What are your thoughts on tattoo's?

I have one tattoo – I got it more than three years ago. This one I got for a…… silly reason, a boy. I was young; I thought we would be together forever. Haha – It seems so ridiculous now. Whatever the initial reason for getting it, I still love the tattoo; perhaps I love it even more now.

There were a lot of times when I wished I didn’t have my tattoo – when I was going through a rough patch with ‘the someone’ I got it for. I wished I hadn’t given myself a reminder of him. But now, three years later, he is a dear friend and each time I look at my tattoo I am reminded of the road we traveled to get to this point. It has been a beautiful road.

It’s strange, I remember when I first got it, every time I caught myself in a mirror, or saw it, it seemed as though I was looking at someone else’s body. Now, I don’t even see it – it has become a part of me.

One of the things I love about tattoo’s, and I think most ‘tattooed freaks’ would agree, is that when you do look at your tattoo/’s it brings you back to the time in your life when you got it. I remember exactly what I was thinking, exactly why I got it, exactly how nervous I felt when I went into the tattoo shop to get it, exactly how bad I felt when I asked the man to re-draw it for me because I didn’t like the first version – I remember all of it.

I think it’s very cool that you can use your body as a journal by recording those special times in your life. You can remember, and have it etched forever on your body, each time you learn an important lesson, or when someone very important enters or exits your life, or when some big event occurs.

I know that plenty of people dislike tattoos; or perhaps it’s more that they dislike the stigma that is attached to them. My Mom, for one, hates tattoos. I remember her telling me, when I was younger, that your body is a temple. I know that many Christian’s don’t agree with tattoos because you are altering the magnificent body that God made for you. But I think it’s important to remember that it is ONLY a body. We don’t take it with us when we leave. It is simply a shell to hold our spirit until we join Him.

Is it really disgraceful to decorate your body with art and words? Does it hurt His feelings to give yourself a memento of someone/something that He blessed you with and you love? Now, I’m not saying that every person I know should go out and get a tattoo of a skull and cross-bones or a half-naked lady. But if a person gets a tattoo of a cross, or their child’s name; something to remind them of a love so dear and true – is that really sinful?

I agree that our bodies should be cared for, and taken care of – otherwise it will give out sooner than we might hope. But if a person should not alter the state of their body because God made us in His image, and we are already beautiful – than why do we colour our hair, why do we pierce our ears, why do we paint our nails? Don’t all of those things fall under the category of altering our bodies from the way that He made us?

Last year at this time, I had my lip pierced. I LOVED it. I miss it now, and wish I still had it, maybe one day I’ll get it pierced again. But my Mother hated it, so for her 50th birthday, I took it out. You know the thing that I remember hearing most when I had my piercing – it wasn’t “oh gosh, it’s hideous,” or “oh gosh, it doesn’t suit you,” it was “oh gosh, what will people think.” Quite honestly, a huge part of the reason I got my lip pierced was to prove others wrong. To prove that just because you have your lip pierced doesn’t mean that you are some drug-addicted, devil-worshipping, punk-kid. I was a good person, with a good heart, and a love for Christ, and I still had my lip pierced. It’s a stigma – that’s all.

In a little over a month, I will be getting my second tattoo. This one is not for a boy. This one is for me and God. I am so excited and happy that I will have a permanent reminder of my relationship, love, and devotion to Him.

Africa

Some of you may know that I’ve been praying and thinking about going to a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Africa in January. I would be working in a care centre for children with/or affected by AIDS and HIV for 6 months.

For a while I was really feeling sure about it, then I started thinking logically (how am I going to pay for it, what will I do with all my stuff while I’m gone, how will I pay off my debt before I go) – needless to say, I felt overwhelmed and thought perhaps I shouldn’t go. I continued praying and asking for God to ‘PUSH’ me in whichever direction He needed me to go, and to really put it upon my heart so that I would be sure.

This weekend I went to the Women of Faith – Contagious Joy Conference, in Calgary, with a girlfriend, Wendy. It was AMAZING!!! So cool; they had about 8 speakers in to talk on topics close to every women’s heart, and each speaker relayed their trials, struggles, and gave us their testimony. They also had some great music; Avalon, Carried Away, and a worship team. It was so inspirational. Then, they showed us their World Vision video.

It just so happened that this particular video was on the African battle against AIDS and HIV. I watched the video; tears streaming down my face, my heart feeling heavier by the moment, to say the very least, I was affected. I felt like God was shouting ‘OK Andrea, here’s your sign’ and all I could think was ‘I have to go. I have to go.’ After the video was finished, I stepped outside for a couple minutes to pray, breath, and compose myself. I went back in, and really enjoyed the rest of the evening – but I couldn’t get the video or the feeling that I needed to find some way to get to Africa out of my mind.

As Wendy and I were driving home, both of us were very quiet. Wendy is one of my very close friends, so she had been privy to all of the thoughts I had about going to Africa. On the way to the conference, just 4 hours earlier, I had explained to her, in depth, all the reasons why I didn’t think I could or should be going. After a few minutes of driving in silence, she asked me something, I don’t even remember what her exact words were, but the basic just of it was, “So, what did you think of the World Vision video? Do you think maybe that’s the sign you needed?”

So, I’m asking each of you to pray for me; that I would see God’s path for me clearly, and be able to follow His will for me.