In 1969, my girlfriend, Lynn, and I were young and madly in love when we discovered that she was pregnant with our first son. As we were teens and still in school, the decision was made that the child should be given for adoption.
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Lynn and I actually married years later and spent 35 beautiful years together. We were blessed to have nine more beautiful children -- seven boys and two girls. Raising nine children in this age was certainly not the norm and we faced many challenges through the years. Life was met with challenges over finances, challenges over time, challenges meeting the needs of each child, health challenges and many others. We embarked on two businesses, both of which failed. Through it all, we learned to trust God to lead us, to provide for us, and to enable us. We learned that His grace is real and substantive. Yet, the biggest challenge came in 2003 when Lynn was diagnosed with cancer. For four years, we clung to faith and she fought valiantly until her passing in 2007.
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For years, we wondered about the life of our firstborn son -- where he might be and what kind of man he had become. We prayed for him year after year, especially on his birthday. Still, we knew nothing of his life until April of 2014. The day after his 45th birthday, I was overjoyed to receive a call from Jeff, the son we had given up for adoption. The circumstances surrounding that discovery were quite amazing and certainly orchestrated by the Lord. We were reunited after 45 years apart and he gained the large family his heart desired. The real sadness is that he never met Lynn; but, we await their glorious reunion in Heaven.
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Through the years, Lynn and I had a real desire to start a ministry to children. But with so many of our own in the house, we did not see how this was feasible until our own children were grown. Then, we would pursue that dream, that desire that long burned in our hearts. After Lynn passed, I was left wondering: "Lord what do I do as a single man?" While in my heart I said yes to the Lord, it seemed this ministry would function best with a mom and a dad. God heard my plea and brought me Roseann. Through the first years of our marriage, the Lord began to bring clarity to the call, to the ministry, to Glory House.
In Christ,
Al Deeb
Co-Founder of Glory House
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