Dear Family & Friends,
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory… in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
We pray that you are encouraged this Christmas season and reminded that God can do extraordinary things in ordinary situations. God picked a lowly stable for the moment history changed forever and Christ dwelt with us. He uses us, in spite of our sinful nature and lack of faithfulness, to carry out His purpose and plan. Thanks to God, His plans are not our plans and His ways are not our ways.
As we prepared to write this year’s letter we looked back over the letters we have written the past six years. We are amazed at the journey God has carried us through, and how He continually provides us with the grace, patience, and strength we need for every circumstance. This year has been a year of celebration and joy.
We began 2010 once again waiting to learn God’s plan and trusting His timing. Tiffany continued teaching Kindergarten at Holy Cross Lutheran School and worked two nights a week at Sylvan Learning Center. She also took another class towards her Masters in Special Education and sold Mary Kay. Dave continued working at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Dave was also busy as the treasurer of the homeowners association, an usher and communion assistant at church, and on various committees at church.
In March we learned that we were selected to proceed with our South Korean adoption through Bethany Christian Services. We had been on a waiting list since April of 2009, when we began the adoption process. Bethany is the only adoption agency currently taking couples for the South Korea program, and they only accept a dozen couples a year. We felt that because we were selected as one of the few couples, God wanted us to continue with that adoption. However, we could not be on two adoption lists at once. We were on a domestic list with Lutheran Social Services since July 2009. We talked to our social worker at Lutheran Social Services about our options. We started attending meetings and working on homework for the Korea program, but hadn’t officially sent in our formal application. We had the application all ready to mail in, but decided to wait until after Spring Break to mail it in. We prayed that God would make His will clear for us.
On Spring Break we went to Disney World. It was a magical trip. It is always so much fun to travel with Tiffany’s family. While at the Magic Kingdom on April 9th Tiffany received a phone call from Susie, our social worker with Lutheran Social Services. She said they had received a “cold call” from a birthmother, she had picked us, and we had a son waiting for us at the hospital. We tried to change our flight home, but were unable to do so. We rented a car and drove eighteen hours through the night to try and get home in time for Liam to be discharged from the hospital. Our social worker actually brought Liam to the house for us. We would have had to drive another six hours once we were home to get to the hospital and back and Liam would have been waiting past his discharge time. On April 10th Liam arrived at our house. It still amazes us how instantly we fell in love with him. Once we held him we knew exactly what God’s plan had been all along. Liam is such a miracle and an answer to prayer. Life has been a whirlwind of milestones and memories since Liam’s arrival and we cherish every moment of it. He is a big, strong boy. He is consistently in the 90th percentile for weight and height. We, of course, think he is brilliant. He has such a sweet and easy disposition. He is also “all boy” and is very curious and energetic, especially now that he is mobile. Tiffany is now officially a stay-at-home mom. She is, however, still working on her Masters, occasionally substitutes, and sells Mary Kay.
May was a great month. On May 23rd Liam was adopted as God’s son through baptism. It was a great celebration and one we looked forward to for a long time. On May 29th we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary and the twelfth year we have been together.
In July Tiffany once again taught dance at Concordia High School’s drama camp.
In September Dave organized a Kids Against Hunger event through Thrivent. He raised enough funds, and recruited volunteers to package nearly 50,000 meals. The meals were distributed in the community and across the world to starving children.
On November 19th, we finalized Liam’s adoption. November is National Adoption Awareness month so the court scheduled several adoptions for the same day. Twenty other families finalized their adoptions that day. We had a great time celebrating Liam’s Gotcha Day as our forever son.
Now we look forward to our first Christmas as a family of three and have a better understanding of how Mary pondered things and stored them in her heart. We too are tucking many memories away in our hearts. We still think of Christopher and Connor often, especially this time of year. However, we think of them with joy, thank God we had the opportunity to be their parents, and look forward to our family reunion in heaven. The journey we have taken has prepared us to be the kind of parents that Liam needs. Adoption has changed our lives in so many ways and is such a great example of God’s love for each one of us. The moment we met Liam, he stole our hearts and we would have died for him. If we can have this kind of unconditional love, how much more does our Savior love us?
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. Ephesians 1:4-6
We wish you a very merry Christmas and happy New Year. We pray that God blesses you in unfathomable ways in 2011.
With Love,
David, Tiffany & Liam Herman
