Hello fellow bloggers, tattoo enthusiasts, friends and/or curiously-surfing internet users. This begins the first post of a series of interviews and stories about different peoples’ tattoos. This week I interviewed Lipscomb University students and women’s soccer players, Kameron Stilwell and Andrea Thornton, about their faith-inspired cross tattoos.
The following is my story inspired by their tattoos:
She lived most of her life in a state of perpetual monotony. There was nothing significant to tie her to the joys of the world, and nothing profoundly negative to separate herself from it. Needing an escape, she wandered far from anything that resembled familiarity. It’s not that she disliked her old life, she simply tired of the routine. Her days had become expendable and she grew weary as they passed. She craved change; she needed change.
Abandoning her past, she strayed from secular associations and focused on a life geared toward something beyond herself. She believed that she was designed for a greater purpose and trusted, for the first time, that her life was intentional.
She found God in her wanderings. Although previously aware of his existence, she now became aware of his presence. Her mind and heart longed for His love, and receiving it in full, she devoted her life willingly to Him. God blessed her daily and looking upon the cross now branded to her heart and her wrist, she was reminded of all it signified. She was loved, valued and worth dying for. She lived for God and in communion with Him.
Kameron and Andrea are teammates, roommates and best friends, bonded for life as permanent “ink sisters.” In August, between soccer practice and dinner, the girls suffered through the pain of an electronic needle piercing their skin. Excited, nervous, and depending on who you ask, respectable or reckless, the friends decided to get “tatted up.” They both received small, simple cross tattoos on the inside of their left wrists. Kameron’s tattoo is pink and very small, whereas Andrea’s tattoo is black and slightly larger.
For Kameron, the tattoo is a symbol of her devotion to God in every aspect of her daily life.
She says, “It’s a reminder of why I’m here and what life is about.”
Every time she looks at her wrist, she is both encouraged and fearfully reminded that her life is not her own. The tattoo is not only a reminder to act according to God’s will, but also acts as a symbol of God’s permanence in her life.
She is amazed and pleased that something so small could have such a profound impact on her daily thoughts and actions.
“I know it seems crazy, but seeing it really does make me stop and think about my purpose.”
For Andrea, the tattoo is a way to hold herself accountable to be strong and steadfast in her faith.
“For years I’ve been drawing it on my wrist as a reminder to myself of who I am, what I want to be and to hold myself accountable.”
Coincidentally, the girls wanted the same tattoo, but had decided on the design independently. Although the cross is a statement of their faith in God, it holds a different meaning and purpose for their lives.
Both committed to God, with a foundation in Christianity, they now carry the burden and freedom of the cross with them wherever they go.
Pen and Needle 