Summary: A man from Good Shepherd, the church I'm serving in Minneapolis, told me that he and his twin boys were watching a football game together. The boys noticed and commented on the tattoos of many of the players. It opened up a wonderful conversation for them. Bill, their father, talked about the stories; all those tattoos have stories with them. Ask someone the story of their tattoos; most love to tell those stories. I know I sure do! I have two small tattoos. One is a rose on the top of my left foot. I love it when people ask me about it. When my children were teenagers and we were still living in Atlanta, they gave me a rosebush for Mother's Day one year. My son's words when they gave me this bush, were, "Mom, you're the rose in a world of thorns." Aww--that was so sweet! And that is a story worth a permanent, never-to-be-removed mark on my body! A little P.S. Neither one of my children remembers giving me that rosebush, and my son does not remember saying those words to me. I think they think I was dreaming this whole thing...and, frankly, given their teenage years, that I was dreaming it probably makes more sense--but it's what this mother remembers, and that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! So back to the football game! Bill, the wise father that he is, used this conversation with his boys about stories and tattoos as an opportunity to remind them of their baptisms and of God's story in their lives through their baptisms. He said to them, "We have our own tattoos, you know. You are marked with the cross of Christ in your lives--forever."
