tattoos!

I have wanted a tattoo since I was in high school. I always wanted one on my left wrist, where it could be easily seen but also easily covered up. I used to want to get the word "doulas" in greek, which means "bondservant."

When Bech and I were engaged, we started talking again about tattoos. We had picked out Isaiah 62 for our wedding. You can read the whole chapter here. It's a beautiful passage about the redemption of Israel and how she is as a bride.

Here's my favorite part of the passage:

³ You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴ No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.

⁵ As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.

The two words that Israel will now be called are Hephzibah and Beulah. Hepzibah means "my delight is in her," and Beulah means "married" or "bride."

We talked for a while about each of us getting one of those words on our wrists. We were planning on possibly getting the tattoos on our honeymoon. Of course, I chickened out! But we didn't totally forget about getting them...

Double decker weekend, we were with two girl friends of mine. We all started talking about tattoos and how we wanted some, and decided that that night was the night! (I promise...we were sober...I know going to get a tattoo at 11 on a Saturday night makes us sound drunk...but we weren't!) Bech decided to wait a few more days so he could carefully design his, but I knew that it was then or never!

So here they are:

Here is mine, Beulah.

And Bech's, Hephzibah.

And ours both together. Our fonts are different. Also, his is bigger and lower down on his arm.

I really do love having a tattoo. I was worried that I would wake up the next morning, take one look at it, and immediately regret it. But I didn't!

I know I am by no means a tattoo expert, but I do have some advice. You should only get a tattoo if you have thought about it for some time (it doesn't have to be seven years, but at least longer than a week or two) and know exactly what you want. Don't get a tattoo just because you like the idea. Think really carefully about what you are getting and where you are getting it. Think about how you will explain it to people around you. It does change peoples perceptions of you, and that is something you have to deal with!