I am a Methodist preacher’s kid, and in a feat to seek my individuality, as well as seeming a little rebellious, I got into tattoos and piercings. I have ten piercings (four on my right ear, five on my left ear, and one in my nose.)

I currently have two tattoos. The first is on my left wrist which says “A Time.” It comes from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

My life has not always been smooth sailing, and so this scripture reminds me that there is a time for everything, and as long as I remember that God is with me, even when I try and push him away, times of scattered stones or of searching, will be followed by dancing and mending.

The second tattoo is of a phoenix on my foot. A phoenix is a mythical bird that rises from its own ashes. When I was a kid, I read this book called “Phoenix Rising” by Karen Hesse, and this idea of a person rising from their own ashes, whatever they may be, has always stuck with me.

My next one will be with my Dad, now that I have convinced him to get one. We are going to get the tree of life on our forearms, and I will add birds to mine to represent Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they?” I love that God will always provide for me and that I should not worry as I do, because God is holding me in his hands and guiding me.