There are two semi crazy, daring things I have wanted to do for years. You can call it a midlife crisis or the guts of a more mature woman that sent me over the edge and made me brave enough to follow through with the insanity. Not only have I done the deeds, but now I also dare to be brave enough to share them with you, and bold enough to be proud of them.
First. Three weeks ago…. wait for it…..I….wait for it…..got…..a Tattoo!
Oh Yes! I Did.
As if experiencing the pain of having gallstones, kidney stones, and birthing two children without any pain medication were not enough, I decided to put myself through this ultimate test of torture. Actually, I hate to admit it, but compared to all of the above, it was just a walk in the park. Think: bad sunburn, sharp piece of glass. Pain, but nothing like pushing a child through my birth canal!
My tattoo is written in Hebrew, and it says: “Oh! Mighty man of valor.” Most Bible translations read “Mighty warrior.” If you have been reading my blog you will know exactly why I chose those words. If not, then let me encourage you to go HERE and read through the 5 posts I wrote about Gideon and on being brave. If you are just too lazy to go through it all, feel free to cheat and just read THIS post. It says enough for you to understand where I’m coming from.
My initial idea was to just write the word “warrior”. I was a little apprehensive, thinking It would sound to much like the “princess warrior”, you know, as in, Xena. But I identified so much with that word, and it spoke so loudly to me that I was willing to do it anyway. As I was sharing my idea with my son Isaac, who is 14 years old now (By the way, I just earned myself some major cool mom points on this one! If your kids think you are not cool, which they do, get a tattoo. Seriously. I’m riding this one as far as I can go, I’m sure it won’t last long. Unfortunately the minute I begin to bust some moves and try to dance, because I love to dance, (and really, I’m not that bad at it) my cool balloon will be deflated before you can say ouch!) Uh, where was I? My cool 14 year old suggested that I have something done in another language. Genius! I was so thrilled with the idea, and he was thrilled to have suggested it. What better than to have the very words that God spoke to Gideon written in its original language? I did quite a bit of research, which turned out to be a waste of time. It had not occurred to me that I have a brilliant father-in-law that has Doctorates in all kinds of stuff, including Theology, and has studied extensively in Greek and Hebrew. He had a Hebrew font installed on his computer and printed out these words for me to hand to my tattoo artist.
About a week after I got my tattoo I was reading a blog post. I learned a fascinating thing about one of the words written on my wrist. The word translated for “warrior”, or “man of valor” in Judges is the word “chayil”. It's the word on the left. This word just so happens to be the same word used to describe the woman in Proverbs 31. The woman of “noble character” is actually a woman of valor, a warrior. Who knew? A part of me wishes that I had had the “female” version written on me, but the more I thought about it, the less I regretted my choice. Gideon is my man, and the words spoken to him are the words spoken to me.
Now I see, and therefore I hear the words of God that I desperately need to hear every single day, several times a day. You, my dear, are a warrior. You are more that you think you are. And I can do way more for and with you than you can possibly imagine.
Beautiful! Is it not?
The second brave thing I did, this one only a week ago, was get my hair cut. Again, shorter yet. I’m thrilled.
I have short hair!
Years, years I have waited for this. And well, I’m getting used to it. In the pictures you can’t tell how short it is in the back. It is, it’s really short, shorter than I have ever had it.
OH! I wonder what could be next!
A new career? A new car? A new kid? Liposuction?
Cheers to the Midlife!
Cheers to the Midlife!
