Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Please note *asterisks*

Here’s the bathroom chart Allison made up:

And this is the prize box that Ava gets to pick from whenever she completes the task:

And here’s the spoon I found hidden behind the prize box this morning:

Nothing builds your faith quite like trading diapers for big girl underwear.

I have a tattoo on my arm. It’s pretty big. For whatever reason, the subject of getting tattooed and questions about tattoo stuff have come up a lot lately.

It’s been around a year and a half since I was last tattooed and I’m scheduled for a 4-hour tattoo session tomorrow at 3pm. I’ll be getting the inside of my upper arm worked on and hopefully get close to finishing out my full sleeve with it.

Tattoos are something I’ve been fascinated with ever since I was little. I just find it amazing that someone can transfer something so beautiful to someone’s skin…they just draw me in. In my particular case, I see my tattoos as a ministry tool. When someone is what you might call “far from God”, they seem much quicker to come and talk to me than to someone in a three-piece suit.

My tattoos are also a witness to the amazing things God has done in my life. Images of storms we face, depictions of the Holy Spirit, and the soon arriving portrait of Jesus are a constant reminder of just how good God really is.

While tattoos are becoming more and more socially acceptable (still a rough sell if they’re on your forehead), they are not quite as welcomed throughout the church world. As a pastor, you can imagine the strange looks directed towards me and the often loss of “authority” or “respect” I obtain from uptight Christians who believe tattoos are a sin. It’s cool though…I’m always up for a challenge.

You can imagine my surprise when I heard news this weekend that a women’s group from our church set out on a field trip and all got tattooed together…in highly visible areas! Oh, did I mention that my beautiful mother-in-law Tracy was one of those women who got tattooed?

Scripturally, tattoos can be argued for or against.

Often, arguments that tattoos are okay for Christians revolve around Christian freedom or the fact that the law of God was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross. This shuts up most of those who are ready to argue Leviticus 19:28 which says, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.”

This verse was laid smack dab in the middle of a list of Old Testament Mosaic Laws, most of which were needed during that time for safety or other implications of that era. I always like to take a look at the verse right before the one that says NO TATTOOS for a little eye-opener. Leviticus 19:27 says, “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”

Hmm…so we don’t have any problem with people cutting their hair or men trimming their beards, but we are quick to judge those with tattoos or piercings. Hmm.

Another huge argument is that our body is a temple and that we are desecrating it by adding things to it that were not intended to be there. I remember when I was still dating Allison, and her grandpa came up to me pointing to my earrings and said, “Don’t you think if God wanted to wear those things you would have been born with them?”

I told him I felt the exact same way about clothing. He’s liked me ever since.

What it comes down to is this:

Your heart. Where is your heart on the issue? If you feel uneasy about it and you just don’t like the idea of it…then don’t get tattooed. Just try to not be a Judgmental Judy when it comes to others having tattoos. And if you’ve wanted one, but you were unsure if it was “okay” for some reason, rest assured that God is far more interested in our love for Him and our hearts than weather or not we have some ink on us.