The Land of Ozz

This is a valid question no matter how determined you are to homeschool your children. I am told that homeschooling is not easy. Since we have not technically begun homeschooling, I am only speaking from the limited experience of homeschooling a four and a half year old preschooler. We have received our share of questions from friends and family. They want to know why we are homeschooling. The answer to this question is more valuable to us than it is for our family and friends. The list of reasons why we have made this choice will server us best as encouragement when reviewed on the tough days that will come in the future. Below are a few my answers to the question.

1. Best opportunity for moral training based on family values
2. Best student to teacher ratio
3. More opportunities to build family relationships
4. Dynamic learning environment

I don’t know why I have never posted my testimony, but it is about time.  I have also added a copy of my testimony in my “About Hank Osborne” page found in the sidebar of my blog’s main page.  I believe it is important to share this so that my readers can have a good ideas of where I am coming from, especially when writing on Christian subjects.  There are so many twists and spins that religion can put on Christianity.  Don’t leave your blog readers guessing where your beliefs come from.

I am a born again Christian!

“I attended a Southern Baptist Church every Sunday from birth for 14 years except for the Sunday when I got my tonsils taken out at 5 years of age.  Yes! I was counting Sundays back then because there was a competition between a few of us kids to see who could get the longest perfect attendance pen.  I still have mine.  The Babpist Church was serious about only giving these pins out to folks who actually can to Sunday School every single week.  The end result was that God made an impression on me by my early teen years.  I committed my life to Christ while attending a camp at Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly in Black Mountain, NC.

Shortly after accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior, my parents separated.  My mother, sister, and I left my dad after years of abuse.  Our departure, led to my father’s attempted murder of my grandfather.  My grandfather would not tell my dad where we went.  My mom completed the divorce which I supported, but then she went back to my dad within a year and remarried him.  That I did not approve of nor did I understand.  I found out many years later that my mom went back under direst.  My dad entered the ministry to become a Baptist preacher, but the abuse started back up almost immediately.  At 16, I ran from him and God at that point.  Eventually my dad committed suicide after I had been long gone for several years.

From the age of 16 forward, almost twenty years of backsliding ensued to what I thought was the point of no return.  There is no need to go into that list of sins, but it was bad.  Then I met a wonderful young lady.  My life had been a cakewalk compared to hers.  Her testimony still brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.  We fell in love.  We both had committed our lives to Christ at a young age, but had very bad experiences with “religion” and suffering at the hands of “men of God”.  Even with our experiences, we knew that we needed to bring our future children up in a Christian home.  We started looking for a church and ended up visiting the church where we have been attended since 2001.  On our first visit to our church (Seacoast Church), the pastor stood up in front of about a thousand folks on a Saturday night and taught on “Why God Allows Suffering”.  He did a great job and God spoke to both of us through that message.  In 2003 I attended a men’s encounter weekend (i.e., encounter with God).  It was the turning point in my life.  That weekend I was taught for the first time what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  At the end of the weekend I confessed and repented of years of sins and asked God to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and he did.  I have leaked and needed regular refills ever since, but the revelation that I got from that weekend was beyond what words can explain.  I began to seek God’s plan for my life and put a priority on growing my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Just a few months after the encounter weekend my wife and I both publicly recommitted our lives to Christ and were baptized again.  We both continue to strive to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”

I frequently use this blog to write on subjects that I believe are relevant to those who are seeking to learn more about God or who have committed Christian lifestyles.  I continue to try and shine a light in the darkness that the Internet delivers to so many computer monitors.

I challenge all Christian bloggers to share their testimony, especially if your blog is listed in a Christian blogroll, webring, or a Christian directory.  Help your visitors understand where you are coming from as a Christian and how your life (and blog) relates to Jesus Christ.  I also challenge you to raise the standard of your posts so that the things you write about will glorify God.

Rodney Olsen has posted to his blog a copy of a live radio interview he recently did with my friends and fellow low country residents Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo.  Rodney is a radio announcer for Christian based 98.5 Sonshine FM in Perth, Western Australia.  This seventeen minute interview provides a great overview of the Growing Kids God’s Way curriculum.  You can listen to the MP3 copy of the radio interview by visiting Rodney Olsen’s blog The Journey.

I have been asked several times lately what I recommend for a study Bible. The answer is quick and simple. The New Spirit-Filled Life Bible New King James Version is the best study Bible I have ever used yet.

I have used many different study Bibles including the Schofield Study Bible and a couple of Life Application Study Bibles in both the New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT). The New Spirit-Filled Life Bible was my first copy of a NKJV of the Bible. I have not completed reading through it entirely yet, but it has already provided me with revelation on God’s word like I have never experienced. I am about halfway through my yearly reading plan using the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible and I usually don’t leave home without a copy this study Bible or the student version of it. I have purchased the Spirit-Filled Life Student Bible that usually stays in my car. This is a hardcover edition that is geared a little more to a new Christian. I like this edition because it contains most of the same reference tools like Kingdom Dynamics and Word Wealth. It also contains a section in the front called Life Lights that concludes with three different example plans for sharing Jesus with others. You simple go tot he first verse in one of the plans and there you will find a Life Lights box right next to that scripture to help you communicate what this verse is saying in reference to salvation. The informational box will leave you with instructions on where to go next in that particular plan. Once you complete one or more of the plans, you will find an example sinner’s prayer at the end of the Life Lights section at the end of this Bible’s introduction section.

Here is what Amazon has to say about the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible.

“Dr. Jack Hayford, founding pastor of The Church on the Way, has led a team of anointed leaders to produce the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, which offers a fresh look at the Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit.”

This Study Bible is a must have for anyone seeking to know and understand what God is doing through the power of the Holy Spirit today.

The hype on this story has settled in the mainstream media, but it has not left my mind in the past week. I am as knowledgeable as a man can be on abortion without being a physician. I wrote about my history and my personal position on abortion a little over a year ago.

My wife is now approximately 23 weeks pregnant with our third child. She is at about the same place in this pregnancy as she was when we learned about or son Caden’s life threatening heart defects. The heart defects (four of them) were so prominent that an amniocentesis has highly encouraged. I wrote about this experience in the draft for a book that I have been working on.

An amniocentesis is a procedure where they use a very large needle to collect fluid from the area around the baby. This fluid can be used to determine if the baby has a chromosome abnormality. We had but one question, “what is the benefit of gathering this information?” The answer was long and consisted of a lot of beating around the bush. Finally, the answer we got was that the amniocentesis results would empower us with information to help us make a “choice” on what to do next. We determined that what they really meant was that they wanted to know if we were interested in terminating the pregnancy.

Obviously we chose to move forward with the pregnancy. It is my understanding that many parents choose to end the life of their child if defects like these are found and often the decision is made as a result of pressure put on them by the prenatal clinics to consider the termination.

I really did not understand what a partial birth abortion was until a little over a week ago. What makes me sick to my stomach is that my wife and I were highly encouraged to consider our “options” in regards to her pregnancy with Caden. A choice to terminate at that late point in the pregnancy would have resulted in what I now understand to be a partial birth abortion.

Before you follow the links I am about to give you I want to give a firm WARNING that the information you will see and read is very graphic and it is very disturbing. It is all truth and I believe every parent who is considering an abortion should be required to see or read something like this at a minimum. La Shawn Barber has brought together a couple of the best posts on this subject that I have seen. The first post is titled ‘Intact’ Infanticide [WARNING, this is a very graphic description of late term abortion as witnessed by a nurse]. The other post provides a graphical representation of the procedure and is titled Supreme Court Upholds Ban On Partial Birth Abortion[Visual WARNING]. La Shawn has been one of the most faithful bloggers in producing dozens of sobering reports on abortion in a category she has named “child killing”.

It grieves me to think that children’s lives could be taken in this way. What grieves almost as much is the number of U.S. citizens who are sitting on the edge of the seat to cast a vote for a presidential candidate who criticizes the most recent Supreme Court Decision to stop partial birth abortions.

The Senator Hillary Clinton’s Response:

“This decision marks a dramatic departure from four decades of Supreme Court rulings that upheld a woman’s right to choose and recognized the importance of women’s health…”Source

From the Senator Barack Obama Camp.

“I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women…” Source

Did they get together for lunch to come up with matching opening sentences that read like they are in stereo surround sound?

Well Senators Obama and Clinton, our experience and many others is that many of the folks recommending this procedure have little if any concern for the woman’s health. The folks giving us the option to bow out of a late term pregnacy simply wanted us to consider reversing a CHOICE we made at conception.

A few months ago I was contacted by the founder of a great outreach project for those parents who face a difficult prenatal diagnosis like we faced with Caden. I almost forgot about this until Mrs. Ozz reminded as we were discussing this subject this past week. Please visit this site and pass it along to any parents who may be getting pressure to terminate a pregnacy as a result of prenatal screenings or tests.

BeNotAfraid.net

“Benotafraid.net is an online outreach to parents who have received a poor or difficult prenatal diagnosis. The family stories, articles, and links within this site are presented as a resource for those who may have been asked to choose between terminating a pregnancy or continuing on despite the diagnosis. The benotafraid.net families faced the same decision and chose not to terminate. By sharing our experiences, we hope to offer encouragement to those who may be afraid to continue on. “

Check out other ProLifeBlogs.

I have been stewing on a new idea for several months. I finally came up with a name and launched the site. The site is titled The Edifier. I hope that it would not take very much effort for you to realize how much my relationship with God means to me. You can see in the side bar of this blog that I offer guidance on building a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What I have found in the blogshpere is that there are plenty of blogrolls and directories containing self proclaimed Christian web sites. There is one big problem with many of the sites that add themselves to these directories and blogrolls. They do not maintain a high standard are Christian values in what they write or with the pictures and videos they plaster on their sites. This in my opinion can confuse the non-believer or seeker who does not understand how a professing Christian can post such filth or anger filled material. I have been as bad as any of blogger at times, but I am working on it. The idea with The Edifier is that it will highlight blog posts, blogs and web sites that have been identified to fall in line with the following scripture from Eph 4:12 (NLT).

“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. “

Hopefully this site can become a trusted source for surfers to identify edifying material on the Internet.  In the beginning I will be tagging posts, blogs and web sites as Edifiers based solely on my own opinion. I do plan to recruit assistance in identifying Edifiers in the future. I have not made contact with any of my perspective recruits just yet.

Pastor Jon is a friend that I have made over the Internet. I have never met him in person, and he has no idea I am doing this little project. Pastor Jon’s Blog has been identified as the first Edifying Blog on The Edifier blog.

Congratulations Pastor Jon!

A very popular question from friends and family has been, “are you having a boy or a girl?” Everyone knows that Mrs. Ozz is pregnant with our third child which is due to arrive in August. My response to “what are your having” was confirmed on Thursday when we had the big 20 week ultrasound. I have been saying just three words in response to this question since Thursday, “my three sons.” The first thing out of most people’s mouth when I say this is, “DO WHAT? Your having triplets?” Um, No. We are having one more boy and that will total three boys in our house. Then they say, “Oh, I get it.” [giggle, giggle]

My oldest son Riley has been all but prophesying over his mommy’s belly and saying, “I am having a baby sister.” We had to break the news to Riley on Thursday that he is going to have another little brother. Oh, and there was little doubt in determining the gender during the ultrasound on Thursday. This little guy has obviously heard his brother and the rest of us talking about a baby sister. He positioned himself so that we could be absolutely certain that he is in fact all boy. Riley seems fine with the news, but he is quick to tell us that he still wants a little sister.

We do not have not have a name picked for this little guy, but we are already getting plenty of suggestions. The name will remain a surprise for now. Maybe we will save it for the end of our Growing Kids God’s Way class like we did with Caden’s name. We held out on sharing Caden’s name until just before he was born. We picked his name based solely on meaning. The name Caden means “fighter” and his middle name Gabriel meaning “the Lord is my strength”. Riley’s name was picked based on uniqueness and his middle name William was picked to honor his grandpa’s first name Willie (Joe) and my grandfather’s last name “Williamson”.

Another popular question I get is in regards to the baby’s health. Most people who want to know sort of beat around the bush with their question. I am sure they are trying not to offend me. It’s really not a big deal so I will share the question and the answer right here. The question goes something like this, “do you have any concerns about the baby’s health, I mean, with all the medical problems Caden has endured?” The short answer is a simple, No. Caden’s diagnosis of 22q11.2, Di George, VCFS or whatever you choose to call it was caused by an anomaly in the first trimester of Sherry’s pregnancy. Sherry and I have been tested and Caden did not get any the chromosome deletion from either of us. That leaves us with every expectation that any other babies when have will be perfectly healthy.

I can say that Satan has played plenty of games with us up until this ultrasound. After all, it was the 20 week ultrasound during Sherry’s last pregnancy that began our journey with dozens of medical professionals specializing in pediatric care. We have been battling some fear as the weeks wound down to this ultrasound. This ultrasound finished with perfect results. Everything was perfect.

Sherry and I both believe that every child is a gift from the Lord. Psalm 127:3a NLT. I won’t go into any of my personal theology on that subject except to say that I would even go as far as to say that every child is not only a gift from God, but a perfect gift from God. I really like what God’s Word says in James 1:16-18 (The Message). These verses fall under a section of James 1 that is appropriately subtitled in the New Living Translation as “Faith and Endurance“. Early in this pregnancy Sherry felt that God had given her the words, “Walk by faith, not by sight.” That can be a tall order for a woman who lugs around a suction machine and a feeding pump for her 2 1/2 year old son. Sherry was reassured of these God given words when she woke up on Thursday morning and began her morning quiet time with God. The Bible reading plan we both follow took us through the fifth chapter of second Corinthians. On the very morning of her 20 week ultrasound, Sherry found 2 Corinthians 5:7 in her morning reading.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NLT)

What about the Easter Bunny? Those who have be around my blog long enough to read my opinions on Santa Claus and Halloween should expect that I must have an opinion about the Easter Bunny. I do.

Before I give my opinion, I want to make sure you understand that the reason for this post is not specifically to change anyone’s mind about how they celebrate Easter. My main reason for this post is to encourage any other parents out there who share my basic practices concerning the Easter Bunny.

I have a standard American background in terms of Easter. As a kid I woke up on Easter morning to find that there was a nice big basket filled with eggs, jellybeans, and a box containing a hollow milk chocolate bunny rabbit all padded with a nice layer of fake plastic grass. I usually got a new church outfit. I even got a real live baby chicken once for Easter. All of this really was pretty cool and I don’t have a problem with any of it, well except maybe the jellybeans. They are not compatible with my dental work. I could go on all day with Internet references about what colored eggs mean and why someone should or should not hide Easter eggs, but I am not going to bore you with that nonsense. I have no underlying religious reasons for coloring Easter eggs and having an Easter egg hunt. It think it is plain good old fashion fun and it helps bring attention to this very special day.

Now, the Easter Bunny is one part of Easter that I no longer find as being cool. The Easter Bunny game was played in my house when I was a child and was fairly harmless. The fact that it was done in my house when I was a kid and it was fun does not automatically cause me to follow suite with this particular tradition. I now see this tradition of telling about a magical Easter Bunny for what it really is, a lie. It is a small lie and told with the best of intentions by most parents, but it is none the less a lie. This like any other lie can diminish the much needed healthy trust relationship required between a parent and a child. This is why I no longer tell this little lie to my children.

What do I tell my kids about Easter? What is the best way to celebrate Easter? As a Christian, should we participate in secular Easter activities? As a parent, these are just a few questions that you may be asking yourself as Easter approaches. My short answer to all of these questions is to keep it true.

Keeping it true is fairly easy. My wife and I do put out Easter baskets for our kids. We just tell our children the truth about where the baskets came from. The baskets came from Mommy and Daddy. We then share the most important meaning of Easter with our kids. We tell them the story of how Jesus gave his life for us on the cross. We then explain the resurrection of Jesus to our children in the best way we can. We tell our kids that Easter is a celebration of what Jesus did on the first Easter that paved the way for us to follow him into eternity in Heaven with God as long as we believe and trust in him.

Parent who keep it true should be encouraged that they are not alone. There are others of us who try to keep the focus on building healthy family relationships. I understand that secular holiday traditions can be fun, but we as Christians do not have to embrace them all just because everyone else is doing it. Parents can be creative in building their own family traditions that set them apart from the world and help you build a unique family identity.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Col 2:6-10 NLT

Man that is good stuff!

Is there such a phrase as “Too Premature”? If you ask some experts in the UK, then the answer is yes. A TimesOnline story reported back in November that the The Nuffield Council on Bioethics released a report titled Critical Care Decisions in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine that says:

..intensive care should not be given to babies born before 22 weeks, and that babies born between 22 and 23 weeks should not, in normal practice, be given intensive care unless parents make a specific request and doctors agree that treatment is possible and in the baby’s best interests.

If you ask Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead, FL if there is such a thing as “Too Premature” then you would find that a new chapter needs to be written in this bioethics report. Their daughter Amillia was born in the fall at just under 22 weeks gestation. The exact gestation time is known because she was conceived via in vitro fertilization. Amillia was about the length of a standard ball point pen when she was born and weighed about 10 onces. You can see a picture of how small her little feet were on The Sydney Morning Herald. Now at four months of age Amillia is well over 4 pounds and will likely be going home from the hospital with little concern for her future health according to doctors at the Baptist Children’s Hospital in Miami.

God continues to show that he has a greater plan no matter what the experts say.