Bekah's Story
Sorry I was not able to post anything this past week. It was quite possibly the busiest week I have had since I have been off at school. But I am back now, and I am so excited to share Bekah’s story with you.

Bekah and I went to school together up through middle school (and if you remember Leah from my last post, this is her sister!) And though she grew up seeing her dad’s tattoos (then her brothers’ as she got a little bit older), she had a fear of needles that partially kept her from getting inked. But this past year and a half or so Bekah wanted a tattoo; particularly, one of a passage that has gotten her through these past couple of years that have grown her significantly.

She says this growing time in her life really started in July of 2010 when she went to the International House of Prayer for an internship. It’s there that she says she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ, seeing that to do so requires a believer to give his or her ALL to the Lord. One passage that especially spoke to her in this area was Psalm 62. This psalm relates God to an unshakable rock or fortress who offers rest and hope to believers through the salvation He alone provides.

And Bekah says verse 8 really stands out to her as it reads, “Trust in [God] at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” She sees three things in this verse that believers should do as a testament to Jesus Christ being the Lord and Savior of their lives; these things are: 1) trust God, 2) pour their hearts out to Him and 3) see Him as their refuge. These keys are what she has tried to apply to her life these past couple years as she has waited on God to reveal what His purpose is for her life.

As of just this past Sunday, Bekah is in South Carolina, helping her brother with a ministry he is a part of. There she is teaching guitar lessons among other things and just enjoying this time in her life.

Plans for future tattoos for Bekah also revolve around concepts in Scripture. She is considering getting text that reads, “I have given you a new name” (in reference to how God makes us new creations at salvation) or “my beloved one” (to remind her of God’s love for her) or something of the like. I just hope that whatever she gets that she will let me do a post about it!

I hope you all enjoyed that story and maybe were challenged by it. Shoot me a comment to let me know what you think! I hope to see you all back here next week for a different kind of story behind the ink. [SPOILER: it involves a professor here at Cedarville who has a tattoo; he’s super cool, so you won’t want to miss that one!]

Leah's Story
Leah is like many people I have talked to about tattoos in that she had always wanted one, but did not know exactly what she wanted; all she knew is that she wanted it to be something meaningful. The meaningful concept that spoke to her was that of the example of the Proverbs 31 woman.

“I have always been fascinated with the passage in Proverbs 31 that talks about being a virtuous woman. And I came across a page on Facebook called ‘I'd Rather Have a Proverbs 31 Woman than a Victoria's Secret Model,’ and when I came across that I really started studying Proverbs 31 in detail and breaking it down and stuff.”

After studying this passage, Leah says she felt like getting “Proverbs 31” on her wrist would serve as a reminder of the kind of woman she is striving to be, the kind of woman God has called her (and all women) to be.

So after finding a script she liked, she went into Buddha’s in Erie (where I got my tattoo) and ended up getting an artist there who is a Christian. She says she enjoyed her experience, and that she loves her tattoo. The tattoo has even opened some doors for her to share her faith with other people she comes in contact with.

The passage is pretty lengthy, so I won’t transcribe it all for you, but I would like to give you all the gist of it because it is really good. The section on a virtuous woman starts at Proverbs 31:10 with, “A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” The chapter goes on to describe the woman as being responsible and hardworking when it comes to supporting her family and reaching out to the poor and needy. And in her family relations, the virtuous woman brings her husband “good, not harm, all the days of her life” and watches over the affairs of her household so well that her husband and children revere her.

One of my personal favorite verses comes near the end of the chapter in verse 30, which reads, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

It is so true! We can flatter people all we want to get our ways, but really it’s just manipulation. And beauty is subjective and they significantly change with time. But a person’s character, the essence of who he or she is, will be the lasting definition that is left behind when that person passes away. And the book of Proverbs would argue that a person leaves behind the best legacy when his or her character is in line with the will of God and the teaching of Scripture.

Well, it is nice to get back into writing about the side of tattoos that I especially love — the stories behind them! I hope you all enjoyed it. If you have any tattoos that could show up on the blog, let me know because I am trying to recruit more people so I can keep this up, because I love doing this! I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for reading!

An Article Especially for Easter
It feels so good to finally be back here. Sorry it has been so long; things have been super busy with school, so I think I will be cutting back to posting once a week.

And with this Easter weekend, I have thought a lot about my own tattoo experience because I got mine on Good Friday last year, and the guy beside me was getting the entire Lord's Prayer on his bicep.

With that said, religious tattoos are something that I find to be extremely interesting. And though I cannot relate to the people in this linked blog post, I still thought I would pass it along to you all, because it was really unique. I hope you all like it!

http://www.tmatt.net/2012/03/26/lent-and-easter-in-blood-sweat-and-ink/

I'll see you all next week. Thanks for checking out this unique story behind the ink!

An Article I Stumbled Across
Here is an article I found recently. It really interested me because it combines two of my favorite topics--hockey and tattoos! Check it out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/sports/hockey/tattoos-and-piercings-offered-at-islanders-games.html?n=Top/Reference/Times Topics/Subjects/T/Tattoos?ref=tattoos
So, what do you think? Would you get a tattoo at a hockey game or any sporting event, for that matter?

I just thought it was an interesting concept. I not sure if I would want to miss any part of a hockey game to get a tattoo, though. Anyway, this week is going to be crazy for me, but I hope to be back here in a couple days with a tattoo story. As always, thanks for checking out my blog, and have a great week!