Indelible—Until God Speaks

in·del·i·ble

/inˈdeləb(ə)l/

adjective

1. (of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed.

• ◦ not able to be forgotten or removed. “his story made an indelible impression on me"

Man plans, God laughs—Yiddish Proverb

As a Christ follower, I have learned many things, but none so profound as the lesson bible verse Proverbs 16:9 holds for us, which reflects the above Yiddish proverb which many a man has heard…

The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps—Proverbs 16:9

We humans have this foolish notion that we oversee and direct our destiny. We are no more in control of our destiny than we are in control of the color of grass. “But”, you say, “I can change the color of grass.” True. You can. Grass is inherently green, but through your own choices you can make it several shades of brown. I do not mean to imply that we are helpless.  Free will absolutely does have a bearing on our outcome, but all things considered, what God wills will be done—in our resistance or our acceptance. This I have learned. Hence when God whispers, I take heed.

God recently gave me a very concrete image of His will. You may recall a post I made a couple of years ago called Indelible Ink. It highlighted new tattoos that John and I had applied. One of the tattoos I posted about was a couple’s tattoo. Now, when we went to get this very simple design done, somehow, in some unexplainable way, the tattoo artist messed up. John went first and the artist, with picture in hand, applied the wrong color to the wrong space of the design. Though he attempted to fix it, there was no repairing his mistake. 

This is my wrist.  John's wrist still bears the tainted image.  He has yet to decide what he will do, if anything, with his tattoo. 

We laughed about it and I teased John that it was just evidence in how he has corrupted me over the years—and we’ve had many years of growing together. The tattoos were completed, and life went on, but the mistake was undeniable. But what to do?

Over the last year, the Lord has taught me much about this life we live here on Earth—this life between two gardens. This life lived evicted from the perfect garden of Eden and yet awaiting entrance to the promised perfect garden of Revelations. This tension is evident every day, some days more than others. We long for the perfection our hearts were designed for but cannot attain until Christ comes again. In this tension, during a bible study, God showed me how I could transform this mistake inked onto my wrist into a reminder of His promise to me as a daughter of the King. He whispered to me how to turn the symbols on my wrist into a heart and His name—God.

My heart skipped a beat.

Redemption was possible! Redemption of this mistake—of any mistake I could make—was and is possible in and through Him. I drew on my wrist, transformed the flawed image, and smiled. Then I added a word—but.

But God. It’s one of the most powerful statements in relation to our Lord. It begins a new thing, transforms another, makes and fulfills promises. But God. God had given me hard evidence, a lasting reminder, of how He had been, is, and always will be by my side, directing my steps and planning my ways.

I finally got the opportunity to transform that tattoo. It no longer is a flawed plan carried out in what I had called indelible ink. No. God always has the last word. The former image is gone and is now redeemed and transformed as a perfect reminder that God’s will be done. 

I love my transformed tattoo!  It's a beautiful reminder of God's love and power

He’s not finished with me yet—praise God! And this life between two gardens, though the tension may be thick and the way uncertain to me, God, if I let Him, will be sure that all things work for my good as a daughter of the King. #PTL!

SLU

Ok all, I have to apologize upfront.  We've had a whirlwind summer that has kept me more than consumed and therefore, I am WAY backlogged in the area of blogging.  However, better that I document late than to skip overall, so...

SLU better known as Student Leadership University, was an exciting experience for Nikolas this year.  It's a leadership conference that he was invited to attend, but since the cost was significant, it took much prayer and preparation for him to be able to go.  Nikolas did a great job in fundraising, networking, and just plain planning in order to fund the trip and make the most out of this conference experience.  From charter buses and airplanes, hotels and major tourist attractions, to great leadership and notable personalities, Nikolas had a very educational and memorable experience.  I'm going to let his letter of thanks (which he sent out to those who so graciously helped get him to SLU) give you the run down on his trip. 

 Last month was my SLU trip, and believe me when I say, “It was awesome!”  Our official group count was 16 students and four chaperones. I was one of the older students in a group of 9^th to 12^th grade students. 

Ready to board the bus

Everyone was excited to get going!

Many different groups attended the conference overall, but this was Nikolas' gang

The Oakdale hotel was where we stayed for the week and where most of the conference took place. Every day had a few sessions (13 sessions in total for the week), with each new session building on the last.

Studying at SeaWorld and braving the heat

One of my favorite sessions was at Sea World in the Shark’s Underwater Grill. Not only was it a great session (talking about how the characteristics of sharks can be related to people) but the scenery was also very stunning. During the entire conference we were taught about leadership fundamentals. 

Indoor Conference Sessioons

Three of the mainstays were how to lead yourself, how to lead others, and how to achieve your goals. Every topic and idea stated was Jesus centered, ensuring that He was our focus in all things. Throughout the conference we had multiple speakers, from the founder of Student Leadership University, Dr. Jay Strack, to the renowned Hall of Famer and motivational speaker, Pat Williams. 

Taking notes was a must

Everyone had their own unique style of speaking and I learned so much from each of them! My personal favorite speaker was Jeff Wallace whose session was on personalities. We all took the DISC personality test, and later stood up according to the personality Jeff was describing. Mr. Wallace had such a fun personality himself that it made the whole session even more enjoyable than it already was. 

Swallow the big frog first--if you get the chance, ask Nikolas about it

Aside from the sessions, there was, of course, our time at Sea World and Universal Studios. Sea World opened two hours early for our group to enter and we were able to see the park in its empty state. There were a handful of Sea World staff members whose single purpose was to tour the SLU group through the park and to make sure that we were on time for every planned event. We were all given the opportunity to ride Manta & Mako, which I eagerly accepted and greatly enjoyed both. Everything is better when the park hasn’t been opened to the public yet! We were also shown a large majority of the animals they had in the park; from sea lions and beluga whales to flamingos and turtles. We even saw a dolphin show while there! 

Being in the park before hours made the time spent there even more gratifying

Universal Studios was equally as enjoyable and entirely different. This time we were given five hours to freely roam around the park. Our church group chose the Islands of Adventure section of Universal over the Studios section, strictly because of the rides. Personally, I think it was a good choice. We started in the back of the park at the Wizarding World and worked our way to the front where the Superhero rides were, getting butter beer and souvenirs along the way. 

The fearless leaders who made this trip a happening thing!

Time flew and we were back at the hotel before we even knew it. The final day was a mixture of sessions and travel. The whole trip was so amazing, and God was evidently there every step of the way!

I’m so grateful to have been able to include you in this wild adventure and I thank you for riding along with me! I couldn’t have done it without you!

God Bless,

Nikolas