I know that the curiosity of a few friends and family was piqued this past week when I mentioned that Madison and I got tattoos this past weekend. I called it a surreal rite of passage. Actually, Madison has been talking about this for quite a while. She’s wanted to get the reference to her life verse as a tattoo. Last Christmas Wendy and I agreed to take Madison to get a tattoo as part of her Christmas present. I had a tat in mind that I wanted, so Wendy and I thought it would be cool to take Madison and get mine at the same time.

The event was initially delayed as Madison tried to figure out exactly what she wanted. When we finally got around to making the appointment, we were made aware that Madison can’t get one in Iowa until she’s 18. So, we put it off until we would be in Missouri, where she can get a tattoo with parental approval.

So, as we visited the Playhouse on Lake of the Ozarks last weekend with Madison and her friend, Anna, we headed to Fat Tobes on Saturday afternoon. Madison chose to get the reference to her life verses tattooed on the back of her neck. She picked out a font and the artist wrapped a rose behind it. She did great and we both thought it looked beautiful. Her life verses are Philippians 3:7-14:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Mine was a rampant lion high on my right shoulder with a reference to Revelation 5:5:

Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

Actually, it was a lot of fun to do this with Madison. It’s an experience we will never forget and will always share. I know that there are a lot of different opinions about tattoos. Madison mentioned that, at a recent youth conference, the teacher quoted Revelation 19:16 where it describes the triumphant Christ and "on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS".

Jesus tatted up?