inked.

This tattoo and this story is multilayered. Let’s start with the tree. After working in Kings Canyon National Park summer of 2018 and at Redwood Camp this past summer, I have had two very significant summers AMONG THE GIANTS. (wow who knew that the name would be so literal for two summers in a row) Growing up, I also attended summer camps that were enclosed in these glorious redwood trees. It was these summers that captured and grew my knowledge of God and my desire to seek and serve Him. It was among the giants that my heart was molded and my faith was shaped and stretched. and it was these redwoods that taught me that God can take the ordinary and create something beautiful out of it.

If you haven’t done so already, I would encourage you to check out my previous posts about my time in Kings Canyon and my analogies of redwoods to the Kingdom of God. To spare you the time right now, let me briefly reiterate them here. Giant Sequoias are the world’s largest tree, and yet they grow from a seed the size of an oatmeal grain. They grow through fires, and actually grow from fire (the cones often open up from the smoke and thus new life is established through the seemingly harsh reality of the fire). God takes these incredible trees to display His handiwork and they way He uses us. From the small seed of faith that we have, from the ordinary, grain-sized-being that we are on this planet, He creates beauty and uses us to do some pretty incredible things. And although we go through fiery patches in life, God uses those times to grow us and stretch us into the people He wants us to be. It sometimes takes those “through the fire” moments to push us forward and force us to lean on Him. Redwoods are pretty rad, hence why I chose this tree to represent my faith in my tattoo.

Now the box part. I came up with this design to represent how these summers referenced before have grown me outside of my comfort zone. We often compare our comfort zone to a confined box and how we need to step out of it to fully live life. Sure, kinda cheesy, but there’s that. However, the greater reason is to represent how God has exceeded my earthly, confined expectations. He has such a greater plan for my life and works in ways I could never have thought of. When I set my own expectations, God works outside of them. He shatters my own views of what think my life is going to look like, how I think my summer is going to go, or what my plans are. And it is through Him that I am able to exceed the lines of my own expectations. He is the architect and artist that is painting a whole and beautiful life for me.

I now have this permanent reminder of my awesome God who will lead me on a path that exceeds my own expectations. I have a permanent representation of the summers I spent working beneath the shade of the world’s largest and tallest trees. and now I have a visible mark of the invisible journey I have been on- one that I can share with others.