I know not everyone has the same opinion of tattoos as I do (and that’s ok), but I want to share my tattoo story.
As most of you know, my family and I recently moved to a home right next to the church we have been serving in for almost three years. Prior to this move, we knew we were going to be obedient and follow God wherever he led, but we didn’t know where that would be.
In the middle of all this I had a dream…
In my dream I walked into a tattoo shop and told the man behind the counter I wanted a tattoo that represented my relationship with God.
He came back with this huge, green vine… and it was not really pretty. For whatever reason I didn’t even question it.
The man pulled me back into a blue room with comfortable couches where a group of people started telling me, “This is really going to hurt.” “Are you sure you want to do this?” “It’s going to hurt!”
I pointed to my other tattoo and said, “Yeah, I know.”
Then the man told me, “No, this is REALLY going to hurt.”
I said, “That’s ok. I want to do this.”
“Ok where do you want it?”
I pointed to the top of my arm. He said, “Nope, not there.”
Then I pointed to my back. He said, “Not there either.”
In my dream I was thinking Ok where then?
Then I woke up. The dream was so vivid. I told my husband about it and then said out loud, “Why would I get a huge, ugly, green vine to represent my relationship with God?”
And my husband said, “Really Renee? John 15…”
“Oh, Jesus is the Vine.”
So, I went and looked up the verse:
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
What really spoke to me though was the “apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus is the Vine, and I can’t do anything apart from Him.
So, I got the tattoo to remind myself of that. Every time I try to do things from my own understanding, I hope this is a constant reminder that apart from Him I can do nothing.