Sebastian goes home!

Getting ready to leave!

Mommy Monika, who will not miss driving
all the way from Benoni each day!

Yesterday was a big day. Tabitha's ex neighbour, Sebastian, went home after 20 weeks, 140 days in NICU. That is 6 and a half weeks short of half a year. I can't believe how far he has come. I wish his mother can tell you all about his journey but I'm sure she's got her hands full now with two babies at home (his brother is 13 months now). He was born on 5 July at 26 weeks, weighing something like 800g. He is now 1 month past his due date, and weighs 3kg. His ups and downs were too many to mention. The miracles along the way are still mind boggling. Finally he is well enough to go home.

Peacefully unaware of the big moment in his life!

I didn't want to miss it for the world. I took my camera and stood by to take some pictures of the big event. The nurses even baked him a cake to bid him farewell (a little sail boat, metaphorically setting off into the sunset)! He felt a breeze of fresh air and sunlight for the first time in his life as his mother put him in his car seat. Beautiful, although his mother was quite stressed. What if he stops breathing? No more checking the monitor to see that he is ok! She is now all by herself and the financial burden is also a frightening thought, especially for a single mother with a baby like Sebastian who will need special care, special milk, extra therapy and extra visits to the doctor. They still don't know for sure if he will be normal (by a miracle) or if he'll be impaired to some degree. Let's pray that he'll catch up with his development and be able to live a normal life!

His gran apparently said a while back that they are not good enough people to deserve a miracle. Good on her for not falsely thinking that they deserve anything. None of us deserve anything out of God's hand! We have all sinned and rebelled against God and fallen short of His glory! The ones thinking they are bad and even the ones thinking they are good. As Christians we don't believe in getting rewarded for doing good or being punished for doing bad while here on earth. That is karma, an eastern belief, with reincarnation and all of that where a person must try and save themselves. Sometimes I wish it was that simple, so we could be in control of our own destiny and determine what happens to us!!! But no, it doesn't work that way, no matter what your life coach tells you. We believe in a final judgement. The Judge, who is perfect and just, will one day judge all people. Not based on how 'good' or how 'bad' we've been, because that would be easy. We'll all go straight to hell because the bar is set very high. The standard is perfection, and none of us are perfect. He'll judge us based on our righteousness, which can only be achieved by being justified in Jesus, who took the punishment for our sins, once and for all. That means Jesus bailed us out of jail. We did wrong, and then an innocent Man volunteered to take our punishment so we can go free. Only in Jesus do we 'deserve' a reward, which is Heaven. Apart from Him we deserve nothing short of hell.

But how can a loving God send anyone to hell, you may ask. He is loving, yes, which is why He sent his son Jesus to be murdered for our salvation. But He is also just. He cannot be corrupt, because He is holy and perfect. Letting a guilty person go free is unfair and unjust even by our worldly standards. So why do we expect God to make an exception?

Nobody can deny that God exist. We can see His glory all around us. The whole earth brings glory to Him, every living thing, except the crown of His creation, man. We have believed the devil's lie that we can be as gods ourselves. That God will not judge us but that we can judge God.

We are 'in' Jesus when we realise our sinful and hopeless state, confess our sins and believe that He, unlike the prophets, founders and gurus of other religions, died but is not in his grave any more! He rose again because He is the only true and living God! Narrow minded to think that He is the only way? No people, check the facts, he's dead body could not be found, because he is not there anymore! And then He will take our sins away and give us a new heart that wants to bring glory to Him, forever! Praise the Lord!

Ps. Tabitha's article will appear in the 5 January 2012 version of Huisgenoot and You. But I'll remind you again closer to the time!