Enjoying the View

B&W with a splash of color

2009-10-27T11:10:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone, I hope you're getting some useful tips from this. I think that this is probably the last tutorial that I have left to give. Unless I can think of another one in the next couple of weeks that is. This one is a personal favorite of my sister-in-law's. It is a B&W photo with one thing drawn out in color. It's actually pretty simple to do and you will see just how simple they are to do, once you've gone through this entire tutorial.

You start off with a colored photo. I chose to use a picture that I took of my niece. (Isn't she a cutie?) After you've adjusted it the way you want it, color and all, you then save it. Don't close out the file because you aren't done with it yet. Take that same photo and turn it B&W (see previous tutorial). Save the file with a new name so that you don't overwrite the colored photo you just saved. Next thing you are going to do is open both files in Photoshop. You will want the two pictures separated like having two separate windows open for the internet, like so. (this is when I am grateful that Jay decided that we needed two computer monitors for our desktop)

(Just a friendly reminder: you can click on any of these photos to see the larger version of them.)

Next, you are going to want to zoom in on the color picture to the part that you want to bring out in color on the B&W photo. On this picture, I chose the flower. Make sure that you zoom equally on both pictures by looking at the percentage at the top of the photo. There may be times where you will not be able to get them exactly the same, but try to get them as close as possible. Next, you are going to choose your magnetic lasso tool on the right hand side. It looks like an upside down wire hanger.

Go to your subject and click on where you wan to start. The cool thing about the magnetic lasso tool is that it will follow exactly what it is you're trying to trace just as long as you remain close to the lines. Just to be on the safe side, you may want to click (be careful not to double-click) on certain points just to make sure you stay on track. For me, I just did a "safe" click on the points of each petal. Keep tracing the object until you get back to the starting point just like if you were playing "connet the dots" make sure you click on the exact spot you started at. Once you've done that your object will be completely traced in dotted lines like below. (you will have to click on the photo for the larger version to see this one)

Next, right-click on your object and that will pull up a drop down menu. click on "layer via cut".

Then comes the reason why we needed to make these pictures two separate windows and make sure they were zoomed in equally. You are going to selecet the Move tool (looks like an arrow with a cross next to it). Click on your object and drag it to the B&W photo, lining it up over the object you would like to make color.

Make sure that you get it over the object exactly.

And that's it! Who knew that it was that simple? Now you can save the picture and close out the others. Make sure that if you want to keep those other photos you do not want to say "yes" to the changes when you close them out. Just say "no". LOL

And this is what the finished picture looked like when I was done with it.

After placing my watermark over this picture, I thought maybe I could do a tutorial about creating a watermark for those that are interested. Although, I don't know if I would be able to get it on here within the next couple of weeks. It would greatly depend on what my schedule allows. In the meantime, for those of you who ARE interested, look around and maybe take a picture of something that you would like to put into your watermark. The flower in my watermark above, actually came from a picture that I took of one in my garden. I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut it out. You have plenty of time to decide what you would like and take the picture. In the meantime, until I can get the watermark tutorial up, practice using these other techniques and discover your own style of photography. Until next time, Ciao!

Black and Whites

2009-10-14T20:27:00.005-04:00

I know I'm a day late, but here we go. The next one that I thought I would teach is B&W's . After learning how to do these, I have noticed that most people just pretty much hit the B&W button and they're done with it. But a lot of those photos could look so much better if they adjusted the curves. I will show you what I mean. For this tutorial, I decided to use this photo that I took while away on a Christian Women's Retreat. The picture reminds me of Yoda's swamp on Dagobah. (Remember you can click on any of these images to see the larger version.)

Jay of course, being the Star Wars fanatic, thinks this picture looks awesome! It's kind of cool to me too, but not really something that I think anyone would really want to hang on their livingroom wall. LOL. As it turns out, this actually turned into a perfect example of what I am talking about. The first thing you want to do after you've opened your image is click on "Image > adjustments > Black & White. You will get a dialogue box that looks like this.

All you do is click "OK" and it will turn your image B&W, like this.

But we're not done yet. To adjust the curves you will want to click on threshold on the lower right hand side, which will pull up a menu and then click on curves.

It will show the curves dialogue box in the upper right hand corner just pull on the diagonal line you see circled here.

Now this is where your own personal touch comes in. You will want to make the picture more black and white and less gray without losing the details in the photo. How much you want to adjust the picture is up to you. To lighten the picture, click on the middle of the line and pull up. To darken pull down. To adjust the black levels go a little lower on the line and pull. To adjust the grays go higher up on the line. You will have to play with it a little bit to get comfortable with using it. And while you're doing that you can kind of gage your preferences. With mine, I lightened up the picture just enough to turn the swamp water almost white. And then I darkened the black to really bring out the details. You can see here how I adjusted the curves.

This is what the finished photo looks like.

And to kind of make my point, you can look at the two photos side by side and see that the one I adjusted is more clear than if I'd only hit the B&W button and been done with it.

And that concludes my tutorial. See you again in a couple of weeks. :)

Color Pop

2009-09-29T10:49:00.005-04:00

Welcome back everyone! Today we are going to learn about color popping! I love this technique because it's sole pupose is to draw out color. And sometimes you get colors that you never thought were even there. A couple of great example that I have are these.

Notice the blue color in the cabin behind my girls? Those cabins are actually gray. When I did a color pop on the image it drew out a pretty blue color that was hidden in the wood. That's one of the things that a color pop does! And today I am going to teach you how to do that.

The first thing you need to do is open up your image in Photoshop (PS). Last tutorial I told you that I would be using the pansy picture for this technique. So here it is.

Once you have your image open you are going to click on Image > Mode > Lab color. Next you are going to hold down Ctrl + J to create a layer copy. We do this especially when you are doing a picture with people. And I will show you why in a minute. After you've created a layer copy, you are going to change your top layer copy setting from normal to multiply.

And here comes the reason why I chose this flower for this particular tutorial. Notice what happens to the petals after I changed the setting.

See the pretty color on the inside of the petals that popped out? After you've done that you can adjust the brightness and contrast to your liking by clicking on Image > adjustments > Brightness/Contrast. In this image I didn't have to make adjustments after that. It's a little different than when you are working on a picture with people in it though. Because a color pop tends to make people look like lobsters. Like this.

Which is why you create a layer copy. It gives you the ability to use the eraser tool and just erase back on the skin.

So once you made your adjustments and erased back the skin tones on your people. Then you are going to go back to RGB mode to finish the job by clicking on Image > Mode > RGB color. You will get a dialogue box asking you if you would like to merge the layers before changing modes. Click "Merge". Now you can adjust the picture to however you like it. Whatever fits your style. With my picture there was a little more yellow than I really cared for so I clicked on Image > Adjustments > Selective color. Changed the color to yellow on the dialogue box and then pulled back a little bit on the yellow curosor. And this is the final result.

Here is the before and after. You can really see a difference in the color.

Finding the Correct Color

2009-09-15T12:20:00.018-04:00

Hey everyone. In this lesson we are going to learn how to find the correct color in your photos by doing a curves adjustment. With this technique you may only end up adjusting your photos a little bit. In others there may be some drastic improvement. It depends on the photo taken. For this lesson I have decided to use a picture of a purple pansy that I will also use for the next lesson. But if you'd like you can use the same image that you used to learn how to crop last time.

Open your image in your photo editing program. Then you are going to create a copied layer (I will give the shortcuts in a minute). To create a layer go to Layer > New > layer via copy.

Next we are going to open up our curves dialogue box by going to Image > adjustments > curves.

The shortcut to do all of this is Ctrl + J and then Ctrl +M.

On the curves dialague box you will see 3 eyedroppers, black, gray and white. You are going to use all three, but first, click the black one on the left and then click OK. Now you are going to go to your threshold. Down on the bottom right you will see a circle that is half black and half white. click on that circle. On the menu that pops up you will see a selection that says threshold. Click on that. Your picture will look this this.

On the top right you will see a graph with a little white arrow below it pointed in the middle. That is called a histogram. You are going to take that little arrow and drag it completely to the far left. Your picture should completely disappear leaving you with white screen.

Then you are going to take that arrow and slowly move it back towards the right until you start to see black specks appear on the screen. As soon as the first black speck appears on the screen. STOP! This is your black point. Next, select the color sample tool from the eyedropper menu (make sure sample size = 3x3 average (on the top tool bar)

Click on the black speck and then throw away the threshold layer by dragging it to the trash can at the bottom right.

Hit Ctrl + M again to bring the curves dialogue box back up. Click on the white eyedropper on the right and then click OK. Again you are going to click on the B&W circle on the bottom right and you will have your histogram show up on the right witht he arrow in the middle. But this time you are going to drag the arrow to the far right until you are left with a all black screen. If you noticed on my picture below, even though I pulled mine to the far right I still have a white circle.

This is what is called a blowout. Simply put, on this part of the picture it may look like a white spot, but put simply, it's actually blank. There is no information there. With a white spot you can at least darken it if you want too. But with a blowout, you cannot adjust it no matter what you do, because there is no information there to adjust. In photography, most of the time, blowouts are a bad thing. In this shot, it's not that big of a deal. But when half the picture is blown like below, then I trash it. It doesn't matter how good the composition of the picture was, it's just no good when the picture is this blown.

In this picture when I was first trying to get a picture of the flower, my ISO was set too high. The ISO on a DSLR camera determines how much light the camera allows. The higher the ISO the more light the camera lets in. So that shot was trashed. OK, back to the lesson.

To find your white point you are going to drag the arrow slowly to the left until you start to see white specks show up on your screen. Then STOP! BUT for instances like in my picture where I have a blowout, moving the arrow is not necessary. Next take your color sample tool again and click on the white speck (or in my case the white spot). This is your white point. Again you are going to throw away your threshold layer.

Hit Ctrl + M again and click on the gray eyedropper icon in the middle and click OK. With the gray point we are going to do things a little differently. Go to Edit > Fill.

You will see a dialogue box pop up that looks like this. Make sure you settings are the same as mine below before clicking "OK".

Your screen will now turn completely gray.

Now you are going to go to the right of your screen just above your layers and where it says "Normal" you are going to change that to "Difference".

What you get should look like a film negative.

NOW you are going to click on that little B&W circle on the bottom right again and click on threshold. This time your screen should go black and you should only see half a histogram. Move your arrow all the way to the left. Some of you will have a mostly white screen with a few black specks on it. For those of you who don't have any black specks showing, you will again move the arrow slowly to the right until you start to see a few black specks show up. Then STOP! This is your gray point.

Go back to your color sample tool in the eyedropper menu and click on one of the black specks. Again throw away the threshold layer and then go ahead and throw away your copy layer until all you are left is the single layer with three small numbered circles. Now you are going to click on the B&W circle again and click on curves. On the top right where you saw your histogram pop up you will see a white box with a diagonal line through it and three eyedroppers next to it. You are going click on the black eyedropper and then go to the number 1 circle. Then the white eyedropper and click on the number 2 circle and then click on the gray eyedropper and then click on the number 3 circle. As you do this you will notice that there are lines that adjust themselves in the curves graph as it is adjusting your pictures.

Once you are done, highlight your original layer and click clear at the top. This will clear your numbered circles from the picture.

Like I said before, sometimes it will only correct the color in your picture a little bit and sometimes it will adjust it a lot. In this instance it only adjusted it a little. The picture on the left is the after picture and the one on the right is the before picture. If you look at the two side by side, you can see that the picture is now a little less yellow.

And that is how you find the correct color in your pictures.

Rule of Thirds

2009-09-01T13:55:00.013-04:00

I have been thinking lately about what to blog about. And while some things come to mind, none of them were really inspiring enough for me to sit down and actually type out my thoughts. Last night I thought about posting what I have learned so far with photo editing. I know there are a couple of passionate picture takers who read my blog (wink wink) who might like to learn this, and maybe there are others who might be interested in taking a couple of shots they have and enhancing them. Now, I am certainly not a professional when it comes to photography. There are still some things I need to learn before I can even go as far as to even consider myself a professional. But that doesn't mean that I can't share what I have learned so far. And as I learn more, then I can share more. So I am planning to do one tutorial every two weeks. I will post a tutorial of one of the techniques that I have learned. Most of it has come from the ilovephotography website. There's really only a few techniques that I can teach all of you, so this will keep me from having to come up with new stuff to blog about for a couple of months. LOL. Some of what I have learned comes from just playing around with a picture. And you will need to do the same as you discover your own personal style. In the end, I hope that these tutorials will help you take a picture like this...

And be able to bring it to it's full potential...

And hopefully I won't come across as confusing. The first one I thought I would do is what's call "The Rule of Thirds". It is a cropping method that is used by photographers and is a basis for well balanced and interesting photos. (Megan, this is a great technique to use on that one picture of Lizzy from up north that you were thinking about making B&W) To do this you basically use a grid and have it divide the picture into 9 equal parts. You then move the picture so that your subject is touching one of those lines or intersections.

I currently have photoshop cs4 to edit my pictures. It really isn't much different from the cs3 version. The main difference that I can see is that they moved some stuff around. If you do not have photoshop then you can always go to gimp.org and download their program. It's free and from what I hear it is very close to photoshop.

Ok, after you've opened up photoshop, click on edit then preferences then select grid. You will get a dialogue box like below. (the red box was added by me so you can see what you need to adjust)

In the info where you see the red box is what you will need to key in. If you can't see any of these pictures very clearly just click on the picture to see the full sized image. For people who own a Mac, use the image below (kindly given by the ilovephotography website) to edit your grid preferences. The dialogue box that opens up will look similar to the one above.

Once you've adjusted the grid to your preference, you can then open up the picture you would like to crop. For my example I will use a picture of a flower that I took in my garden. (I just love the designs of the red throughout the yellow.)

To open up your grid, you will need to click on view then show then grid. (For a shortcut to show and hide grid on photoshop hold down ctrl and ' )

Once you've done that, you should see this.

Click on the move tool located on the top left. It looks like a black arrow and then you should be able to move your picture until your subject is touching one of those lines. You will see that part of the picture looks like it is going off the screen and behind it you might see a bunch of squares (it just means that area is blank). Click on the cropping tool (looks like a bold square with a diagonal line through it). Start at one corner of the picture and left click on your mouse and drag it until it covers the entire part of the picture that is still visible on the screen. Once you let go of the mouse, everything you dragged to crop tool over will be highlighted. It will look something like this.

All that is left now is to hit enter. And everything that wasn't highlighted will disappear. Leaving you with your desired crop. Then you can just follow the same process you used to show your grid to also get rid of it. And voila! You now have a beautifully cropped photo!

At this point I did a few other things to draw out the beautiful colors...

...but that will be left for another tutorial for another day. :)

Adding to God's Miracle.

2009-08-05T14:25:00.002-04:00

I mentioned in a previous blog about God performing a miracle on a friend of mine. I was reading the updates on his blog today and I read something that leaves no room for doubt that this is nothing short of a miracle from God. This is what was written in the blog:

"Char wanted to share a conversation she and Trisha had with Jim's doctor on Monday. He pulled up 3 different brain scans and asked them to look at them and see if they could find any difference between them. He told them to look at the darkness in each picture. Char and Trisha could not find anything different as they all looked the same. The doctor said the person in the first scan died 4 days ago, the second person died 2 days ago and the third person is Jim!! The doctor said Jim had the largest most massive bleed anyone could have. It was in the most strangest place of his brain that it took them 3 hours to find the aneurysm so they could repair it! It is medically impossible that Jim is alive. All three patients had the same aneurysm & the same treatment yet Jim is the only one who survived. The neurology team at Henry Ford is amazed. The doctor remarked he had heard that this must be some "divine intervention". The doctor also said he always has at least 14 cases a night and he only had 2 cases that night so he is able to literally watch Jim breathe on the monitors and if anything happens he will be right there to assess the situation. The doctor thinks Jim has some "guardian angel" watching over him. Char said it was divine intervention, GOD performed a miracle."

How awesome is that?!

Obama's Health Care Plan

2009-08-05T12:44:00.002-04:00

These are the first 500 pages in the 1017 page health care plan that Obama is trying to push. Even though this may sound like a good thing on the surface, I just thought you might like to know what will be tagged onto this.

If you would like to check any of these out for yourself, you can click on this link here.

Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed.
Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process).
Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services.
Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Health card.
Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW, and ACORN)
Page 72: All private health care plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Health care Exchange
Page 84: All private health care plans must participate in the Health care Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens.
Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run health care plan.
Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed. And once that happens all that is left is the government health care. So much for Obama's claim that he was only offering "another choice"
Page 126: Employers MUST pay health care bills for part-time employees AND their families.
Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll.
Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2-6% tax on payroll.
Page 167: Any individual who doesn't have acceptable health care (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them)
Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Health care Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
Page 203: "the tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that.)
Page 222: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected.
Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same.
Page 253: Government sets value of doctor's time, their professional judgment etc.
Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private health care industries.
Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in health care companies.
Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs etc.
Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (health care by phone)
Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources guiding you in death. (they decide what meds you can or cannot have)
Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN
Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN
Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.
Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

Happy Birthday Alexis!

2009-07-30T06:22:00.002-04:00

Today is my daughter's 13th Birthday. I can't believe she's 13 already. Hard to imagine. And because the 13th birthday is a special birthday, to celebrate she is having a slumber party with her friends. As of tomorrow at 5pm I will have not one, but 7 teenage girls in my home. We are doing a camping theme. We have the pool set up in the back and we will be putting up the tent later on today as well. Jay and I will be setting up a fire in the fire pit, so that they can roast marshmallows and make s'mores. There will be movies, and games, and lots of pizza and junk food. And then on Saturday family will come over for a BBQ to celebrate as well. It should be lots of fun and hopefully I will have some pictures to post later this week. :)

God is still in the Miracle business!

2009-07-28T12:42:00.005-04:00

I am so excited about this bit of news that I feel like I am going to burst! So, just to make sure that doesn't happen, I am going to share it with all of you. ;)

A little more than a week ago during the 11:30 Sunday service on July 19th one of our Deacons, Jim, came up on stage to talk about offering. When he asked us to bow our heads to pray, there was a pause, so I looked up just as he was in mid-fall. And I remember thinking in the millisecond that passed "What's going on? Is this really happening? Is this some sort of skit that they are doing? It can't be, we're are supposed to hear our Pastor answer some Why-Fi (In case you're wondering. It isnt' a typo. It's the name of the series that our Pastor is doing right now) questions about women in ministry. There's something wrong!"

At that moment I jumped up, as well as hundreds of other people, to see what was wrong. Fortunately we have a medical ministry team for emergencies like this and they were already in action. Jim has become a very dear friend to me since coming to Southpoint. I began to cry as I watched them perform CPR and our Pastor told us we should all pray because it's the best thing that we can do. And we did. Once the EMS arrived they had us clearing out the auditorium and we continued to pray in the hallway. After they'd taken him to the hospital we came back in and instead of doing the sermon on women in ministry, our Pastor instead decided to answer other questions he received about why God allows bad things to happen.

My friend, Jim, had a brain aneurysm burst and it caused him to have a seizure. When our medical ministry team went to him, he wasn't breathing and he had no pulse. I was told if our medical ministry hadn't acted as quickly (or if we didn't even have one) Jim probably wouldn't have survived. Praise Him for the first miracle!

I also heard that there were people who just happened to walk in to Southpoint for the very first time that day. These people had been running away from God because they'd lost a loved one and were angry at God. And they told our pastor that when they heard him say that in this time we need to run towards God instead of running away from Him, they felt that God was talking to them and decided to come back to Him. Praise Him for the second miracle!

They took him to the hospital that is located across the street from us and once they got him stabilized they took him to the Henry Ford hospital downtown. And that is where he has been ever since. He has been through one surgery and had angiograms to watch his progress. The family members have been using a blog to keep all of us updated since we are currently not able to visit him so that Jim can concentrate on recovering. Today's blog post is what has made me so excited. Apparently the doctors are amazed (and confused) as to why Jim is recovering so quickly. It's been absolutely phenomenal! The doctor made a comment to Jim that if he knew what was making him recover so quickly and then bottle it, then the two of them would be millionaires. Jim plans to talk to him about what that "something" is when he gets a little 1-on-1 time with him. It may be confusing to those doctors, but to us who have been praying for him, we all know very well that it's through the power of Jesus Christ that he is being healed! Praise Him for the third miracle!

Praise Him because He is truly wonderful! Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!

They are going to start physical therapy with him sometime this week. If you would like to check out the blog for yourself or to listen to the message that our Pastor gave that day, just click on the links below:

Jim Olson's Recovery Process
"Why Bad Things Happen to Good People"

I finally got it!

2009-06-01T10:48:00.006-04:00

One of the things that I was having a little difficulty with when editing pictures was getting the eyes just right. I pretty much had the idea, but I wasn't 100% getting it. It turns out, my editing process wasn't the problem, it was the lighting. We took some pictures of Maiya yesterday and I made sure to pay close attention to how the sunlight was hitting her eyes this time. And when I went to edit the picture the eyes turned out PERFECT! Check it out! (click on picture to enlarge to get a better view of what I'm talking about.)

A couple of other cool things, I wanted to talk about. About a week and a half ago I went my daughter on her field trip to the zoo. And I really love how one of the pictures turned out. I originally did a color pop to bring out any hidden color in the tree bark and loved how it brought out the eagle's feathers as well. There was also part of a second eagle on the far right side. I cloned that out, along with a dead branch. It went orange when I did the color pop and was drawing too much attention so it had to go. Then I sharpened the image and viola!

I was so excited at how well this turned out that I wanted to show it off. Turns out a friend of mine also really liked how this picture turned out and has asked my permission to use it on one of her websites. I thought that was pretty cool!

The other exciting news that I have is that I have my first "professional" job coming up. A member friend at my sister's church is getting married at the end of this month. She didn't have a photographer yet and Chat suggested that she talk to me since I am really wanting to get into this. I also have another wedding sometime next year for one of my other sister's classmates. God really seems to be blessing me with this desire of mine to become a professional photographer and I am absolutely excited!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T12:20:00.004-04:00

July 4

The Declaration of Independence was approved JULY 4, 1776.

John Hancock signed first, saying "the price on my head has just
doubled."

Benjamin Franklin said "We must hang together or most assuredly we
shall hang separately."

Of the 56 signers:

17 served in the military;

11 had their homes destroyed;

5 were hunted and captured;

Abraham Clark had two sons imprisoned on the British starving ship
Jersey;

John Witherspoon's son was killed in battle;

Francis Lewis' wife was inprisoned and died from the harsh treatment;

many, such as Thomas Nelson and Carter Braxton, lost their fortunes;

and 9 died during the War.

When Samuel Adams signed the Declaration, he said:

"We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be
obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of
the sun, let His kingdom come."

John Adams said:

"I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding
generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be
commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion
to God Almighty."

John Adams continued:

"I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost
to maintain this Declaration...

Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and
glory...

Posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we [may
regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not."

- American Minute with Bill Federer

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Toby Mac - Portable Sounds

2009-07-03T18:22:00.004-04:00

Today I went into the Family Christian Bookstore to pick something up for my MIL. The cool thing about this bookstore is sometimes you can get some great things for just $5.00. Every month they have new things that you can choose from. Today they had available Toby Mac's CD "Portable Sounds". I got this CD for my nephew for his birthday last year. I don't normally buy CD's for myself (then again, I don't normally buy much of anything for myself), but I'm a sucker for a good deal and picked up a copy of the CD for myself. I have been listening to it all day and I REALLY like it! I love all the songs on there, but my favorites are One World and Lose My Soul. Lexi was listening to the CD with me and I had to show her the Feelin' So Fly video because I thought she would get a kick out of it. It had her crackin' up. But the one song that really had me laughin' was the one called Hype Man (truDong '07). Have you listened to this one Meg? Unfortunately there is no official video for this, but listen to the words, it's pretty cute and funny. Check it out. :D

God's Chisel

2009-06-30T10:30:00.002-04:00

This is a video by the Skit Guys. It's called "God's Chisel". It is a really good video. Makes some really good points mixed with a little bit of humor. Check it out. :)

Gianna Jenssen

2009-06-19T07:04:00.002-04:00

I don't know if any of you are familiar with who Gianna Jenssen is. Gianna is an abortion survivor and these two videos are part of an amazing testimony and message that she gave. The two videos last a total of 16 minutes long, but it is so well worth the watch.

My Jordy has graduated Kindergarten

2009-06-11T19:54:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Jordan officially graduated kindergarten. It was great getting to see her there on stage. They went through all of the things that they learned throughout the year, by singing it in a song. It was very cute.

It's amazing how fast time has flown by. I can't believe she will be going into a number grade next year. In fact, all three of them will be in school next year. Gosh, do I feel old. Here are a couple of pictures that I took. I apologize that they do no look that great. I realized afterwards that my lens needed some serious cleaning. I also have to apoligize about them being in reverse order. Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me rearrange them. I'll have to fix that later, but for now, here they are.

This is Jordy with her teacher.

On stage singing one of their songs. I believe this one was about Christopher Columbus.

My drama queen being silly.

The sign they had posted on the wall. It may seem far off right now, but I guarantee you this time will fly by just as fast as it has been for these first six years. :P

Also, I've been thinking... Maiya begins pre-k this fall. But when SHE, herself, starts kindergarten, Lexi will be in highschool. Oh gosh, I'm getting old! :P

About the killing of Late-Term Abortion Practioner George Tiller

2009-06-01T12:46:00.003-04:00

Have you heard the news about George Tiller? George Tiller is a Late-Term Abortionist. He was killed while at his church yesterday.

http://www.lifenews.com/state4185.html

My heart sank as soon as I saw the headline to this news story. My first fear was that this was somehow going to be pinned as something that is common within the pro-life movement and let me tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Certainly what he did as a living is something that I find extremely appalling. Especially when you consider what has to be done in order to perform this sickening procedure. George Tiller has made MILLIONS from murdering defenseless babies. Pro-life organizations have already released statements to condemn the actions of the person who murdered George Tiller. Even still, I wanted to take a minute to address this issue, because I honestly do not have enough faith in the media to make it abundantly clear that this is not a position that pro-lifers like myself support. In fact, 99.9999999% of us who are pro-life do not support any type of vigilantism. And we certainly do not promote it. Anything that I, or pro-life organizations, have done to oppose abortion has been within legal boundaries. My main goal as a pro-life advocate has always been to change people's hearts about abortions. Not demand their lives. What this guy did was as appalling and wrong. And as far as I'm concerned he is no better than George Tiller himself. And I hope that justice will be served and he will pay the penalty for his crimes.

Compassion International interview on Fox news

2009-05-22T06:26:00.001-04:00

I thought this was pretty cool and thought I would share it.

Some new pictures

2009-05-08T13:18:00.005-04:00

I have been learning a lot from this site. It was extremely intimidating at first, but now I am beginning to get a bit comfortable with some of the stuff. I still haven't quite got the hang of making my eyes ***pop*** like they do, but I'm getting there. Today I made my first attempt at a color pop. A couple of weeks ago I took Maiya to a petting farm and there was a leaf floating in the pond where they have turtles and goldfish. I took a picture of it. Initially I found the right color balance and sharpened it and that was it. Today while delivering papers on my route I remembered coming across a tutorial on the ilovephotography.com website about bringing out color (color pop). So I thought I would give it a try. This is what I got:

Here is the picture before:

And here it is after:

I did this in Photo Shop CS3. (Terri you need to pull that out girl, because once you get the hang of PS, I promise that you will never edit your pictures any other way. LOL) PS is a pretty expensive program. We were blessed because Jay got it for free from chuch because he needs it to make all the graphics that he does for the church. For those of you who are not able to afford the PS program, you can go to this website and download a program called GIMP (GNU image manipulation program) for FREE!

Anyhow, the color pop is pretty easy. You start off by changing to lab mode. Click on image > mode > lab color. Then create a layer copy. Change the layer setting to multiple. That will bring out all the colors. If you have people in your picture you will have to erase back color pop on the layer copy because a color pop will make people look like lobsters. (eek!). But there you have it. That's how you do a color pop.

Yesterday I participated in the National Day of Prayer with my church. I got there at 11:30 to check-in and while Mai and I were waiting we went and looked at the water because all the slides at the jungle gym were wet. There was this seagull that was coasting on the wind. And because it was facing in the direction that the wind was blowing it was in a single spot for a good couple of minutes. So I was able to get a couple of really cool shots. I did the color pop on these too because it was such a dreary day due to the rain that was coming that there really wasn't much color to the pictures when I took them. The color pop took care of that. :P

And because they had these huge rocks sitting under some flowery trees I thought I would get some nice shots of Maiya. Instead I got something a little different. Lord forgive me, but I did find these funny.

Maiya isn't normally the squemish one, but she got a flower petal on her finger and then some dirt (not a lot, but some) and she actually started to freak out. Here are how those turned out.

I did help her get the dirt off her fingers, just in time to gather to pray for the government, our military, the media, businesses, our schools, and for families yesterday. And by the grace of God the rain actually held off until we were done. It was supposed to start raining at noon which is when we began our prayer, but it literally didn't start raining until it was over and we began walking back to our car. God is good! :)

Hero of the Week

2009-04-22T09:48:00.006-04:00

How many of you watched the Miss America beauty pageant? I'll admit, that I did not. I don't really get into things like beauty pageants, Grammy awards, Music awards and such. But I did hear what happened. How could you not? But just in case there are some of you out there who haven't heard. During the Miss USA pageant, Miss California (Carrie Prejean), made it to the top 15. I guess this is the point where they draw and number from the glass bowl and that number represents one of the judges. The judge then gets to ask the question of his choosing. The number that Miss California chose was for the judge Perez Hilton. Perez Hilton is a gay activist celebrity blogger who is known for his controversial statements. His question to her was this:

"Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?" (emphasis mine)

Keep in mind that it is no secret that Miss California is a Christian. And just this past election California passed proposition 8. At first, she sort of stumbled over the answer because at this moment she was contemplating whether she should give the politically correct answer? Or the answer that she knows to be right? In the end she chose to be biblically correct instead of politically correct and I applaud her.

After that Perez went on his blog to state that he felt that she not only gave the worst answer in pageant history, but that she was the only pageant contestant to be booed. Really? I don't know about you, but I've listened and watched on youtube when she gave her answer and I didn't hear any booing. Just applause.

Perez also went on to call her the "B" word and then later took that back to call her the "C" word.

Why is he being so intolerant, so hateful, so mean spirited? The answer that she gave wasn't some radical fringe belief. This belief is held by the majority of Americans. As shown by the fact that 30 states have now constitutionalized marriage being between one man and one woman for their state. He asked for her opinion and she gave it to him. She was just merely being honest with him.

In the end, Miss California did not win the Miss USA crown and instead was the first runner-up despite the fact that she had the highest scores prior to this question. Did she lose the crown because of her unpolitically correct answer? I don't know. But I do want to say that I applaud Miss California for standing up for what was right, even though it may have cost her the crown. I think the world needs more role models like her.

Click here if you would like to encourage Carrie.

Here is a video where Sean Hannity is interviewing Carrie Prejean if you're interested in watching.

He is Risen!

2009-04-12T08:01:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter Everyone! And why is it happy?! Because my Lord and savior has defeated death and is ALIVE again! I am so grateful for a God that loved me so MUCH that He was willing to take my punishment and sacrifice His life for me. He didn't have to go through all of the beatings, embarrassment and an excruciating death. He was innocent and didn't deserve that punishment. I did. I do. We all do. But He took it upon Himself because He knew that it was the ONLY WAY that we could be with Him in heaven forever. There was no other way. There is no other way. And I am forever grateful to Him! Praise God! For no other is worthy!

Good Friday

2008-03-21T06:31:00.003-04:00

Today is Good Friday and most of you know that Christians recognize this day to remember that Jesus died for us on the cross. So many times we hear that famous scripture from John 3:16 and don't really think about what it really meant for our Lord and Savior to go through what he did for us and we become calloused to it. One of the reasons why I love the movie "Passion of the Christ" is because it serves as a great reminder as to what Jesus went through to save us. So in light of Good Friday I thought I would post about what Jesus physically went through from a medical perspective given by by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. and Bert Thompson, Ph.D. It's long, but those of you who choose to read this, everything you are about to read, please keep in mind that Jesus did not have to do this. Jesus was fully human, but He was also fully God. He could have stopped this at any time if He wanted to but He didn't. He chose to do this. For us. Because He loves us more than we could possibly ever imagine and He knew it was the only way that we could be saved.

[The following article examines the crucifixion and death of Christ from a medical point of view. Because of the scientific nature of the material, readers may wish to know something concerning the educational backgrounds out of which the two authors are writing. Dr. Harrub earned his doctorate in neurobiology and anatomy at the Health Sciences Center of the College of Medicine, University of Tennessee. Dr. Thompson earned his doctorate in microbiology at Texas A&M University, where he also served for a number of years as a professor in the Department of Anatomy and Public Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, and as Director of the College’s Cooperative Education Program in Biomedical Science.]

The perception of the death of Jesus Christ in the twenty-first century frequently takes place through human eyes that have been tainted with a sanitized, sterilized, and often stylized “art-deco” depiction of Christ on the cross. Today, it is exceedingly uncommon to hear a description of the medical details attending Christ’s crucifixion, yet a complete and thorough investigation into such evidence can lead to a firmer knowledge and a deeper-rooted faith about what actually transpired on that old rugged cross nearly 2,000 years ago.

Crucifixion is believed to have originated in the Persian Empire; however, Romans are given credit for perfecting it into a heinous means of inflicting death (see Shroud, 1871; DePasquale and Burch, 1963, p. 434). Romans appreciated the cruelty of crucifixion because it demonstrated three clear advantages over other means of execution. First, it was incredibly painful for the victim (so much so that the person being crucified often was rendered unconscious during the proceedings). Second, it provided a lingering death, which was much preferred for extremely vicious criminal acts. Third, it afforded a horrific deterrent for anyone contemplating a similar offense. So what did Christ actually endure in those few short hours? The discussion that follows is intended to be an exhaustive historical and medical review of the physical death ofJesus Christ. It is our hope that the information provided here will enable you to pull back the curtain of history and experience a brief glimpse of the love that Jesus possesses for humankind. We believe you will find this material not only educational, but also edifying as you contemplate the physical agony Christ suffered for each one of us.

THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

Even as Christ was instituting the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29), His private thoughts already were centered on His impending suffering and death (Luke 22:15). Shortly thereafter, Christ and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives, into the Garden of Gethsemane. Previously, Luke had enlightened his readers about the importance of this place, stating: “And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives” (Luke 21:37). This grove of olive trees was a place to which the Lord had retreated before, and a place where He probably received a great amount of solace. However, this particular occasion at the Mount of Olives also provided the means by which His betrayer could deliver Him into the hands of the Jews who sought His death.

The name “Gethsemane” derives from the Hebrew gat shmanim, meaning “oil press” (Kollek, 1995). Not coincidentally, it was within this place that Christ would feel the crushing weight of the things yet to come—so much so that an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him (Luke 22:43). It also is significant that this is the only place in the King James Version of the Bible where the word “agony” is employed. It is because of this agony over things to come that we learn during His prayer “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Some have tried to defend the impossibility of bloody sweat. However, a thorough search of the medical literature demonstrates that such a condition, while admittedly rare, can occur.

Commonly referred to as hematidrosis or hemohidrosis (Allen, 1967, pp. 745-747), this condition results in the excretion of blood or blood pigment in the sweat. Under conditions of great emotional stress, tiny capillaries in the sweat glands can rupture (Lumpkin, 1978), thus mixing blood with perspiration. This condition has been reported in extreme instances of stress (see Sutton, 1956, pp. 1393-1394). For example, a young girl who had a terrible fear of air raids during World War I developed the condition after a gas explosion occurred in the house next door to hers (Scott, 1918). Another report details that after being threatened by sword-bearing soldiers, a Catholic nun “was so terrified that she bled from every part of her body and died of hemorrhage in the sight of her assailants” (von Grafenberg, 1585). During the waning years of the twentieth century, 76 cases of hematidrosis were studied and classified into categories according to causative factors: “Acute fear and intense mental contemplation were found to be the most frequent inciting causes” (Holoubek and Holoubek, 1996). While the extent of blood loss generally is minimal, hematidrosis also results in the skin becoming extremely tender and fragile (Barbet, 1953, pp. 74-75; Lumpkin, 1978), which would have made Christ’s pending physical insults even more painful.

BETRAYAL AND ARREST

As the night inched toward dawn, Jesus finally relented and allowed the disciples to sleep (Matthew 26:43-44; Mark 14:41). However, He found no sleep Himself prior to His betrayer’s arrival. Soon after midnight, Christ was greeted with a kiss by Judas Iscariot, who for 30 pieces of silver sold information to the chief priest pertaining to Christ’s whereabouts. The angry, armed mob seized the docile Son of God and led Him away to endure a sham of an illegal trial at the hands of corrupt Jewish authorities.

JEWISH TRIALS

The persistent procession of physical insults began soon after His arrest. We are told that Jesus was mocked, smitten, blindfolded, and struck on the face (Luke 22:63-64). Hundreds of years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied about this very event, writing, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). It was in response to a question from the high priest that we read where Jesus was struck yet again. “And when he had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, ‘Is that the way to answer the high priest?’ ” (John 18:22). While the exact force with which these blows were rendered is not described, it is easy to estimate that these early beatings were sufficient to incite multiple contusions, especially if Christ had suffered from hematidrosis earlier in Gethsemane.

Shortly after daybreak, Jesus was tried before Caiaphas and the political Sanhedrin (with the Pharisees and Sadducees) and found guilty of blasphemy (Matthew 27:1; Luke 22:66-71). Significantly, we never read of two witnesses coming forward with collaborating stories that would permit the death sentence to be meted out to Christ. Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin were bound by Jewish law, which plainly stated: “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death” (Deuteronomy 17:6). The law went on to state: “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15). However, we are told that at the trial

Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other. Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” But even then they didn’t get their stories straight! (Mark 14:56-59).

A study of Jewish law reveals that a number of those laws were broken the night Jesus was arrested and convicted (Bucklin, 1970).

Arrests could not be made at night.

The time and date of the trial were illegal because it took place at night on the eve of the Sabbath—a time that precluded any opportunity for a required adjournment to the next day in the event of a conviction.

The Sanhedrin was without authority to instigate charges. It was only supposed to investigate charges that had been brought before it, but in Jesus’ trial, the court itself formulated the charges.

As noted earlier, the stringent requirement of two witnesses testifying in agreement to merit the death penalty had not been met.

The court did not meet in the regular meeting place of the Sanhedrin, as required by Jewish law.

Christ was not permitted a defense. Under existing Jewish law, an exhaustive search into the facts presented by the witnesses should have occurred—but did not.

The Sanhedrin itself pronounced the death sentence. During Roman captivity, however, the Sanhedrin was not allowed to impose the death sentence (John 18:31). As the Roman historian Tacitus recorded, “...the Romans reserved to themselves the right of the sword.”

ROMAN TRIALS—CHRIST BEFORE PILATE

The Jews were governed by Roman law, and thus did not have the power to execute Jesus. Therefore, we are told that early in the morning the Temple officials took Jesus to the Praetorium. Realizing that any charge of blasphemy was of little concern to the Romans, the charges against Him were upgraded from blasphemy to an allegation that Jesus claimed to be a king who forbade the nation to give tribute to Caesar, thereby fomenting sedition and treason (Luke 23:2). After an initial meeting with Jesus, Pilate admitted to finding no fault with Him. But instead of being restrained by Pilate’s declaration of Christ’s innocence and considering (as they should have!) whether they might be bringing the guilt of innocent blood upon themselves, the angry Jews were all the more infuriated.

Hearing that Christ was Galilean, Pilate placed Him in Herod’s jurisdiction. We know from Luke’s account, in fact, that Herod was in Jerusalem at the time (Luke 23:7). We are told that Herod was “exceedingly glad” because he “hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.” [How fitting that the poorest anonymous beggar who requested a miracle for the relief of his ailment was not denied, while this proud prince, who asked for a miracle merely to satisfy his curiosity, was denied.] Herod returned Jesus to Pilate—an act that sealed the bond of a budding new friendship: “And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day: for before they were at enmity between themselves” (Luke 23:12). Although Pilate could find no fault in Jesus, we are told that he wanted to placate the people and thus “He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15).

CHRIST’S HEALTH—UP TO THIS POINT

The most popular means of travel in Jesus’ time were walking, boating, and riding on the backs of various animals. It is likely, therefore, that the daily rigors of His ministry, combined with His young age, ensured that the Lord was in good physical health before His walk to the Garden of Gethsemane. However, in the short span of time between the institution of the Lord’s Supper and the end of the Roman trial, Christ suffered great emotional stress (as evinced by the probable hematidrosis), abandonment by His disciples, and a physical beating after the Jewish trial. It also is important to note that Jesus was forced to walk more than 2.5 miles to and from the sites of various trials, having slept little if any the night before. All these factors would have rendered Jesus particularly vulnerable to the physiological effects of scourging (flogging).

SCOURGING

From John’s account, we learn that Pilate had Jesus scourged and then brought Him before the Jews once again, probably in an effort to forego the execution (John 19:1-2). However, the people still demanded Christ’s death. The Greek term translated “scourging” in Matthew 27:26 and Mark 15:15 is the word phragellosas, which is translated “having scourged.” The noun form is phragellion, which in Latin is translated flagellum, meaning whip or scourge. John used a word for scourge, emastigosen, the noun form of which is mastix, meaning a whip or a scourge. [It is from this word that we get our English word mastigium, which refers to an organ found in caterpillars that possess whip-like processes to keep parasites away.]

The practice of scourging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution (Hengel, 1977) because it weakened the victim through shock and blood loss. Without scourging, strong, condemned men might live on the cross for several days until exposure, wild animals, insects, or birds resulted in their death. The only allowable exemptions to this law were women and Roman senators or soldiers (except in cases of desertion) [Barbet, 1953, p. 45]. In their critically acclaimed article, “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” in the March 21, 1986 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, William Edwards and his coauthors (of the famed Mayo Clinic) described the instrument used by the Roman soldiers for flogging as “a short whip (flagrum or flagellum) with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals” (Edwards, et al., 1986, 256:1457, parenthetical item in orig.). Ironically, this is the same type of instrument Jesus Himself used in John 2:15 when He drove the moneychangers from the Temple (although the text does not indicate whether He actually used it, or merely held it out as a symbol of authority).

To position a man for scourging, soldiers tied the victim (frequently naked) to an upright post (Barbet, 1953, p. 46) in a bent position (Vine, et al., 1996, p. 551). The common method of Jewish scourging was via the use of three thongs of leather, the offender receiving thirteen stripes on the bare breast and thirteen across each shoulder (which explains the 40 stripes less one administered to Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:24). However, there was no such limit on the number of blows the Romans could deliver during a scourging, thus Christ’s flogging at their hands would have been much worse. Christ would have received repeated blows to His chest, back, buttocks, and legs by two soldiers (known as lictors), the severity of which depended mainly on the mood of the lictors at the time. Initial anterior blows undoubtedly would have opened the skin and underlying subcutaneous tissue of His chest (Davis, 1965, p. 185). Subsequent blows would have tattered the underlying pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles, as well as the medial aspects of the serratus anterior muscle (Netter, 1994, p. 174). Once these layers were ravaged, repetitive blows could fracture intercoastal ribs and shred the three layers of intercoastal muscles, causing superficial and cutaneous vessels of the chest to be lacerated. However we know that Christ did not suffer any broken bones because He was crucified in such a manner that “a bone of him shall not be broken” (John 19:36), as was foretold by earlier prophecies (cf. Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20). Therefore, at best, the exposed superior epigastric artery and vein may have been compromised, while all other major anterior vessels would have been protected behind the ribs themselves (Netter, p. 175). Edwards and his colleagues described Christ’s scourging in the following manner:

Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock (1986, 256:1457).

During scourging, the victim would experience an oozing of blood from cutaneous capillaries and veins until the wounds went deep enough to cause arterial blood to spurt out rhythmically with each successive heartbeat. In many cases, scourging “was itself fatal” (Kittel, 1967, 4:517)

Blows to Christ’s back would have started in a similar fashion, with skin being torn with the initial strikes. Subsequent blows then would have resulted in the laceration of the superficial back muscles (i.e., trapezius and latissimus dorsi). Continued beatings would begin to flay into the deep erector spinae muscles (iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis) that are innervated by dorsal rami from the spinal cord (Netter, p. 133). The perforation of these muscles would have sent excruciating pain to the spinal cord and then directly to the brain. No doubt in many victims the spinous processes that extend out in a posterior fashion from each vertebrae would have splintered as a result of the harsh blows. Having the ribs intact would protect the posterior intercoastal arteries, the veins, and the intercoastal nerves. During the scourging, it would be commonplace for the lacerated skin and bloodied, underlying muscle tissue to take on the appearance (in a quite literal fashion) of “shredded meat.” Peter referred to the beating of Christ when he reminded first-century Christians that it was Jesus “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Significantly, the term “stripes” in the original language is in the singular number, suggesting that the back of the Lord was such a mass of bleeding, bruised tissue, that it appeared as a single wound (Wuest, 1942, p. 69).

The blood loss suffered by Christ during His scourging would have been substantial, and would have resulted in a lowered blood pressure and reduced flow of blood throughout His body. If this condition persisted, hypovolemic shock would have set in (characterized by reduced blood flow to cells and tissues), which then would lead to irreversible cell and organ damage, and eventually death. Jewish law originally allowed for 40 blows (Deuteronomy 25:3), but that number later was reduced to 39 to avoid inadvertently violating the law (Barbet, 1953, p. 46).

Christ’s body was so disfigured that He almost did not appear human anymore. Yet, sadly, the worst was still to come.

In an act of pure sadistic torment, Roman soldiers placed an imitation crown on Christ’s head and mockingly bowed down to Him in reverence. But this was no ordinary crown. The thorns used to form this special crown were more than a few mere briars. Unlike the traditional crown, which often is depicted in artists’ portrayals as an open ring, the actual crown of thorns probably covered His entire scalp (Lumpkin, 1978). The gospel accounts record that following His crowning, Jesus received continued blows to the head. These blows would have driven these thorns deep into the highly vascularized scalp and forehead, penetrating both the frontalis and occipitalis muscles (Netter, p. 21). Perforations of any of the numerous arterial or venous tributaries encircling the cranium—such as the frontal and parietal branch of the superficial temporal artery and vein—would have caused extensive bleeding. Additionally, branches of the superficial cutaneous nerves of the head, such as, for example, the greater occipital nerve and the auriculotemporal nerve, would have been perforated, causing indescribable pain.

The significance of Jesus bearing a scarlet robe during the course of this agonizing persecution signifies His taking on the sins of the world. Each time Jesus was stripped or made to wear this robe, the fresh wounds would reopen and bleed, inflicting still more pain. And yet He continued on towards the cross, even though He had the power to stop the pain and agony at any given second.

CRUCIFIXION

The Jewish historian Josephus aptly described crucifixion, following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 66-70, as “the most wretched of deaths” (War of the Jews, 7.203).

Knowing that He had to continue on for humanity’s sake, a beaten and scourged Jesus began that long walk to the site of His death. Archaeological evidence strongly suggests that criminals during the time of Christ were not forced to carry an entire T-shaped cross as is commonly portrayed in art-deco jewelry or Hollywood films, but rather only the crossbeam (known as a patibulum), which would have weighed between 75 and 125 pounds. It was customary, however, for convicted criminals to carry their own cross from the scourging site to the place of crucifixion (Barbet, 1953, p. 46; Tenney, 1964, p. 286; Bromiley, 1979, 1:829). Their hands normally were tied (or even left unbound) during the procession, rather than being nailed to the patibulum. The effects of the scourging on Christ’s physical condition can be inferred from His severely weakened condition—as demonstrated by the fact that later, Simon of Cyrene would be compelled to carry the patibulum. As a bloodied Christ struggled with that crossbeam, a centurion led the procession, which usually consisted of a full Roman military guard (Barbet, 1953, p. 49; Johnson, 1978, 70:100). One of the soldiers in the procession carried a sign that later would be attached to the top of the cross, denoting the convicted man’s name and crime (Johnson, 70:100). Measurements indicate that the distance from the Praetorium to the site of Christ’s crucifixion was approximately one-third of a mile (600-650 meters) [Davis, 1965, p. 186; Bucklin, 1970; Johnson, 1978, p. 99; Edwards et al., 1986, 256:1456]. The Bible never actually mentions that Christ collapsed under that heavy load. However, consider the possibility that if His hands were tied to the crosspiece and He had fallen, Jesus would have been unable to break the fall. Researchers have speculated that falling under the weight of a crossbeam very likely would have “resulted in blunt chest trauma and a contused heart” (Ball, 1989, p. 83).

Golgotha is the common name of the location at which Christ was crucified. In Greek letters, this word represents an Aramaic word, Gulgaltha (Hebrew Gulgoleth), meaning “a skull.” The word Calvary (Latin Calvaria; English calvaria—skullcap) also means “a skull.” Calvaria (and the Greek Kranion) are equivalents for the original Golgotha. This particular area was located just outside the city on a rounded knoll that has the appearance of a bare skull. It was here, flanked by two thieves, that Christ would bear the sins of the world. The Roman guards who accompanied Him in the procession were required to stay with Him until they could substantiate His death (Bloomquist, 1964; Barbet, 1953, p. 50).

Having suffered considerable blood loss from the scourging, Jesus likely was in a dehydrated state when He finally reached the top of this small knoll. Jesus was offered two drinks at Golgotha. The first—a drugged wine (i.e., mixed with myrrh) that served as a mild analgesic to deaden some of the pain—was offered immediately upon His arrival (Shroud, 1871; Davis, 1965, p. 186). However, after having tasted it, Christ refused the concoction. He chose to face death with a clear mind so He could conquer it willfully as He submitted Himself to the cruelty of the cross. “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it” (Matthew 27:33-34). This particular drink was intended to dull the pain in preparation for the next step of crucifixion—the nailing of the hands and feet. Thus, it would have been around this time that a battered, bleeding Jesus was thrown to the ground and nailed to the cross. [We will discuss later in this article the second drink offered to Christ.]

Nailing the Hands

Were the gentle hands and feet of Christ truly pierced, or did ropes simply lash them to the cross? Ossuary findings document the fact that nailing was the preferred Roman practice (Haas, 1970; Tzaferis, 1970; Bromiley, 1979, 1:829; Edwards, et al., 1986, 256:1459). Additionally, researchers have discovered a Jewish ossuary—bearing the Hebrew inscription “Jehohanan the son of HGQWL”—that contained a seven-inch spike piercing the remains of two heel bones, with a piece of olive wood at the point (Haas, 1970). Luke recorded for us Christ’s invitation to examine His hands and feet (Luke 24:39), which indicates the wounds Christ suffered were ones that could be identified easily. John’s written account is even more telling, as we learn that Thomas, one of the disciples, stated: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Clearly, from the text we see that Christ’s hands and feet were nailed to the cross. Archaeological data indicate that the specific nails used during the time of Christ’s crucifixion were tapered iron spikes five to seven inches long with a square shaft approximately three-eighths of an inch across (Haas, 1970; Tzaferis, 1970; Clements, 1992, p. 108). Various studies have demonstrated that the bony palms cannot support the weight of a body hanging from them (e.g., Barbet, 1953). The weight of the body would tear quite easily through the lumbricals and flexor tendons—breaking the metacarpal bones as the nails pulled free—allowing the body to fall to the Earth. However, in ancient terminology, the wrist was considered to be part of the hand (Barbet, 1953, p. 106; Davis, 1965, p. 184; Major, 1999, 19:86). At the base of the wrist bones, the strong fibrous band of the flexor retinaculum binds down the flexor tendons. Iron spikes driven through the flexor retinaculum easily could have passed between bony elements and held the weight of a man. This location would require that the nail be placed through either: (1) the space between the radius and carpal bones (lunate and scaphoid bones); or (2) between the two rows of carpal bones (Barbet, 1953, p. 106; DePasquale and Burch, 1963, p. 434; Lumpkin, 1978; Netter, 1994, p. 426).

A spike driven through this location, however, almost certainly would cause the median nerve or peripheral branches to be pierced, resulting in a condition known as causalgia. The median nerve is a major nerve that passes directly through the midline of the wrist and services all but one-and-one-half of the muscles in the anterior portion of the forearm. It passes directly under the flexor retinaculum of the wrist as it supplies motor innervation to the three thenar (thumb) muscles and the first and second lumbrical muscles. This large nerve also provides sensory innervation to the palm, as well as to digits two and three in the hand. Any damage to this nerve would have caused extraordinary pain to radiate up the arm, then through the axilla, to the spinal cord, and finally to the brain. Primary arteries travel on the medial and lateral aspects of the wrist, and therefore would be spared if the spike had been driven into this location. [Scientific studies—using volunteer college students—have shown that people suspended from crosses with their arms outstretched in the traditional manner depicted in religious art have little problem breathing (Zugibe, 1984, p. 9). Thus, the oft’-quoted idea that death on the cross results from asphyxiation would be a factor only if the hands were nailed in an elevated fashion above the head of the victim.] And so, with His hands firmly nailed to the cross and His back bleeding and emaciated, Christ was hoisted onto the rough-hewn, upright stake.

Nailing the Feet

The pain Christ must have experienced up to this point would have been excruciating, and yet the Roman soldiers were about to deliver even more. There were many ways to nail the feet to the stipes, but most required the knees to be flexed and rotated laterally. It is likely that the spikes were driven through either the: (1) tarsometatarsal joint (between the metatarsal bones and cuneiform bones); or (2) the transverse tarsal joint (between the calcaneus and cuboid or navicular bones). While this placement undoubtedly would prevent the bones of Christ’s feet from breaking, it nevertheless would cause severe injury to the deep peroneal nerve or lateral plantar nerve (and artery), and certainly would pierce the quadratus plantae muscle (Netter, 1994, p. 509).

It would not be uncommon by this time for insects to burrow into open wounds or orifices (such as the nose, mouth, ears, and eyes) of a crucified victim; additionally birds of prey frequently were known to feed off the tattered wounds (Cooper, 1883). It was in this position, with His precious blood seeping down the cross, that Christ uttered the amazing statement: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Breathing on the Cross

Even though blood poured from His lacerated back, one major pathophysiological impairment Jesus faced during crucifixion was normal respiration (i.e., breathing). Maximum inhalation would have been possible only when the body weight was supported by the nailed wrists of the outstretched arms. When Christ first was lifted onto the splinter-covered surface of the cross, His arms and body were stretched out in the form of a “Y.” A momentary “T” position would be required to allow proper support for inhalation. Thus, in order to breathe He was required to lift His body using His nailed wrists for leverage. Exhalation would be impossible in this position, and the immense pain placed on the wrists quickly would become too great; therefore, Christ would have to slump back into a “Y” position to exhale. Jesus would be forced to continue alternating between the “Y” and “T” positions with every breath, trying all the while not to reopen the wounds He had received from the scourging. Fatigued muscles eventually would begin to spasm, and Christ would become exhausted from these repeated tasks, slumping permanently into the shape of a “Y.” In this position, chest and respiratory muscles soon would become paralyzed from the increased strain and pain. Without strength for breath, Christ’s body would begin to suffer from asphyxia.

The True Passover Lamb

As insects and dogs circled, and as passersby spat on Him, Christ—with blood dripping from the open wounds on His back and nail holes in His hands and feet—shouldered the sins of the world. As exposed nerves exploded into unbearable pain with each movement, and as His internal organs began failing due to a lack of sufficient oxygen, for the first and only time in His life, Jesus found Himself separated from His Father. Matthew 27:46 describes His anguish: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ ” This was the first time in His life, so far as Scripture records, that Jesus did not address God as His Father. Isaiah 59:2 informs us of that separation, and the reason that God had to turn His face from His sin-laden Son: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

The second drink that Jesus was offered on the cross came after this plaintive cry. He accepted this potion, which consisted of wine vinegar, just moments before His death.

Interestingly, this drink was delivered using the stalk of a hyssop plant. Recall that the crucifixion took place around the Feast of the Passover. In describing the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12:22-23, Moses told the children of Israel to “take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning.” It is worth mentioning that at Christ’s crucifixion, this hyssop stalk pointed to the blood of the Perfect Lamb, which was shed for the salvation of all mankind.

Piercing Christ’s Side

While death on the cross may have been caused by any number of factors, and likely would have varied with each individual case, the two seemingly most prominent causes of death probably were hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia (DePasquale, 1963; Davis, 1965). Others have proposed dehydration, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure with the rapid accumulation of pericardial and pleural effusions as possible contributing factors (Lumpkin 1978; Clements, 1992, pp. 108-109;). The ability of Christ to cry out with a loud voice indicates that asphyxia was probably not the major causative factor.

The finality of death upon the cross often was accomplished by the breaking of the legs of the victims, which caused still more traumatic shock and prevented an individual from pushing up in order to fully respire. In an effort to get the bodies off the crosses before the Sabbath day,

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.(John 19:32-34).

Much speculation has centered on the exact location of the puncture wound and thus the source of the resulting blood and water. However, the Greek word (pleura) that John used clearly denotes the area of the intercoastal ribs that cover the lungs (Netter, 1994, p. 184). Given the upward angle of the spear, and the thoracic location of the wound, abdominal organs can be ruled out as having provided the blood and water. A more likely scenario would suggest that the piercing affected a lung (along with any built-up fluid), the pericardial sac surrounding the heart, the right atrium of the heart itself, the pulmonary vessels, and/or the aorta. Since John did not describe the specific side of the body on which the wound was inflicted, we can only speculate about which structures might have been impaled by such a vicious act. However, the blood could have resulted from the heart, the aorta, or any of the pulmonary vessels. Water probably was provided by pleural or pericardial fluids (that surround the lungs and heart).

CONCLUSION

It is with both medical and biblical certainty that we know Christ died upon the cross at Calvary. He was laid in a tomb with nail wounds in His hands and feet, and still possessed those scars following His resurrection. The extreme physical insults to Christ’s body left Him ragged, torn, bleeding, and tormented with pain. Yet He endured willingly all the agony and torment of the cross for each one of us. As Paul wrote:

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity (Ephesians 2:14-16).

We would do well to heed the advice of the writer of the book of Hebrews, who said:

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (12:2).

Oh, the overwhelming love that God showed each one of us when He allowed His only begotten Son to suffer that excruciating (Latin, excruciates, or “out of the cross”) pain and agony—for our sake!

Welcome to Michigan

2009-04-07T12:30:00.003-04:00

2009-04-10T06:17:00.003-04:00

This is my latest creation. A friend of mine went to Hollywood, Florida. While she was there she took some pictures of the sunrise. Since she borrowed my picture of the flower below to use for her Michigan picture, I returned the favor and took one of her sunrise pictures. LOL I played with it a bit in photoshop to bring the colors out. Enhanced it and sharpened it. Then I did a few other things. I showed it to her and she really liked it and wants to use it for her website. I posted the before and after pictures.

Click on image to see the picture better.

This is the picture that she took:

After I played with it in photoshop:

Doctor's and Nurses Need Our Help!

2009-04-05T07:40:00.003-04:00

Obama has done more to promote and push abortion in the past two months, then Bill Clinton did in his entire 8 years in office. He is the most pro-abortion president in history.

Medical personnel, like all citizens, have a right not to be forced to participate in practices that offend their deeply held moral and religious convictions.

But the right of conscience is under serious attack.

The Obama Administration has issued a proposal to weaken current legal protection of conscience in health care, rescinding a recent Bush Administration regulation that helps implement the protective laws. The public has until Thursday, April 9 to write the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging it to retain the regulation.

Our voice is needed right now!

http://www.usccb.org/prolife/publicat/life...es/032709.shtml

She's Here!

2009-03-24T16:32:00.002-04:00

Meet my new niece, Annaleigh (prounounced anna-lee) Faith! She was born today at 10:20 am, weighing in at 5lbs 5oz and is 17 IN long. She has a head full of dark brown hair, which I wasn't able to take a picture of because the dr's didn't want her taking her hat off for at least 8 hours. And well, she wasn't 8 hours old yet. :P So I had to settle for taking a picture with the hat on. Mom wasn't really up for pictures yet, and honestly I didn't blame her. I definitely know how that feels. Hopefully she'll be more rested and ready tomorrow. But here are the two pictures that I took of her.

Maiya looking at her new cousin.