The thinkin' behind the inkin'

Okay, I realize the title is a bit cheesy, and well, lame. But how many catchy titles can you come up with about tattoos?

Well, I guess you now know what this post is about. Ding ding ding! I got my second tattoo! And I want to tell you why. 

A lot of people nowadays look down on tattoos. They think they look trashy, or bad, or tacky. I will admit, some do! But when you get a tattoo that really means something, you can use it as a ministry and as a testimony to share your story with other people! 

And that's exactly what I want to do with mine. 

As most of you know, my first tattoo is on my left wrist, and it says, "1 Corinthians 1:8", which is, "He will keep you strong till the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." I got this tattoo last September as a constant reminder that God will always be there to give me strength, and He WILL keep me strong until my battle with my health is over! And He has! I may have had a rough patch January-April this past year, but honestly my tattoo is what kept me going (along with a lot of other things). Every time I would be getting an IV, the nurse would see it and ask what the verse said and it would start a whole conversation about the strength coming from Christ and my battle with the unknown. It was such an encouragement to able to share my story with someone else, and in turn they would remember me because of the connection we made from the deep conversations we would have about God and our faith (Not every nurse would go into a deep conversation with me, but I did have some amazing nurses who were huge blessings in my life and made a big impact on me).

So here's how the whole second tattoo idea started: My mom wasn't so into the idea of me getting another one, but she did like this one (Hehe, thankfully). We were up at the dorm back in January packing all my stuff up to move back home (it was when I had to withdraw this past Spring semester), when all the sudden I just burst into tears. 

Why was this happening to me? 

I don't feel strong. I feel weak!

Where is God right now?!! I need him!

I feel so alone, in every aspect of my life.

How am I supposed to go on with my life? 

I can't do this anymore. I just can't. 

But then I saw the coffee cup that my friend Alyssa made for me for Christmas. She stalked my Pinterest and saw that I loved the phrase "It is well with my soul." You might recognize it from the old church hymn. (It just so happens to be my favorite, along with How Great Thou Art). As I was choking back tears, I looked at the cup and read the words. 

"It is well with my soul."

But, it wasn't well with my soul. It wasn't well with any part of me, and at that point I wasn't sure if it ever would be. I looked at my tattoo, and back at the cup, and thats when I had an idea. 

"Mom," I said, "When this is all over, and I mean like really over, I want to get a tattoo that says 'it is well with my soul'. Because I want the reminder that God worked a miracle and saved my life, and by then it really and truly will be well with my soul." She loved it. 

So I thought about it and thought about it for months and changed my mind a dozen times on what I wanted (I mean if I'm gonna have it forever I need to make sure I'm gonna love it). But it wasn't just about the design. I wasn't going to get it until I felt at complete peace on the inside, AND until after my final surgery. My surgery was in May, and of course I had to recover, but it still wasn't the right time. I still hadn't come to terms with my lot in life. It took some serious prayer and a slap in the face to realize that my battle with Fibromyalgia, Occipital Neuralgia, and my health in general will never be "over". This will be something that I will have to learn to live with, and when I finally came to terms with this reality, I finally felt at peace. Sure, my random often trips to the ER may be over (hallelujah!!). My major surgeries and procedures may be over (hopefully for now). But I still have a lot of growing up and getting back out into the world that I have to do. And I still have at least 2-3 doctors' appointments a month. But -- all I know...is I'm at peace with it all. 

So here comes the fun part. 

We called and set up my appointment with Nicolle at Ink Image (She's actually a good friend of ours, her boyfriend is one of my dad's good friends and motorcycle buddies). She did my first tattoo, and I recommend her and ONLY her to everyone who wants to get a tattoo. First off she has the cleanest shop I've ever seen and she is so sanitary, which is important! But the most important part is she is one of THE MOST Godly women I know. She doesn't allow swearing or cursing while in her shop, and you cannot use God's name in vain. She always has Christian music playing and she's always so positive, which makes it go by so faster and it just makes it so much easier. And trust me, you want it to go by fast. Because when you get one on tender skin, it hurrrrrrtts!!! She's an amazing woman of God! (I may or may not be a little biased...)  

Okay, here is a picture of it, and then I'll explain what it means:

(Btw it's on my right forearm)

I've always had a thing for anchors. Especially the past two years. The anchor represents God, my family, and my friends, who stayed by my side through this whole thing and kept me "anchored" in the midst of this crazy "storm" called my life. I picked this anchor specifically for the heart because of God's unconditional love and because of the love that my parents have for me and the love I have for them. My parents and I have really gotten closer over the past year and a half especially, spending so much time in the ER or in the hospital together, and I couldn't ask for two more amazing people. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been born into this family! 

Now, at first I was going to get "it is well", and I know you may be thinking it's a bit odd that I got "with my soul". But here's my explanation: When I look at it, I can't just say, "with my soul", and it make sense. By getting "with my soul", it forces me to say "it is well" in my head before finishing the sentence. And it reminds me that it really is well with my soul. By having this in such an open place, and having it a pretty decent size (3in), people will ask about it and I can share my story with them (obviously the Reader's Digest version!). It's my testimony. It's my own personal way of sharing my experiences and how strong I've come out on the other side! I want to help others who are struggling, whether it be from Fibromyalgia, or just migraines, or maybe even stress, I just want them to know they're not alone! Not only is God there, but I am too. 

And... Now here's my shpeal about tattoos: They really honestly shouldn't be looked down upon. Like I said earlier, a lot of people when they see tattoos they immediately make a judgement and think its trashy, tacky, too big, a mistake, etc. And then some people try to pull the Bible card.. Well, then we shouldn't wear our hair in braids, or eat pork. We are a New Testament church. I feel like nowadays when people go to get a tattoo, they aren't getting it "just to get it". They get something that is significant, or sentimental. It has a purpose. It means something. If you're going to sit through that amount of pain, don't you want it to actually mean something? Exactly! Can we change the view on tattoos and make it positive? I want people to ask about mine. That's the whole point! 

How can I share my story if there's no way to get people's attention? 

While I was getting mine done, Nicolle shared this story with us, and it just proves the point about not judging a book by its cover. 

So Nicolle and Dan (her boyfriend) were at lunch, when a young woman approached their table. (Nicolle and Dan both are covered in tattoos, and I think they were wearing Harley Davidson shirts that day if I remember correctly). The young woman starts talking to Nicolle, telling her that she's a counselor and that she counsels kids with a bunch of tattoos and everything. Nicolle tells us that she immediately thought, "Oh great... She's going to go off on us and tell us how bad tattoos are and all that, etc etc.. Man.." And while she was telling this, my dad and I were thinking the same thing, like, "How can this lady just come up and judge them so harshly when she doesn't even know her?!" But then what came out of the lady's mouth surprised Nicolle and Dan both! The lady said, "I counsel kids with a bunch of tattoos and they just speak so highly of you! They tell me what a lovely Christian lady you are and how positive you always are and I just wanted to say thank you for what you do! You do amazing work!" ...Yeah I didn't expect that either! (And how that lady knew who Nicolle was is still a mystery to all of us...). 

What Nicolle does is her ministry. She changes people's lives, and she doesn't even realize it! Just by what she plays in her store and how she treats people, people speak nothing but positive words about her. She stands up for what she believes in, no matter who comes in or what happens. She'll stand firm on her faith as long as she has to! 

Here's the hard part... I know that I'll find some people along the way who look down on tattoos, and you know what?Thats okay!! I mean, I don't really like facial hair... So....haha! I've already had a ton of people ask what my tattoo means, and after I tell them they just give me a hug and tell me they love it and are praying for me. So, yeah, tattoos can be trashy. They can also be tacky. They can also be horribly hideous and disgusting. But they can also be classy. They can be a testimony. They can be a daily reminder! 

So the lesson here: you should never judge a book by its cover until you've heard what's inside, especially with tattoos; at first you only see what's skin deep. 

Peace and love, 

Jenae