While at camp, the word Grace kept resonating with me.
Grace defined is :
grace [greɪs]
n
1. elegance and beauty of movement, form, expression, or proportion
2. a pleasing or charming quality
3. goodwill or favour
4. the granting of a favour or the manifestation of goodwill, esp by a superior
5. a sense of propriety and consideration for others
a. affectation of manner (esp in the phrase airs and graces)
b.
in (someone’s) good graces regarded favourably and with kindness by (someone)
7. mercy; clemency
8. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) Christianity
a. the free and unmerited favour of God shown towards man
b. the divine assistance and power given to man in spiritual rebirth and sanctification
c. the condition of being favoured or sanctified by God
d. an unmerited gift, favour, etc., granted by God
9.
(Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) a short prayer recited before or
after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or give thanks for it
(Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) a short prayer recited before or
after a meal to invoke a blessing upon the food or give thanks for it
10. (Music / Classical Music) Music a melodic ornament or decoration
11. (Economics, Accounting & Finance / Banking & Finance) See days of grace
with (a) bad grace unwillingly or grudgingly
with (a) good grace willingly or cheerfully
Woah! What a loaded word….So I prayed on why this word was meaning so much to me. Then I realized, Grace is the word I want to be defined by. I want to express myself in a beautiful way, I want my words and actions to be that of Grace. I want to consider others and be graceful. Because of Jesus, I am given Grace. Gods love shines down on us through his Grace, that we are chosen because he chooses us…not out of need but love. That we are given gifts and talents because of Gods grace. I want to give grace (prayer form) for all of the amazing blessings I have been given. I want to do and accept all of this with good grace.
For myself, getting the tattoo was a meaningful process…
First…I hate being alone. I am working on being comfortable in my own skin. Therefore, I got this tattoo BY MYSELF. I also have NO threshold for pain…and this process was painful. It made me think about how painful it must have been to see our sins on the cross and that while Jesus was alone, God was there.
This represented to me a bit of brokeness. That I was to have this constant reminder on my wrist of what God has done for me and the kind of person I want to be. That when people ask me what my tattoo stands for, that I am bold in my faith.
Healing: So I decided to go to my apartment and just take the 3 hour healing process to think. I listened to “Mighty to Save” and I want to :
” Shine your light and let the whole world see”
SO THERE IS MY NEW TATTOO!! GRACE…and instead of black I chose blue and white which are more “cheery”. I asked the designer to make sure the G was a J and C combined. Becuase Grace is complete because of Jesus Christ. I also had it highlighted on top and shadowed on the bottom. For me this basically represents that His light will shine down on any darkness and it will be sanctioned because of Gods Grace!
