Last week I got my first tattoo. 

  I wasn’t planning on it, the thought never crossed my mind till we’d already been in Antigua for a couple hours. Some friends of mine were going to get piercings or tattoos already, and since I knew what I wanted, I decided I might as well tag along and get it over with (I don’t really enjoy pain, and had no idea what to expect). 

  I’ve known what I wanted to get basically since September of 2020; during women’s week at training camp, we did the Beauty for Ashes retreat, which really brought to light a lot of things I had no idea were there, or that I knew about but didn’t know that I needed healing from. Something that Holy Spirit revealed to me was a fear of being forgotten or abandoned; the Scripture He brought to mind was Isaiah 49:14-16: “But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

  I don’t remember how or when it started, but as I continued to meditate on those verses, I wanted a constant reminder that Jesus always remembers me; if He has me engraved on His hands, how could I do any less? Another thing that stuck with me for the last couple years is the fact that, medically speaking, Jesus was pierced through his wrists, not technically His palms (there’s a lot of research out there, you can Google it). Why not have my constant reminder be the mark that He bares from the ultimate act of Love for me and every person I’ve met and will never meet? 

  So here I am, forever engraved with a permanent memorial to the Love of God and the sacrifice Jesus paid to win my heart. Is it an easy story to explain? Not with all those different parts to unravel, it isn’t. But it’s worth it, because He’s worth it and says I’m worth it. It’s kind of funny, to have such a simple mark with so much story behind it. 

  Thanks for reading this kind of random and barely thought out little story; I hope you go and find your own reminders of what the Lord has done in your life. 

  Love you bunches,

  Claire