Ink

As I sat in the chair I couldn’t help but wonder what Danny would say. Part of me thinks he would say, “Are you crazy?” Another part of me says, “It’s your finger, do what you want! But don’t come crying to me when it hurts!” That’s the Danny I love! The one that tells me there is consequences for my actions! But he loved me anyway! I tossed the idea of a tattoo around for several months. 6 to be exact. When my anniversary rolled around I wanted something permanent to show me that yes he was here! I know that makes absolutely no sense to some of you! Most of you! Because all I have to do is look at my kids to know where he was. I look at the kids who he coached- I see him there. I look at the people he touched every day in some form or fashion. I find out daily how he touched people’s lives. It warms my heart to hear stories of him. My new coworkers have many stories to tell. Stories before I even knew him. Childhood stories. They feel like a part of my family that I am just beginning to know.

Isn’t that how it is in God’s family? Everyone we meet is just another member of the family of God. Of course as I sat there I was still trying to decide if I had made the right choice. Was I in the right place? The right time? You know me I have prayed about this! For six months I prayed! So me and my big mouth (yeah I know you are all laughing) I tell him right off the bat that I am a Jesus freak! He has heard the song, knows the band. So far so good! After all he is the one that is going to be inflicting pain on me! So we begin to share our stories. After all that’s what we are called to do! Oh boy, that’s when it got interesting. He told me he was an atheist! So I let him know right off that I would be talking about Jesus the whole time I was in his chair! After all the customer is always right! Right?! I was curious because I have never met anyone who professed to be an atheist. So I had lots of questions! At that moment I wished I had chosen a more complex tattoo because I knew he was going to be finished way too soon. But I gave it my best shot. He told me that IF there was a here after he thought he would go there because he did good deeds, tried to live and do good for people. So I told him yes there was a hereafter it was called heaven and you couldn’t get there by doing good. You had to have Jesus in your heart. He then surprised me by telling me I reminded him of his mother! She was a praying Christian too! So after I heard that I knew! I told him he didn’t have a chance because if he had a praying mother she had already prayed for him and God was still working on those prayers! See his mother died last September, a month after Danny died! Hello! It was not coincidence that I was there right at that moment. And my tattoo? He was the only one that could do fingers! So yeah, my tattoo was a God thing! He uses everything, even my tattoo. I found out from my new friend that he didn’t believe in Jesus’ unconditional love because He made the path too hard to find Him! He said the Bible for salvation was like taking a toddler into the wilderness and giving them a road map. They would never find their way out! But I told him all he had to do was ask Jesus in his heart and He would do the rest. He would show him the way. No matter where he was! He was extremely knowledgeable of the bible. I am sure he knew more than I did. He has taken several theology classes. So he knew his Bible and the history. But what he didn’t know was that when I pray God listens! And I have faith that God answers my prayers. I told him he was pretty much done for because he was on my list! My prayer list! I would be praying for him every day! And I was sure he would be going to heaven with me whether he wanted to or not. After all, between the prayers his mom prayed and now with me praying he just didn’t stand a chance!

He told me to come back in 2 weeks for a touch up. I assured him I would be back because I wasn’t going to miss a chance to tell him more about Jesus. One of the saddest things I heard him say was that there was nothing in this world that he could chalk up to a miracle. So I asked him if he had children, that’s the obvious miracle. He has a two year old. When I asked him how could he not see THAT miracle when she was born he simply laid it off to science. But I told him it was so much more. So much more! So this morning I was thinking of our conversation and just the fact that YES I have a tattoo, I realized that in order for me to fulfill my purpose, I am going to have to go to places I would normally not go! Let’s face it, when I witness at church, they have already heard it! I have to get out there where people don’t know about Christ! They want to know or my tattoo artist wouldn’t have taken a class! What I am sure of is this; since he won’t go to church and he professes atheism Jesus is going to have to go to him. So I have an appt in 2 weeks! Just for a touch up. But I am thinking, another tattoo? I don’t know, that’s gonna have to be a God thing. I know God sent me to minister and witness to him on that day at that time. He was such a nice young man. I believe he has good values, high standards and I don’t doubt he is a good father. But you have to go past his appearance. I have a feeling just from our conversation he has been persecuted for his tattoos, his piercings, his general appearance; and he has been persecuted by Christians. So he just chooses not to be one of those! He is going to try to get to the hereafter on his own, by works and good deeds.

We, you and I-fellow believers, know this is not how to get to heaven. You ask for forgiveness and ask Him to live in your heart. Not a hard thing to do, but it is very humbling! So I told him I was going to pray that God sends him a miracle. A miracle that he would have no other explanation for except to say, WHOA that was God! So I am asking my face book believers to pray with me for this young man that has no belief in God! And not just him but for all those that say Christ and his unconditional love does not exist. Because I am here to tell you I have experienced it. I have felt the warmth of His embrace. The comfort in the knowledge that yes, I will see those I love again. It brought tears to my eyes as he told me he didn’t believe in Christ and his love. How devastating that would be. So even if I have to get tattooed from head to toe, I will be visiting him and his tattoo parlor. If sitting in his chair is the only way for me to tell him Jesus loves him, then all I can say is get the ink ready!
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.