Vol. 3
We have a special edition this week as the Zbylot household has been in a whirlwind of activity. Since our last post, we were given an amazing free, flat screen television (a whole other God story), celebrated Scott’s dad’s 65th birthday, church and school and all the activities surrounding those, as well as fighting off illness. Below you will find our children’s hearts as they reflect on what has happened this past week as well as what I, their mother, have learned as a result of this blog. Enjoy!
Hostess Thoughts: It has been interesting to watch
each of the children as they prepare for their next week’s blog. This week, Peter sat on my lap and told me
exactly what he wanted me to type. When
I was hesitant to type it, he insisted until he saw the words on the
screen. When I went to suggest something
different or erase something, he about came unglued. He was not going to let me put anything else
than what he wanted said. Enjoy Peter’s
Playground today…
Peter’s Playground
We got a new flat screen television. It’s like we are the flat screen television
and God is the person watching us. He is
watching what we are doing bad and what we are doing good.
We had a silly string fight at Awanas. The fight was like the silly string was the
gun and all the kids were shooting the devil.
That’s all folks.
Pete’s Playground Rule of the Week: Always do what your
parents tell you to do even if you don’t want to do it. Always don’t huff and puff if you don’t want
to do it and tell that to your kids.
Hostess Thoughts: Watching Nathan process what he
wants to say has also been amazing. When
I asked him what he wanted to put in his blog this week, he stopped and
pondered a moment and then said nothing really.
Then he said, I wrote about Kidz Kamp last week didn’t I? I told him yes, then he began….
Nathan’s Nighthawk
Did you ask your mom to go to Kidz Kamp? Because it is really fun. My brother and I are going in a couple of
months. Do you know what snapping
turtles do? We wrote a paragraph about
them in writing class. They have an egg
tooth that helps them get out of their shell when they are born. Did you know that? And they have to hunt to survive which is the
most important thing for them because if they don’t hunt they don’t eat. One of the techniques they use is hiding
under the ground. When a fish comes by
they come out of the ground and eat it.
I can send you a picture of it, maybe.
This reminds of a little innocent fish and the devil is waiting to
pounce on it which reminds me of the I am Sin video I posted two weeks
ago.
Have you completed some of the night flying techniques? Here is this week’s…
Night Flying Technique: Tell somebody about God that lives
right next door to you and who you don’t really know very well.
Hostess Thoughts: Hannah has not been feeling well at
all the last few days. However, as I was writing up the boy’s blogs she jumped in
and said she was ready with hers. She
sat next to me, tired and in pain from her ear and shared the following…
Hannah’s Hideout
Come on in to Hannah’s hideout and join me in scriptures,
applications, fun and interesting facts, and daily challenges for us all.
Wednesday morning I got an ear ache and it hurt like the
dickens. While I was lying in my bed and
trying to figure out how to make it stop hurting, a thought came to me. Maybe God let the devil hurt my ear to test
my faith. The scripture I was reminded
of is Job 2:3-10. It made me wonder if
God was really testing my faith. I have
been feeling a little bit better now and even though my ear still hurts a
little I am trying my best to not be sinful against the Lord.
Scriptures: Job 2:3-10
“The LORD asked Satan, “`Where have you come from?’
`From roaming through the earth,’ Satan answered Him, `and
walking around on it.’
Then the LORD said to Satan, `Have you considered My servant
Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears
God and turns away from evil.
He still retains his integrity,
even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.’
`Skin for skin!’ Satan answered the LORD. `A man will give
up everything he owns in exchange for his life. But stretch out Your hand and
strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.’
`Very well,’ the LORD told Satan, `he is in your power; only
spare his life.’
So Satan left the LORD’s presence and infected Job with
terrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself
while he sat among the ashes. His wife
said to him, `Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!’
`You speak as a foolish woman speaks,’ he told her. `Should
we accept only good from God and not adversity?’
Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.”
Applications: If you are in pain, read the whole book of Job
and do your best not to sin against God.
Fun and Interesting Fact: Did you know that even though Job
was in so much pain he did not sin or curse against God?
Weekly Challenge for you: Try your best not to sin against
God even when you are in pain.
Hostess Thoughts:
There is not a Dawson’s Dugout this week. When we first began Z Bits it was out of the
kids desire to write their own blog. As
the hostess, I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the hearts of my children and
seeing their excitement as they share with the world what God is doing in their
lives. However, Dawson did not want to
write this week. I felt very
disappointed. As his mother, I know he
has a lot inside of him that he doesn’t share very often so it has been a
blessing to see what is on his heart when he writes his blog. After going back and forth with Dawson and
trying to get him to write about ANYTHING, I surrendered to what the Lord was
laying on my heart. God took me back to
Philippians 2:12-13
“So then, my dear
friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more
in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling
you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.”
Paul is writing to
his friends in Philippi and encouraging them to continue their relationship
with God. Not because Paul is there in
their presence physically modeling what a relationship looks like or telling
them everyday what they should be doing, but because each of the Philippians have
their own personal relationship with God and it is their own responsibility to
work out their own salvation. They are
not to work out Paul’s salvation, but their own.
Wow! It hit me.
I am not to work out my children’s salvation. Their personal relationship with God is their
own. It is not mine. I have little control over the growth of my
children’s personal relationship with God. Yes, I can and should model for them
what a daily, personal relationship with God looks like. I can and should provide opportunities for
them to act out their relationship with God, but in the end, it is God who is working
in them. God gives them the desire and
the ability to carry out His purposes. I
cannot give my children a desire or even the power to carry out God’s
purposes. So while I wish I could just
write Dawson’s Dugout for you today, I have surrendered to the work that God is
doing in Dawson’s heart and will continue to encourage him to seek God for help
in carrying out the purposes God has for him whether it be to write a blog or
not.
My Heart’s Prayer: Lord,
I cannot instill in my children a desire to workout their own salvation, You
must give them first the desire and hunger and then enable them to carry out
Your purpose for them. Lord, I beg you
to place that desire in them as well as myself and give us the ability to carry
out whatever that desire is.
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