Tattooing in Green

Last summer I seriously considered getting this verse tattooed on the arch of my right foot.

(Just in case you can't read Hebrew, it says the first half of Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know.")

I am a lot like Rory from the show Gilmore Girls, so of course I made numerous pro/con lists, both on paper and in my head. They pretty much looked like this:

Pros:

• This verse commands me to BE STILL, which some scholars translate as LET GO. What a great permanent reminder!
• By including just the first half of the verse I have the flexibility to BE STILL AND KNOW a whole host of truths. That God is God. That He has a plan for me. That He will give me the desires of my heart if I delight myself in Him. That no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. See? Flexible!
  
• If it's on my foot it is cool yet discrete! People probably won't even see it for 6 months out of the year!
  
• When they do see it, people will have to ask me what it says and then I can have an awesome segue into talking about spiritual things.

Cons:

• Ow. OW OW OW!
• Getting it on the arch of my foot will hurt a LOT.
• I hate needles.
• Why are you even considering this?
• What if they do one character and I flip out and they have to stop? Then it will look like a birthmark. Or a mistake.
  
• Will parents at school think I'm a hippiefied freak that is no longer a good role model for their children?
• Will I have to move back to Asheville, land of the hippies, just so I can blend in?
• In 15 years I'm gonna be 40. FORTY! Will I want this on my foot when I'm 40?

As you can see, the con side won out. But I still absolutely love this verse, so I decided to figuratively tattoo it on my heart instead.

Well yesterday my LIFE leadership group had the opportunity to work on spiffening up our meeting place, The Block. This space used to be the Center Stage Theater. It is on Academy Street and has tons of potential - it just needs some TLC.

We cleaned out, cleaned up, and painted for hours. We decided to take two blank walls and decorate them with verses that meant something to us. Naturally I quickly decided on "Be Still and Know."

It was awesome for "my tattoo verse" to kind of come full circle. Leaving these words on a surface where they will be seen, where they will inspire and encourage others, was almost as exciting as body art.

And the best part is? No needles required.

Now I know:
Tattoos are temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.