Hi Friends and Family!
On one of our “adventure days”, I did something a little crazy… I got a tattoo! Yes, very crazy and not something I had not planned on doing before I left home, but the meaning behind it is so important to me.
Something that I admire about myself is my willingness to grow. When I first accepted Jesus into my heart at 14, that was my first time where I noticed the growth in my character and heart, and I’ve been growing in my faith and as a person ever since. High school was hard for me and I battled through what seemed like endless hardships, but God was there whether I realized it at the time or not. He used every situation to grow me and shape me in so many ways. When I was battling with severe anxiety in school, one thing that I did almost everyday was doodle on my notes. All over my AP Biology notes, I would draw little flowers. Even during really hard times where I couldn’t understand God’s reasoning, I knew that He was making me grow.
Committing to come on this trip was such a leap of faith for me. God told me over and over again that He was going to grow me and shape me in ways that He couldn’t do back home. I knew that He wanted me to grow closer to Him and this was a part of His plan. Since leaving home over 2 months ago, He has wildly changed my heart and my view of Him and His love for us. He has been changing my heart since the moment the plane took off to Atlanta for training camp.
If you have read my previous blog posts, you would know that flowers have been prophesied over me so. many. times. It’s happened over and over again and flowers are now sentimental to me more than ever. The color yellow (which happens to be my favorite color!) has been prophesied over me a lot, and to me it means happiness.
Since the beginning of the trip, people were talking about getting tattoos. I wasn’t really on board with it because there was nothing that meant enough to me to get as a tattooo. One day I was scrolling through Pinterest towards the end of our stay in Cambodia, and a tattoo of yellow flowers came up on my feed. I saw it and absolutely fell in love with it. Never before had I seen a tattoo so beautiful and delicate. I prayed about it constantly, because it is a very big commitment. I didn’t want to get a tattoo that just looked pretty with no significance; I wanted something that meant a lot to me. After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided to go through with it and to get it on my arm. God wants me to be able to look at my arm and see how much I’ve grown in Him and to see His abundant love for me. He wants to remind me of little 14-year-old Natalie and how far I’ve come in my relationship with Him, now serving His kingdom all the way in Asia. The idea of a tattoo being permanent kind of scared me, but how could I get tired of looking at something that reminds me of how much God loves me?
The tattoo turned out so beautiful and I’m so happy I got it. I feel so grateful to be serving my loving and caring God in Thailand! I’m excited to have a physical reminder of how much He loves me that I can look at during highs and lows.
Pictures of it will be up on my facebook! Thank you so much for reading my blog!
Blessings,
Natalie
