Austin's Story
I first noticed that Austin had a tattoo when I saw him play basketball last year. After talking with him recently about tattoos, I learned (much to my surprise) that he has three. And each tattoo has a story behind it that I thought was worth sharing.

Austin got his first tattoo when he was 18. Though he admits it was kind of an “impulse tattoo,” it still holds a great deal of meaning for him. The tattoo, on his left bicep, is of the Hebrew words for “redeemed and forgiven.” Austin says he got those words because he was struck by the fact that we are redeemed and made righteous through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

His second tattoo is of the reference Psalm 54:7, which reads, “For [God] has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.” (NIV) Austin says this verse was extremely influential in his life a couple years ago when he was going through some shoulder injuries, which kept him from playing basketball for a time. He says those injuries and resulting surgeries made it feel like God was taking away a blessing He had given Austin.

However, after going through rehabilitation Austin was able to come back and play basketball for Cedarville University. Soon after, he got the tattoo of Psalm 54:7 on his left wrist to serve as a reminder that he did not come back to play basketball by his own strength; but rather, God had delivered him from the trial of injuries. And now Austin intentionally reminds himself of this truth by looking at his wrist and reciting “delivered” in his head a couple times before taking free throws in games.

Though Austin says his wrist tattoo means the most to him, he says his side tattoo is probably his favorite. This tattoo, like his others, pertains to Scripture, but it has a lot more detail than the other two.

In his side tattoo, the dead tree represents the sin in our lives and how we are “constantly ravaged by the evil around us.” But amid this despairing picture there is a piece of fruit on one of the branches. He says that this fruit represents how we are to bear fruit in our trials and also how there is always hope and life in Jesus Christ, regardless of what is going on around us. To drive home the point of hope, there is a scroll with the reference to 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 on it. This passage reads, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Well, I hope you all have been encouraged by these reminders that are found in the stories behind Austin’s ink. As usual, if you have any comments or questions I would love to hear from you. Have a blessed week. I’ll see you back here on Wednesday!

Jane's Story
Jane has been a friend of mine since the beginning of the spring semester last year. The thing that first caught my attention about her was her love for my favorite hockey team, which was obvious by her assortment of team tee-shirts. But the next thing that drew me toward Jane was her love for tattoos; a love she shows more proudly and more regularly than even her love for her hockey team!

At the time I met Jane, she had 9 tattoos, all clearly seen on her left arm. She now has 11 tattoos, with her latest standing alone on her right arm…for now.

“I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to get a tattoo, you should be able to see it!” Jane says.

“If you’re investing that much money…and that much ‘pain’ to get something, I at least want to be able to see it every day.”

The tattoo that she says gets the most compliments is that of three flowers on her left forearm. She says they are also her favorite from an artistic standpoint because, though they lack color, those flowers pop with detail. This tattoo not only looks great, but it also has an incredible meaning behind it.

Jane loves her family, so she knew she wanted a tattoo for them. However, she wanted to get something different than just their names or something like that. After brainstorming for a while, she decided to get the flowers that correspond with the months in which her mom, dad and older brother were born.

The rose represents her brother who was born in June. Then the carnation stands for her dad whose birthday is in January, and the larkspur is the flower of July, the month in which her mom was born.

She trusted her tattoo artist in the process of designing the tattoo, because she says she is not creative.

“As long as the main concept of the tattoo is there, the artist can handle the creativity part,” she says. “I feel like that is their privilege as an artist to be able to do that.”

She says that her tattoo artist drew the flowers several times in order to get the detail, size and arrangement just right. And once he did, it took nearly 3 hours to tattoo them on her.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about that tattoo, but Jane has so many other stories represented on her arm. Take a look at the pictures below and tell me which ones you would be most interested in hearing about! Thanks so much for reading this story behind the ink!

My Story
I figured it would only be appropriate to have my first post on this blog be about the tattoo story I know best—my own!

As I said in my brief bio, I have always been interested in tattoos. Looking back, I’m pretty sure my first encounter with tattoos came when I was about 4 with my then-pastor having a tattoo on his calf. (Given that environment, there was never really any debate as to whether getting a tattoo was a moral issue or not.) As I got older, the only thing keeping me from getting one was coming up with a design I liked that would also represent something important to me for the rest of my life.

Well, along came my freshman year of college, and so many things were going on in my life, not only transitioning to the college setting but also some stuff back home. Due to everything that was going on, I had a lot of people walk out of my life, and that left me with an intense desire for something permanent and meaningful…I bet you can see where this is going!

After talking for months with a friend here at school about tattoos, I was set on getting a small tattoo of my favorite hockey team’s logo, because I absolutely love hockey and it is a special connection I have with my dad, in particular. So while I was on Easter break (specifically, on Good Friday—April 22, 2011), I went to a shop back home to get it done.

 I showed the artist what I wanted, and he told me that he would not be able to do it as small as I wanted. When he told me it would have to be about the size of his palm, I was no longer interested in the design. But I was determined to get a tattoo, so I began looking through the racks of samples in the studio. I contemplated getting a cross, but turned that idea down. The idea of getting a rose also came to mind, which is kind of funny because I’m not a huge fan of flowers. Then I saw a simple music note, and that sparked a design in my head that my friend had talked about before—a heart formed from a bass clef and a treble clef. So I concluded if I could find that design in the shop’s portfolio, then I would get it.

Lo and behold, it was there!

A picture of my tattoo a couple hours after it was done. I was pleasantly surprised that it did not bleed much.

I sat for hours in the waiting area, somewhat nervous but also extremely excited, before the artist called me back. He put the stencil on, and I was overjoyed with how it looked. I went out to show my dad and sister the design and placement, and when I got back my tattoo artist had the equipment sitting out disassembled. Seeing that huge needle out of the gun sent chills down my spine, but my pride kept me in that seat. I told myself that I went to get a tattoo, and I was not leaving without one!

 Words can’t even describe that first prick. It was obviously painful, but it is a pain like no other I have ever felt before; it was exciting and almost euphoric. My tattoo only took 20 minutes or so, and I honestly smiled the whole way through. For that short time my mind was focused on me. My mind was not bogged down with everything else in my life that broke me and confused me. Getting my tattoo gave me a feeling of stability in that it is a tangible thing I will carry around with me for the rest of my life. Also, it represents the people in my life who will always be there for me—my family.

 Now, some of you may be looking down on me because the design of my tattoo ended up being kind of impulsive. And looking back now, I cannot imagine having the logo of my favorite hockey team on my foot, especially when I am pursuing a career in sports writing (talk about an appearance of conflict of interests!) I’m glad with how things worked out. It was almost like divine intervention, because this tattoo really epitomizes who I am. It (most importantly) represents my family, our shared love for music, and the influence music has had in my personal life with dance, in particular.

That’s about it. I’ll be back on Wednesday to tell you the story behind some tattoos of a friend of mine. If you have any comments or questions I would love to hear from you. Thanks for coming with me behind the ink!