On the morning of their son Sterling’s 17th birthday, Tim and Melissa Glisson were running their home school lessons as usual. For any parent that has chosen to educate their children at home they know it is a major responsibility.
While ensuring the learning enrichment of one or two kids at home can be challenging, try 15. That’s right, 15 kids.
Tim, 50, and Melissa, 52, married in June of 2000. Soon after they embarked on the path they said God laid out for them.
“We wanted to respond to the need,” Melissa said.
That need has now become the backbone of their blended family that consists of 10 boys and five girls, ranging from ages 6 to 23. The family now lives on DeRuyter Lake surrounded by what they call a “supportive community.”
At the time, Melissa was executive director of Arise Child and Family Services in Syracuse, an agency that provides advocacy and support services to people of all ages with all types of disabilities.
While working with other public agencies, Melissa began learning about numerous cases where sibling groups (especially those with older kids in the mix) were being overlooked by foster and adoption opportunities, but ultimately these brothers and sisters were being split up.
“There is a lot of advocacy out there on behalf of birth parents,” Tim said. “But kids are being left out.”
The Glissons began advocating for these children in need by fostering, and then following the adoption track through social services.
Thinking they would adopt a few older kids and call it day, the Glissons quickly saw their path becoming clearer. “If you want to make God laugh, show him your plans,” Melissa said.
Anastasia, 11, was six months old when the Glissons took her in as a foster child in September of 2000. Anastasia became their first child when they adopted her in the spring of 2001.
Her sibling, Aaron, also needed a family and so the Glissons became a family of four. Their oldest son, JJ, now 23, was adopted next.
At this point the Glissons were a family of five and they were enjoying the love that was filling their home and their everyday life.
Because they were aware that sibling groups lacked the opportunity to be adopted, the Glissons opened their doors and hearts to a sibling group of four.
The Glissons now became a family of nine.
“If we tell someone all the names of the kids, we have to go in order of oldest to youngest,” said Melissa before she and Tim laughed about their name and number system.
While still working for Arise, Melissa began talking to a woman in Florida who was working for a similar agency that advocates for people with disabilities.
They were discussing how a church in Fayetteville could partner with a Christian organization, His House, located in Florida. At the end of one of their phone conversations, the woman asked Melissa to pray for a sibling group that would be going to court the following the day. The kids didn’t have a family to adopt them and it was apparent that they would be split up into foster care.
This particular sibling group consisted of eight kids.
Melissa told Tim about the situation and they prayed over it. The more they discussed it, they knew there was a reason they had learned of the situation.
“Keeping kids together is very important,” Tim said. “There is trauma when kids are being removed from family, then being removed from family, then home and then from their siblings.”
Melissa called the woman in Florida again, but this time she was telling her that she and Tim would be adopting the eight children.
After everyone was brought to Central New York, safe and sound, the Glissons became a complete family of 15. Tim and Melissa’s hearts are now filled with the presence of each and every one of their kids: JJ, 23, Arnesia, 17, Sterling, 17, Shawn, 15, Debra, 16, Allen, 13, Louie, 12, Aaron, 11, Anastasia, 11, Frankie, 11, John, 10, Riley, 9, Terricka, 8, Shakiah, 7, and Andrew, 6.
“I don’t know at the time, if we realized the impact [the kids would have on us],” Tim said. “We realized as the kids were here and we became a family.”
Blending sibling groups was never an issue either. Tim said no one would ever know that some of the kids are not biological siblings because they’re all so close.
Although having 15 kids is a big responsibility, the Glissons have a daily regimen for schooling and family activities as well. They rarely watch TV, except for an occasional Saturday night viewing of “The Lawrence Welk Show.” No matter, Melissa is certain they “run a tight ship.”
“[It’s] overwhelming but rewarding,” Melissa said. “God put these kids in our path for a reason; we were picked to do this. We know that this seemed impossible but it happened. This really matters. The kids matter.”
Both Tim and Melissa said they have never felt as though they gave a gift to their children, but that it was their children that blessed them with the gift of family.
Melissa is now a full-time mom, but she still teaches online master’s courses for public administration. Tim runs their ministry, Families By God, from home while he works on completing his seminary studies.
Any given day starts at 6 a.m. and is filled with school lessons, outdoor activities and baking goods for the country store Tim and Melissa run out of their DeRuyter home. Tim and some of the Glisson children planted more than 3,000 garlic bulbs recently so that garlic can be sold in the country store next summer.
The Glissons also have permanent outdoor companions as a family friend recently bought the Glisson children four miniature donkeys. The donkeys have not only become a fun attraction for their visiting friends, but have added another form of learning responsibility for the children.
Because each day is full of family activities, the Glissons have helped one another grow through faith and as a group.
“They’re an incredible blessing to us,” Tim said. “They have taught us about love, patience … We can’t say enough how God has used them to bring us closer together.”
The Glissons welcome people interested in adoption to contact them through familiesbygod.org, or by calling Tim at 391-6832 and planning a visit to their home to see what blessings they have received through adoption.
