High School, Valley Sports Academy or a local indoor league, everything she does is for a greater purpose. She’s tenacious about sharing her testimony, evaluates every thought and word by how they will impact others to see Christ and makes all her decisions through a lens of faith.
She will take those traits with her to Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., where she has committed to play soccer for the Bearcats starting in the fall of 2027.
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Tinlee recognizes life could have looked much different. She credits Christ and His hand on her story for what it’s become.
“I could have been dead, brain dead or paralyzed,” she recounted. “The second I gave my life to Jesus and knew who He was, I knew there is a greater purpose to my life,” said Tinlee, who loves to reference 2 Corinthians 12:9:
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”
Tinlee has used her weakness to boast in Christ and His power, and she won’t stop. It’s not in her nature. But she does advise others to lean in and listen for God, even in the unlikely moments.
“God doesn’t always move in fireworks,” she said. “He sometimes moves in whispers.”
Whispers, she knows well. And amid life’s whispers, she lives out loud, confident in Christ, and on mission to share His faithfulness full send.
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Photos courtesy of Tinlee Jeffrey