At the very start of the Race, I, like most other people, was thinking about ideas for tattoos and if I would get any and where they would be and all that. My first tattoo I wanted to get was the words No Switch. This means that when you go on a missions trip, you go all out, flip on the missionary switch. Once you get home, flip, switch is now off, back to normal life. I don’t want to do that. I want to always be “On” for Jesus. Got that tattoo my third week in Ecuador. After that I wanted to get Anduril (one of the swords from Lord of The Rings) on my right arm. That sword was to signify the Sword of the Spirit from Ephesians. I got that one in Ecuador. That was my first piece of the greater idea I had for my tattoos. You see, during my time in Ecuador I wanted to read the entire Bible, cover to cover. Which I did. But while reading Ephesians, I decided I wanted to get the armor of God in tattoos from Ephesians 6. God first put this on my heart and I wanted it but I, emphasis in I, felt like trying to condense it all down to one big tattoo with all of the pieces together. I spent several weeks trying to get it smaller but it felt wrong, so I went back to the original idea that God had given me. After getting the sword, it was all down hill from there. In quick succession, I got: a shield on my left arm for the Shield of Faith, the word Righteousness on my chest and, a picture of Boba Fetts helmet on my back for the Helmet of salvation. Those I got all from the same artist in Thailand. After that I took a small break before getting, Gospel on my left leg and Peace on my right for the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace.
Now at this point I had one tattoo from every country on the race except Albania. I was like, “Well I might as well get one more to finish it off.” But the more I thought about it the more I realized that if I got one in every country, that is what I would focus on, not as much on what the tattoos are. So that is where I am at now, no more tattoos on the Race. We’ll see what happens after though…
Prayer requests for me are:
- That I would stay present where I am. As home gets closer, it will get easier to check out.
- That I would stay in the Word daily.
- I sprained my ankle, so healing for that.
Ps: I will be getting home around the 9th of June
Thank you so much!
Peace out,
Elijah
