Tats and Tongues, Ha Ha...Only Me...

My Abba showed me something about myself today.

Went today to get the epic ink that has been haunting my dreams for..like...EVERRRRRrrrr..errrr....errrrrr....so yeah.

I've been so PUMPED since Mother's Day when my baby told me that he was going to let me have it. Circumstances being what they have...ahem...(the idiocy of spray on SPF and Lake Tobesofkee for the ENTIRE day...erm yeah...not fun times in the world of Nicki) I've had to postpone the awesomeness.

Well, thanks to Kristan (the worlds MOST amazingUH babysitter) Shane and I took off to Ink Wizzard this morning.

Last night, I was stoked....like COMPLETELY. This morning? A bit nervous...I mean, it's been like 7 years since my last tat...and it was a tramp-stamp...this sick art was huge compared to that. I got to thinking about my ideas and what Daddy and I had talked about concerning this. So I asked Him: "Do I really want to do this?"

He didn't answer...which is so uber frustrating to me when He does that.

All the way there, I'm thinking about the design and the fact that this is permanently going to be a part of my body...my identity...not something to take lightly...

So for those of you out there who may be too chicken to actually confront me about it, I actually DO put time and consideration into this...thus the SEVEN year wait...I just havent found anything that moved me enough to have it branded onto my body.

So anywho! All the way there, all of this is going thru my head because I have yet to see the design at this point. I was nervous about that too..I mean all I did was tell this stranger what I saw in my head and he said, "Sure! I can do that."

Even as we walked into the room, I was still unsure and He was still FRUSTRATINGLY silent. Then.....oh, then......

He showed me the design. It was everything I had seen in my vision and more....Like...wow...I told the artist, "It's like you were inside my head...that's ridiculous....like, wow."

And suddenly there was no question.

I want this on my body forever.

Until the first stroke of the outliner...HOW?!?!

How could I forget THAT?!?! AAAAACK!! What was I THINKING?!?!?!?! Hahahahahaha...

Even though I secretly wanted to say OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH! I'm good with a 2 inch line...I was tough...you know the kind...face going into grotesque contortions when they cant see you and smiling like a mule eating briars when they can....Yeeeeeeah, that facade that lasted all of about 20 minutes.

Then this strange thing happened when that awful instrument of torture made its way down my side onto a VERY tender area...

This beautiful song errupted out of me and before I knew what was happening I was singing in the spirit...for those who are NOT familiar with that terminology, I was skrait up singing in some tongues, lol.

He stopped for a sec and chuckled and I kinda turned sheepishly and said, "I admit it. I'm a wuss. And you will get serenaded today, obviously, because I cant control it. Hahaha."

That outburst sparked a 3 hour conversation..in between musical shanda-la-mah-hiyas...about church, God, awesome pastors, stupid christians, the voice of Godm and everything in bewteen.

Just so you know, Gary is amazing. His heart is beautiful and he's passionate about his life and family  and his art reflects that...and anyone who needs work done, go see him in Griffin at INK WIZZARD. (There! successful plug..CHECK! Moving on)

Haha, he was so patient with this squirmy worm and really did try to make me feel better about how sissy I was being about it. In the final minutes, before I had just had enough, He was talking to Shane and my songs turned in to earnest pleas in tongues and my Daddy knows me so well, hahaha. I'm so stubborn..I was going to sit there until I passed out, but I WAS LEAVING WITH A COMPLETE TATTOO. Dern it.

It was crazy, because when Gary wiped the cloth over my raw back, it was like God himself wiped hi hand across my pain and said, "My stubborn daughter. Just stop."   I prayed a little more. "Just stop." So I said, "GARY!" hahaha...i was kinda in desperate mode...

He laughed, "yes, dear?"

"Finish the angels hair and I'm done for today..."

Needless to say I felt COMPLETELY defeated and like a collossal sissy.

As we were driving away Shane and I were laughing about the whole tongues thing and then this verse flittered across my thoughts..."out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.."

I immediately started boo-hooing when I realized how much God has changed my heart. A few short years ago...in that kind of pain...I can guarantee that nothing spiritual would have come out of my mouth...nothing DECENT would've come out of my mouth...but today....I couldnt even control it. It just...bubbled up and out in the form of songs and my prayer language..

Wow...Thank you, Abba, for every time when I have thought, "Life can get no worse, " Or "My heart can not bear any more," or "I have nothing left, God..You have brought me low..."  Because in those times, when I got to know Your heart...and Your love...and Your relentless passion...You were purging my heart for a moment like to today when a seasoned tattoo genious experienced something comical (hahaha) and new, and a kingdom relationship was formed.

As Gary taped up the GORGEOUSNESS on my back, he laughed and said, "You know, Ive been doing this for almost 33 years and I've heard alot of things come out of people's mouths on this table...but I have to say, I've never heard someone sing or speak in tongues."

Hahaha...only me.