"Blessed"

Yes it's been a while. I'm just not good at this whole blogging thing, and coming up with something that I think people will actually want to read about. But, I finally came up with something this morning. TATTOOS.

Tattoos are controversial. Everyone has an opinion about them, and those opinions usually range from being "addicted" to them, and feeling that they are an art form, to they are trashy and people can't see why someone would do that to their body. I've also heard, and, being a Christian, grown up to believe, that our body is a temple and we should treat it is such. And to get a tattoo "you are defiling the Temple of the Lord". Weeellll.... I now have two tattoos. And, NO, I do not feel as though I am defiling my body. I've come to believe that getting a tattoo is no different than getting your ears pierced, or wearing make-up, etc. I might be wrong in feeling that way, but if I am, that is between me and God.

I do not think that all tattoos are trashy. I think that a person can get a trashy tattoo, but just because someone gets a tattoo, does not make that person trashy. My brother has several tattoos. He is also our Church's Youth Minister. I also know a pastor of a church that has at least one tattoo. Are they wrong for having tattoos? NO. I think that they are going to be able to minister to a whole range of people that not everyone would be able to. There might be someone feeling down on his or her self, thinking that they aren't good enough because of things they might have done in their life, having tattoos might be one of them, and I feel like they might look at these men and see that just because a person has tattoos, that doesn't mean that God doesn't love them.

I love my tattoos. They both mean something to me. It took me a long time to decide WHAT I was going to get both times, and WHERE I was going to get them. My first tattoo is a cross with my son's names on either side. I LOVE it! It is everything that is most important to me! My new one is the word "Blessed" on the outside of my foot. It is self explanatory, lol. Yes, there are a lot of people in this world that will look at me and think less of me because I have tattoos, not caring what they are or what they stand for to me. But I did not get my tattoos for anyone but myself. I love them and I do not regret getting them. I heard or read recently that the difference in people that have tattoos and those that don't is that the people that DO have them don't care that you don't. Which, I guess, is exactly what I'm trying to get at.

"The tattoo is the mark of the soul. It can act as a window, through which we can see inside, or it can be a shield to protect us from those who can not see past the surface." David Bollt