Stephanie Bricker
Student Writer
New ink alert! This week’s Tattoo Tuesdays artwork is only a couple days old! Sophomore Lydia Harris just got inked for the first time with a simple, but meaningful message on her forearm. Keep reading to check it out!
What does your tattoo mean to you?
I took a missions trip to Costa Rica my senior year of high school with my class. Towards the end of the trip we were doing devotions together out of nowhere I had this Jesus moment and I just started crying. I genuinely didn’t stop for probably 2-3 hours. I wasn’t totally sure what was going on at first, and I didn’t know what to tell my concerned classmates. I was hurt and confused and it sucked, but once I finally stopped it all hit me and I felt so much peace. Sometimes Jesus just has to slam you straight in the face for you to get the point. John 3:30 says “He must be greater, I must be less.” All these years I had been basing my happiness, joy and emotions off of my own self, usually leaving me feeling sad or incomplete. But the moment that I realized God has to be greater, God has to be more important, God has to take control of my life and emotions, is the moment I changed for the better. This tattoo is a reminder that while my life will constantly change, no matter where I am I will always be able to realize that I don’t have to be greater than whatever is coming my way because He is greater than it all.
How long had you thought about getting this tattoo before you went and did it?
Funny story. I had been lightly tossing around the idea of getting a tattoo for a couple years but hadn’t ever really put much serious thought into it or acted on my ideas. So, the other weekend I was driving back to school at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. My roommate Lexie Ometz, ’19, called me out of nowhere and said: “Hey, Courtney is getting a tattoo, meet us there!” So I stayed on the highway a few extra miles and met them there. I realized that I probably would never end up getting a tattoo if I thought about it for a while, so while we were there I scheduled an appointment to get my own tattoo done. The only thing that I knew was that I wanted “he > I” but I had no idea of where I wanted it or anything. So, yeah, I thought about it for 22 hours beforehand.
Was there anything that made you hesitate to get a tattoo?
Not really. With my career I want to pursue in accounting and business in general, the only thing I wanted to make sure of was that it was in a place I could easily cover up if I needed to – which is why I decided to go with the wrist.
Do you think the culture around tattoos is changing? Particularly in Christian settings?
I do think the culture is changing. Tattoos used to be a huge deal and you would get turned away from job offers because of them. There are some jobs that are still pretty uptight about them, but I think people are starting to realize that they’re not as big of a deal as they used to be.
Has anyone had a negative reaction to your tattoo?
Not really. A guy I used to see went out of his way to tell me it was “generic” (even though I got the tattoo for my own creative reasons) but that’s about as negative as it has gotten so far. When I went home my dad said: “I’m gonna write ‘I < impressed’ on my arm!” (I am less than impressed). But, he was totally kidding. Even though my parents and actually almost everyone had no idea I was going to get a tattoo, nobody freaked out on me. My older sister has a few tattoos so I knew that I wouldn’t get in trouble!
What is your favorite part of your tattoo?
I love that it’s a small reminder of my faith that means a lot to me and that it’ll hopefully start conversations. While I was really back and forth about where I wanted to place my tattoo, I am so happy I got it done on my wrist. It can be easily covered if I need it to but it’s also very visible and I hope it’ll ultimately be a great way to share my faith!