JUST PUDGE

As many of you probably know by now, I got a new tattoo on Saturday. I’d been wanting to get a new one for a while, but I wanted it to have meaning to me! I didn’t want to just get a tattoo because…”hey it’d be fun!”

Why the tat?

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Well, if you look closely at the tattoo you will see three things: a cross, a greater than sign, and the letter i (lower case). If you put them together the message says…”He must increase, I must decrease” (from John 3:30).

• When I first got to Clemson University this verse began to have a lot of meaning for me!
• It helped me understand that spiritual growth wasn’t about what I DO or DON’T do…but about me DYING to self!
• From then on I understood that putting Jesus first meant I had to die to self more everyday.
• For me, no matter where I am in life or what stage of life I may be in, this message still applies.
• JESUS must INCREASE, i must decrease.

This tattoo is meant to help me pause and think when life throws things my way that may not be pleasant or when life is a “bowl of cherries.” It will always be that reminder that HE matters more than my…

• Desires
• Pride
• Selfishness
• Plans
• Fears
• Insecurities
• Ambitions
• …ME!

For me, it’s not that I don’t know these things!! It’s the reinforcement of having something to remind me! To remind me that HE is first and I am not and that LIVING that out applies not just to my words but my actions! HE is in control and my role is to simply OBEY Him and put Him first!

Why the forearm?

It’s visible! People always ask about tattoos and their meaning. It provides me with an opportunity to share my faith with others in a way that doesn’t attack them, but encourages them to ask questions!

Also, it gives me an open door to say to them…”I AM NOT PERFECT!!! Matter of fact, I STINK at this life thing! But it isn’t about me, it’s about Jesus!” After all, that’s my story!

So there you have it! That’s why I got my new tattoo and why I got it where I did!

Happy Labor day!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 2:41 pm and is filed under LIVE, RANDOM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.