Honesty

So, today I had a very minor crisis. I was going to see my mom, and as I started driving, I realised I was wearing my tank-top. This wouldn't be any big deal at all if she had any idea that I have a tattoo on my arm.

I got a cross-Trinity combination tattoo from one of my best friends last November. It was something I designed myself, and that I had wanted for over a year. I'd been waiting for the right time, a time when I really felt ready to put something on me that wouldn't go away until I get a new body in heaven. It was the right time. This tattoo is a seal on my arm, a mark of who I belong to and who I want to serve. My friend made me sit, think, and pray for a few hours before he would start, even after I told him how I felt about it and after we discussed the design more in-depth. That was a very good night.

Anyway, I never told my family about it because I felt really awkward. We're a mid-Michigan farming family, very down-to-earth and normal, and by the standards that are generally obeyed in it, I thought I might get scolded, or even shunned a little. So I hid it...until today.

When I left my house and realised I didn't have sleeves to cover it, I immediately turned around and sat in my driveway. "My mom isn't ready to know I have a tattoo yet," I thought. After a little more thought, though, I came to the conclusion that it was really me who wasn't ready to come clean with something that I was embarrassed to tell my family about. As I considered it, I remembered why I got it in the first place, as a mark for Christ, and I came to the conclusion that if I'm ashamed of something that I chose to do for Christ, then I might as well admit to being ashamed of Him as well.

At that point, I decided I was ready.

Of course, as most of you could probably guess, it wasn't even that big of a deal. My mom was surprised, even laughing and thinking it wasn't real at first, but I think she's okay with it now that she knows I put a lot of thought into it, and that my reasons were good. "Better than other things you could be doing, I suppose," was her response. True statement.

I've been caring a lot less about people's opinions of me lately (those who really know me already know how little I cared in the first place, haha), and this was one big step in that direction. I don't mean this in any bad way, but more in the way of trying to please people less and trying more to please God with my life. My family has always been hard for me to deal with in this way, not because they're mean or judging...I was just afraid they would see me as something other than "a good little boy who doesn't do anything out of the ordinary." That's generally the image I've always had in my family (or at least I thought so), but I decided that I don't need to be afraid of letting it go.

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both sould and body in hell." ~Jesus Christ, Matt. 10

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." ~Paul, Gal. 1

We are to fear God, not man...and especially not man's opinions.

Peace.