The REST of the Story....

Well, if you've been waiting in anxious anticipation (or been checking FB like Jill!), here's the scoop on the "something special" that Amber and I did on Friday. (also, if you've really been waiting in anxious anticipation, I'd really like to suggest finding a hobby, because this really isn't all that exciting! There's got to be more out there!)
So, here it is: I got a tattoo!!! Yes, it's true. Amber got one too. We went with our friends Ala and Nina on Friday and, would you believe, I have woken up every morning since and checked...and it's still there! It doesn't come off in the shower. Yep. It's there for good.
I got the word "hope" (with a little heart in the 'o') on the top of my foot. Amber got the word "faithful" in the same spot with a little red flower beside it (and the "tattoo guy" as well as another guy there asked if that was the right way to spell it, with only one 'l'. We said yes...then double checked to be sure!) I chose the word "hope" because it's something I've learned a lot about here in Poland and will remind me of my time here and it's something that has become even more precious to me. If I may bend your ear for a moment....
"Hope" means a confident expectation and I love knowing that the word "hope" tattooed on my foot isn't coming off. I can confidently tattoo this word on my foot because my hope in Christ will never, ever fail me. He will never fail me. No matter what happens in life, Christ will never change and His promises will still stand, and in this is my hope; this is my confident expectation. It's so easy to put hope in other things, but there's always an uncertainty about it. Money (the current economic situation says it all!), people, jobs, stuff, my own abilities...whatever. BUT, I can't fully rest in any of that because it can change and fail! In Christ, I can exhale and rest and stand confidently knowing that He will never change, will never fail me, and has made amazing promises in His Word to me...promises to never leave me, to direct my steps, to hold me and not let me fall, to be near to me, and on and on. Throughout my time here, I've needed to lean on Christ more than I can say. And I will be the first to admit that I didn't always do it so well (this is a good time to add that this hope in Christ has NOTHING to do with me or anything I've done or with being here in particular...it's to all of us that His hope is offered--freely and abundantly which is yet another reason I wantd this word as a tattoo!). But, it's just been a time of discovering that, when you have nowhere else to turn and are in a foreign land without family and familiar friends, with a language you cannot speak or understand and you feel like it's all chaos...there's hope. Because Christ hasn't changed and His promises haven't changed either. I've learned to just sit down and, when I didn't know what else to do, to hope. And not that "wow, I hope we have nice weather this weekend" kind of hope. The kind of hope that you can stake your whole life on and know that He will come through.
I don't know if any of that makes any sense, but I just wanted to try to share my heart a little bit about something that I've learned here, and I'm sure will continue to learn throughout my life. And, of course, there are MANY other things I've learned. I could probably fill up my whole body with tattoos about things that have been significant over the past two years...but, don't worry mom and dad, I won't!
Now, for some pictures of the "big" day =)

Nina, Ala and Amber waiting for the big event to begin. Ala was more scared and nervous for us than Amber and I combined!
Amber went first and noticed how surreal it was to be sitting on a table, getting a tattoo, in Poland, looking out the window at the steeple from a 14th century church. This has definitely got to go on the "never thought I'd be doing that" list!
The "tattoo guy" (we never even asked his name!) getting ready for me. He did a great job and, at the end when he was giving us our after-care instructions, broke out some of the best english!
work in progress
The results! We later read on the internet that wrapping them in plastic wrap is apparently pretty bad for tattoos, so we took it off quickly. Then we sat around all night saying "what??? we really have tattoos???"

*Ok, not that this post isn't already long enough, but here goes. Does anyone else (i.e.- cousins who spent time at the trailer in the 80's) remember the poster we used to have at the trailer of the little guy from Fantasy Island? You know, the "De plane, boss! De plane!" guy?? I have NO idea why that was hanging up in the trailer, but talking about tattoos made me think of it and thinking about it brought a smile to my face. Just thought I'd share =)