wrist tattoos

Hey everybody... here's something I don't often do but want to: I'm going to discuss my next (pending) tattoos with you before I get them. Rachel and I spent a portion of this afternoon designing them, and I think that they represent me quite well.

As many of you know I plan to eventually have full sleeves with the themes of life/beginning (left arm) and death/end (right arm). These will continue this design and aim (which began with my Alpha and Omega tattoos). They combine a bit of my geeky qualities with what is probably the most obvious spiritual message yet that I will have tattooed.

They will be located on the underside of each wrist (below my palms). This is the approximate design, but blogger's formatting regulations do not allow for an exact paste, so the size is off. In the actual design the words are much smaller than the emoticons and are centered underneath them. The emoticons themselves are also supposed to be quite larger, but this is they are in the largest text blogger permits:

[>_<]
Philippians 3:8-14

\(^o^)/
Revelation 4:5-11

Now for the explanation. Both of these are Japanese emoticons (there's the geekiness), unlike traditional American emoticons which are sideways, these ones are designed to be read upright like the text. The Bible references are linked to the emoticons in a way that makes them spiritually applicable.

The top (left) one means frustration and is combined with Philippians 3: 8-14. This tattoo is on the "life" arm. This life is filled with the frustration of dealing with our sinful nature. We will never be free from it until our ultimate redemption in Heaven.

The bottom (right) emoticon means "joyfully singing" and goes with Revelation 4:5-11. Death is defeated by the blood of Christ, so his children should have no fear. Death gives way to the perfection of Heaven, where all the Saints will sing the praises of the Lord.

These tattoos taken together are representations of the message of salvation, but also the struggle of seeking holiness. Hopefully they will give me ample opportunity for preaching the gospel. I've noticed that people that I have never seen before are much more comfortable randomly asking me about my tattoos than they normally would be. I have met over 20 random strangers since getting my arm tattoos, and usually I never get more than a minute to talk with them, but in that minute I do get to discuss Christ. These new designs will undoubtedly cause the same reaction.

Please feel free to leave comments and questions. Also: expect a lengthy post on relationships coming soon.