Scarred for Life

I had to have some small surgery on my arm a few months ago.  There is now a pretty noticeable scar on my arm...and sometimes I forget that it is there....but then I will be looking in the mirror and there it is.  It reminds me of what I went thru.

Have you ever seen some random person in line at the store with a huge scar on their face and wondered what happened?  I sometimes make up stories in my head about what horrible tragedy that person must have gone thru, and how they are thankful to be alive.  How interesting it would be to actually get the chance to ask them what happened, and hear their story!

Even more interesting would be to ask all the people in line, scarred or not, what they have been thru in their lives.  You might hear a story of a small town girl who moved to the big city, or of a man who had nearly died riding his motorcycle.

This past Sunday I took pictures at our church during the Baptisms.  We do it a little differently.. you only get baptized when you feel ready to, and the baptisms take place after the third service every couple of months.  There were 15 volunteers to be baptized this time.  The last participant was a perfectly normal looking lady...she came on stage and took the microphone.  She started telling the small crowd that she had a near death experience the past year.  She was clinically dead, and instead of seeing a bright light, she was consumed in darkness, and felt cold and alone....and in pain.

Her testimony was inspiring to listen to.  She accepted Christ after her experience, and has had opportunities to spread her message.  She had no obvious scars, and she looked just like any one else that you might see shopping in the aisle next to you at the store.

So what if you don't have a scar, but you want to tell the world what has happened to you, without having to prompt the conversation?  What if I want to tell everyone I come in contact with about my love for God, and my peace thru Jesus? 

I will soon be scarred for life.  I will be getting a new tattoo.  *shock and awe!*  Yes, I know...it is such a faux pas...but, I love tattoos..and I love my Savior.  I've been thinking about it for the past couple months, and after today, I got the confirmation I needed to proceed.

I prayed that God would give me an answer as to whether this was a good idea or not.  The next day I proposed the idea to the girls at work.  There was definitely some shock!  They asked me, "What if you change your mind about God?"  My answer.. "I won't".   Today, there was a post on Facebook about tattoos and being Christian.  The condensed version is that if you do anything to yourself, it should be to further your love and sharing of Christ.

I am going to get a scripture verse on my left forearm from elbow to wrist.  The verse has been written in this blog several times..and it just keeps coming up.  I decided that this was the tattoo I wanted several weeks ago, but wasn't sure if I should do it.  There will never be an excuse again for me to shy away when the Spirit prompts me to speak to someone...cause chances are, they will have already noticed the writing on my arm.

I will be scarred for life...for Christ.

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