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.