To ink or not to ink? That is the question. Many people. Many opinions. But after many years of contemplating, of praying, of brainstorming…I did it.
When I turned 40 (a few years back) and after interviewing lots of people to find good parlors and good artists, I got my first ink, with an amazing friend who shares the same birthday as me! We piled into our 12-passenger white van (just the two of us) and headed to GR! What a site! First time ink for these two ladies. Lots of giggles. Lots of nerves. Lots of placement possibilities. I wanted it to be meaningful. I thought of it as an altar. A way to remember. That is what the Old Testament people did. They used rocks to build an altar. To remember what God did.
“By faith…” this was my first, including the “…” In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, it describes those people of the past who put their faith in God. In action. I like reading about these people. Some were common people. Some were people who had made horrible mistakes. Yet those recorded still had faith to more forward, without seeing/knowing the future and God forgave them and redeemed them.
“By faith Abel…By faith Enoch…By faith Noah…By faith Abraham…By faith Sarah…By faith Abraham (again)…By faith Jacob…By faith Joseph…By faith Moses…By faith Rahab…By faith Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets…”
So, for me:
“By faith, Kristy obeyed My will for two little ones by fostering then adopting.”
“By faith, Kristy obeyed My will for her children and started homeschooling.”
“By faith, Kristy obeyed My will for her family and sold her home to become debt free.”
By faith…
I had it written on the inside of my left foot so I can see it and read it and remember. By faith, I stepped out into the water, into the unknown. By faith, I had to walk where I couldn’t see. By faith, I have to continue to walk where I cannot see. Super scary. But by faith, I did and I do.
My next ink/altar also came from Hebrews. Chapter 6 verse 19. It talks about Jesus being my anchor and hope. An anchor was what I needed during Mom’s two-year battle. The waves of life were so big and blinding and drowning that I needed an anchor. Jesus. Jesus is my anchor in life. Again, I went with my amazing friend and again, I wanted to see and remember so I placed this one on my right hand, just below my thumb. An anchor with the word hope in the middle and 6:19 at the bottom. I remember that He brought me through Mom’s battle and He will continue to bring me through life’s unknown.
For my third ink/altar I went along with a young lady from church who was experiencing her first ink and I placed this one on my left forearm, where I can see it and remember…that God sees me…El Roi. God has many names due to His awesomeness. El Roi is one of them. Hagar was a woman, in the desert, pregnant and not wanted. She felt alone and abandoned. This is where God met her and said, “I see you.” At that moment, she didn’t feel alone or abandoned anymore. She knew that wherever she went and whatever she thought, God was there. Knowing. Seeing. Caring. Never leaving. Whenever my depression creeps in or my thoughts go to the little girl who felt abandoned and alone or when I am feeling lost in a thick fog or to the thoughts of not being seen or heard or cared for…El Roi. I look at my forearm and am reminded. He sees me.
My fourth ink is…not an altar. This one is purely for aesthetic reasons. Our third son turned 18 and wanted to go with his “Ma” (he is the only one that calls me this) for his first ink…so I went! I have worn a toe ring for a while, so I decided to put a permanent one on. My feet are extremely ticklish. Pedicures are painfully fun. So, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go and neither did our son. Apparently, he was videoing me just in case. Well, I proved him and myself wrong and I held it together until the artist wrapped the fresh ink. Then…I giggled. A lot.
This decision of whether or not to ink was for me, not for anyone else. I don’t push others to get ink. I don’t judge others who do have ink. Other people may make their altars in different ways. But this is for me. This is how I remember. This is my altar. To remind me so I never forget what He has done for me. Others may be different. But this is my story. I am ONE story.
I am ONE story,
~ Kristy
Hebrews 6:19 (ESV) English Standard Version
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Genesis 16:13-14 (ESV) English Standard Version
13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
Hebrews 11 (ESV) English Standard Version
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.