The first pictures of our little Yadah

I'm sorry for the delay in getting these up. Here are some pictures of our little Yadah's first 15 weeks...

The first day:

Meeting her for the very first time - about an hour after birth...

The first feed...

First time with daddy

First bath

The first week:

With Ouma Andre

With aunty Minnette

Two weeks old:

One month:

With her little friend, Lourens - trying to sit up!

With aunty Hilde and couz Divan

A little angel sent from above!

First Christmas

With my whole family for Christmas

Love from couz Divan

One of the first captured smiles at 6 weeks

Oupa Herman with his 4 grandchildren - Juan, Yadah, Eze and Divan

Out and about - such a good little girl

Going for a walk on the beach

Two months:

 

Loving time on Oupa Herman's lap

Sometimes we have cool days here in George...

Noticing herself in the mirror for the first time!

 

Three months:

Sitting in my chair for the first time at 3 months and 1 week old

Little mischievous balerina!

With Oupa Awie

With Ouma Marlene

I'll grow new hair ok?

We are so very very thankful for every day with our little girl. She has stolen our hearts and the hearts of our families. We thank the Lord for entrusting this precious little soul to us! I pray that we will raise her in the fear of the Lord.

Why do good things happen to bad people?

I’m sure most people have not asked this question. Rather, the question everyone asks is ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’. I will try and answer this from a Biblical perspective, since the Bible has plenty to say on the subject.

Am I good or bad?

First of all, lets look at what defines a good person. Who decides who is good or who is bad? Where do we draw the line? What is the standard? We can’t let man define it, because yesterday’s bad is today’s good, depending on laws, culture and times. It changes all the time. The only unwavering and trustworthy standard by which we should look at ourselves is God’s standard, because ultimately He created us. He makes the rules and He is the judge, the One to whom the whole world will be held accountable (Rom 3:10).  What is God’s standard? The law. Through the law comes knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). That is the purpose of God’s law - to expose our wickedness and for us to realise our need for a Saviour. According to God’s standard, no one does good, not even one (Rom 3:11-12). Yes, I know, some people are better than others - in our eyes. But according to God if you managed to keep the whole law but failed in only one point, you’re guilty of all of it (James 2:10). Yes, God’s standard is nothing short of perfection. 100% righteousness. But that’s impossible, you say? Yes, exactly. That’s why no one is considered good. That’s why we all desperately need a Saviour, and there is no better way to realise our need than to look in the mirror of God’s law and call upon the Hope of the World, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life and died as the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. If only we would humble ourselves and put our faith in Him - the righteousness of God is available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Rom 3:22). Therefore even the ‘best’ Christian has nothing to boast about. Every true believer has been saved by grace as a free gift, not because of good works or any contribution of their own!

I would even go so far as to say that if you’ve never realised that you’re not a good person, you are probably not saved, because God requires a broken and contrite heart (true repentance) (Ps 51:16-17). That is why Jesus saved the tax collector and adulterer who realised their sin, and not the Pharisees who thought they were already good because of their works.

Good things
 
Why then the notion that if we are good Christians we think we deserve special blessings from God? God is not like Santa who dishes out gifts to the ‘good’ children. He has already blessed the Christian with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3). Note again - we are blessed in Christ, because of Christ, through Christ, thanks to Christ, and not because of our own goodness. In fact, our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6).

So what are these spiritual blessings we have in Christ? According to the rest of Ephesians 1, it includes:
• to be elected as His saints (v4)
• to be adopted as His children (v5)
• to be accepted and beloved (v6)
• to be redeemed through His blood (v7)
• to having received forgiveness of sins, i.e. we are now guilt free (v7)
• to know the mystery of His will (through His Word) (v8-10)
• the inheritance that is given to us through Christ, i.e. our eternal home in Heaven (v11)
• the sealing of the Holy Spirit, i.e. we can have assurance of our salvation (v13)

These are just a few, but note that spiritual blessings are eternal and cannot be lost or stolen. Health, friendships, comfort, money, family, etc are all temporary and can be here today and gone tomorrow. They do not make the list of spiritual blessings, and therefore I believe do not necessarily make God’s list of ‘good things’. That does not mean that there is anything wrong with any of these, but if we have them we should not think we deserve them, or if we don’t have them we should not think that we can demand them. Off course we can pray about them, but we have to trust God to work it out in our lives according to His will.

Bad things
 
Would you consider loosing everything, being persecuted or being murdered for your faith like Paul, Stephen, Simon Peter, Polycarp, Johan Huss, Tyndale, Jim Elliot and countless others a bad thing? Jesus said “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:10). Sometimes we just loose a little of our comfort and then we think God has forsaken us! If only we will look to the spiritual blessings we have received in Christ and rejoice in them, because there is nothing better than having a hope for the future and eternal security in Christ. We really need to shift our focus from this world and what it has to offer, to eternity and what is at stake. In God’s eyes, dying in your sin without a Saviour is a bad thing. Gathering treasures on earth and not in heaven would be a bad thing too, I believe.

Let’s realign our thinking to God’s Word.

So a straight answer to the question: Why do ‘bad’ things happen to ‘good’ people? Since God is  sovereign, we cannot blame the devil for everything bad that happens to us. He is still a created being and subject to God (the book of Job is a good illustration of this). But doesn’t he walk around like a lion seeking whom he can devour? Yes, but his goal is to destroy us spiritually, and that he can only do if we don’t stand firm in our faith. If we are sealed in Christ by die Holy Spirit, the devil cannot take that away from us.

But God is also good. Therefore even if what we perceive to be ‘bad things’ happen to us, we have to trust that God is working it out for our good. We have to believe that ultimately God is in control and He will allow bad things in our lives to bring us to Him / bring us closer to Him / discipline us / grow us in faith and holiness for our own good and so that we can share in His joy. (Heb 12:5-11, James 1:2-3,12 Rom 8:28-29, Is 48:10, Ps 66:10, 1 Pet 1:6-7)

I don’t deny that in Christ we can and should do good works on earth. But Christ, who sees the heart, will judge all believers and reward us accordingly with crowns in heaven (2 Cor 5:10). Any reward that you desire to get on earth is pale in comparison. Besides, if recognition in this life is what you’re after, your motives again exposes the selfish condition of your heart.

The better question to ask would be: Why do good things happen to bad people? The ultimate good thing that happened to bad people was that Jesus, i.e. God, came to earth to die for wretched sinners, his enemies. There is no good reason for this except that He is good and loves us undeservedly. If you have been saved by Jesus and therefore are a recipient of this free gift of grace, you should spend the rest of your life thanking Him, every day. No other gift is greater.

If you also enjoy other temporary gifts like health, family, friendships, a job, etc, you should consider yourself privileged. There really is nothing in you or me that entitles us to any of it. And lets not get confused as to why Christ really came and died!

Great news!

I'm not even sure where to start because the last few weeks have just been so overwhelming, in a good way. If you haven't heard I'm sorry, but here is the whole story now. A few months ago we decided to start the adoption process. It was an uncertain path for us initially, but especially after reading the book, Adopted for Life, by Russell Moore, we were both convinced that is what we wanted to do. As we went through the process we got more and more excited, but we had no idea how long we'll have to wait. We thought maybe next year sometime? As it turns out we did not have to wait very long at all. Two days after we finished the screening process, we got the call. "We have a baby for you! The mother is about to go into labour any day now and she wants you to take the baby home straight away!" The social worker warned us that it could happen without much warning and there it was, as promised. Not much time to prepare at all! Off course we have been waiting for a baby for more than 3 years now and we are very easy going, so it took about 30 minutes to get the car seat ready and a bag packed. The next day I went to do shopping for some essentials that we did not have on hand, and the rest of our time was spent trying to finish off some work, going for our Vitality tests, getting our vehicle licences renewed, etc. We did not know the sex of the baby and had minimal info about the parents.


Let me just mention that this all happened right after I found out that I was pregnant. Yes, could you believe it? Somehow these two events that are both an answer to years of prayer happened all at once! For only a few minutes we did not know if it would be a wise decision to take in a baby while I'm pregnant, but our excitement and the sure call that this baby was sent to us by God really did not leave us any other option!  Whatever it takes, we would find a way to do it. It was still very early days - I had not even been for my six weeks scan yet.


That was at the start of this month. Just a week and a few hours after we learned about our mystery baby's existence, she was born in the early morning hours. As soon as we got the call we rushed off to hospital and immediately met our daughter. She was perfect and beautiful in every way. That moment was so precious and overwhelming and absolutely amazing. A healthy baby girl! The Lord answered the prayer I prayed more than 3 years ago when we so badly wanted Tabitha to get better. But in His plan and timing, Tabitha wasn't to be healed. She was not meant to stay with us. He thought it well to let us be grieved by various trials for a little while, so that our faith, more precious than gold, though tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 1:6-7)


What a privilege and blessing to have been able to bring our baby girl home straight from hospital. It was so special. And not something that happens too often. The Lord really answered our prayers over and above what we imagined. We called her Yadah - which is a Hebrew word which means to praise God. It suits her perfectly!


She is already over 3 weeks old and we are loving every minute with her. My pregnancy is also going very well. My 12 week scan is due next week!


Another bit of news is that Wessel accepted a job in George. Yes, we are moving closer to my parents who also live there and also closer to my older sister and her family who lives in Paarl. We are looking forward to raising kids by the sea and out of the big city, and having the support system of my parents close by. However we are very sad to leave behind so many great friends we've made over the years here in Joburg and also the church family that we've grown so close to. We will always remember our time here with fond memories of the people that loved, supported and prayed with us over some difficult years. We are so blessed to know every single one of you. And we want to thank everyone that have so faithfully prayed for us for a baby. You are very special to us. 



I hope our story does not come across as 'how to get your prayers answered' or 'how to get God to give you what you want'. I do not have a '5 points to victory' or '7 points to get your breakthrough' to share. What I can tell you is that God is not into quick fixes or recipes. He wants our hearts. He wants us to love HIM, not what we can get from Him. I truly believe that when we commit our ways to Him, we don't have to (let me recall things that have been suggested to me before) curse the devil, plead the blood, put your hand on your belly and 'speak life', confess things over your life, go to healing crusades, dig into your past to get to root of the problem/find a lie based hurt/dig up generational curses, etc. There is, after all, no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1). For the record, I did not do any of these things, because they go against what I believe to be true about the God of the Bible. My message is simply one of trusting God, no matter what the end may be, because He knows best what we need.

Psalm 31:14-15 But I trust in you, O Lord;  I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand...
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...

He has already given me the greatest gift of all, forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Jesus, so whatever this life may bring my way, good or bad, I know it is part of His Sovereign plan which is for my good and His glory. Its not about my happiness. Its about my obedience! That is as much as I need to 'do'. Everything I receive is by grace and not because of me. May we never become arrogant and think that God owes us anything or that we can trade off our works in return for rewards from Him.

Psalm 135:6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.



Happy endings are nice. But its not a promise in this life. The promise of the Bible is far greater than that. The happy ending God promises for His children is permanent perfection and LIFE eternal! (Rev 21:1-5) If you are in the 'waiting period' or if your life did not turn out the way you planned, may you cling fast to that overshadowing promise! It will not disappoint! With or without earthly blessings, I still look forward to that day!


Ps. With everything going on and the move being in only 2 weeks, I really struggled to get so far to write down what was on my heart. You'll have to wait for next time for the pictures!


Tears of joy

It is three years today since I held our precious Tabitha in my arms while watching her die. Still by far the toughest day in my life. When I think back I feel immense sadness, yet I remember the peace and calm that overshadowed the whole ordeal.  It cannot be explained except by supernatural intervention. 

I think back over that time and the last three years, with utter joy and thankfulness in my heart. God brought us through everything, never leaving us alone, strengthening us, growing us and illuminating His Word to us more through His Spirit, teaching us to love Him and each other more, as our focus shifted to be more Christ centered. To be more Christ centered means to have a clearer understanding of what it is that He accomplished on the cross for me, which puts every little (or big) problem in perspective. It also means to apply Christ's work more practically to life - to view every situation through the lens of the Cross. Is it really possible to rejoice every day in your salvation - without faking it? 

But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (Ps 13:5)

Yes, I will have to say, a big and resounding definite YES! Because it is a free gift that I did not deserve and that I cannot take any credit for, it is mere grace. It is also something that I could not ever earn despite my best efforts, even if I tried.  To have my sins forgiven and have Christ's righteousness imputed to me, is an inexhaustible source of joy! Do you know why Christ came, why He had to die or what exactly He accomplished?

True riches is something money can't buy, and death can't steal.

This does not imply that mini joys and disappointments don't affect me. Off course it does. But these are temporary and has no effect on the real source of my eternal joy. Tears are never really far from me. But the sadness of yesterday or the uncertainties of the future cannot take away this joy. Neither can any possible future blessing add anything to the joy of my salvation. It is finished! 100% complete! It is settled in my heart and sealed by the Holy Spirit. In Christ, I have indeed received every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3-14).  If you struggle with this (which we all do), you need to, with God's help, learn to focus more on Jesus and what He did than on yourself and your problems. Study Jesus' redemptive work to give more substance to your understanding of this free gift, and hence result in a) a realization of your sin and need for a Saviour or b) more love and thankfulness toward Christ and c) more daily joy despite your circumstances because of what you've received!

Have a blessed day everybody.

I decided to add this picture that I took today -
I planted this rose in remembrance of Tabitha
about 2 years ago. With perfect timing it
surprised me with its first spring bloom!
Miss you too little girl!
Ps. it is a miniature rose called 'Jadine'.
This rose reminded me of Tabitha - tiny,
girly, perfect and beautiful. It was aptly named
by Ludwig's Roses to raise money for a sick baby
- another good reason I chose it!

 

Unveiled - the Kite flying pics in Namibia!

(click on the pics to enlarge)

My handsome dear husband

My dad, helping with the launch!

Running to make up for the (lack of) wind!

Fly, beauty, fly!

Me emptying my shoe while climbing Dune 45!
(Evidently not sand-proof)

My parents. Love them much!

Wessel flying our kite in Henties.

Finally, my turn!

Watching the sunset that same evening.
It is as peaceful as it looks there!

My favourite group pic of us at the Quiver Tree Forest
outside Keetmanshoop.

Tabitha turns 3

We were privileged to be on holiday in Namibia with my parents during the time of Tabitha's 3rd birthday. Going away during this time is not a bad idea at all, I realised, and spending it with 3 people very close to me was a bonus. Off course we built another kite - bigger and better than last year, slightly more refined with an aluminium structure as opposed to a wooden one, and a longer and heavier tail. I'd like to share some pictures with you (see next post).  We were in Dead Valley, Sossusvlei on her birthday. I'm pretty sure we are the first people to ever fly a kite there! But the wind was only blowing ever so slightly so we flew it a second time when we got to Henties Bay on the Skeleton Coast. 

We do this every year in memory of Tabitha. We still miss her everyday and never want to forget her, or the truths we learned through her life and death. We are still thankful that the Lord thought it well to bring this tragedy into our lives to draw us closer to Him, and hang on to the eternal Hope which we have in His Son, Jesus. (Ps 115:3, Job 42:2, Ps 103:19, Lam 3:37, James 1:2-4, Rom 8:28) He is a loving Father who knows what is best for us. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 says, "Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him."

We have also been confronted with death in our family recently with the passing of Wessel's grandmother, Ouma Martha at the age of 91. We thank the Lord that she was a believer and that the family can be comforted by that. We pray that the Lord will be glorified in the memory of her life and death.

R.I.P.?

With all this thinking about the futility of life, especially also with the media buzz that went on around the tragic passing of Robin Williams recently, I thought it well to write down a few thoughts about people's response to death. A popular response is always to say 'R.I.P.'. But what does it mean? Off course its a way for well meaning people to show their condolences after someone's passing away. But will they really rest in peace? Will your wishing that they rest in peace make any difference? If they couldn't find rest here will they find it hereafter? I'm sorry to discuss such a grim topic but this is a message for the living, not the dead. Lets think about this while there is still an opportunity to change our eternal destiny. 


It is actually quite simple. Peace cannot be found apart from God. And God cannot be found apart from Jesus. (John 14:6) Jesus can only be found through repentance and faith. And when you do, you will experience rest for your soul. Peace. Not only in the afterlife, but even now. There is no way for a soul to find rest when it is troubled by sin and guilt. Consciously or unconsciously. The human soul will always be searching until it finds what God intended it to find. It is again God's loving way to prompt a person to cry out to Him and be saved. He will not give you peace if you do not turn to Him for forgiveness of sin and salvation.  He promised that those who search for Him with all their hearts will find Him. 

Isaiah 55:6-7  says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (See also Matt 7:7-8 and Jer 29:13)

 

Sadly some people in their self-righteousness and rebellion toward God never do that. Tragically they will not rest in peace, but will face the wages of sin and enter into the second death, which is eternal and cannot be undone. The Bible describes it, among other things, as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), a lake of fire (Revelation 20:14), destruction and separation from God (2 Thes 1:5-9 - "This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God ... when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might...")

 

When a person dies who is in Christ, however, they immediately are in the presence of God. (2 Corinthians 5:8) And when a person who still lives, believes, he immediately enters into God's rest. In fact, Christ himself is the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest. (Mark 2:28) Rom 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

 

I hope you will see that my intention is not to condemn anyone. Only God truly knows who were saved through Jesus, even if it was in their last moments. Some who have lost loved ones who might not have been saved, might be tempted to reject this message, but I urge you to not harden your hearts to the Truth of God's Word, because even if it is too late for them, it is not too late for you. Call on Him while He can be found! And while the punishment (which nobody likes to talk about) seems harsh, know that God is righteous and just. He will not let the guilty go unpunished (Nahum 1:3). But He is also loving, which is why He lowered himself to human level to become the perfect sacrifice for sin (Phil 2:5-11, 2 Cor 5:21), so that He can bail all of us out, who would otherwise also be guilty. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor 15:22). I thank Him every day that He paid my ransom and that I am free from the consequences of sin I actually deserved! The difference between being declared 'innocent' and 'guilty' is therefore not how good you are, but if you are in Jesus, the only One who is truly good in God's eyes!

Matthew 11:28-30 
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

 

 

A life verse

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭19-24‬ ESV)