Good choice. In my son freshman college year he got a tattoo but never took his tee shirt off when he would come to visit us since he knew I was so against them, aids was my worry. EVeryone eles in the family knew he had one until a year after he got it and he forgot, took t-shirt off, there it was a small little on his shoulder. I felt bad that I caused him such grief but was so proud of him that he thought enough of me not to cause me frustration. We had a great talk about it and he told me he was going to get another one, something patriotic, I said a flag would be nice, thinking it would be a small little one like his other one.
He decided to go big now that Mom was on board. An artist friend drew him a tattered flag that looked like it was sewed on. Very cool, it was red white and blue, beautiful but it was so big, covers his whole rib cage, part of his back and part of his front. a couple years after he got it he came to Papua New Guinea and went out to visit his sister in the tribe. They women do tattooing for beauty on their face, dots, marks, etc, all black, battery acid mixed with dark wood that is burned. Those tribal women went crazy over Jared tatoo of red white and blue and was always outside the house yelling for him to take his shirt off. He was a hit with the Yembi ladies and they still talk about him. He has gotten several more and started a sleeve , halfway done the lady doing it quit, it's all patriotic, he is a Marine so of course that is on his arm too. Some girlfriend and I did the old needle and thread on the end dipped in ink when I was about 15. I put my husband name on my arm, had it taken off years ago, it was not very cool looking. I will never get another one and my son has said when he gets his sleeve done, he is done. We will see. I think you are wise to have the perspective you have about it. I did so many dumb things when I was young and lived through them and God has used all of them in some way or another to mature me and help others. Praise God he wants to show off God. Thanks for sharing that Kari.

Hello Kari, been a while since I come by, life has got in my way a lot this last year. heart bypass surgery then a knee replacement. I turned 70 when I was still in the hospital and 71 not too long after my knee surgery so I know a few things about aging. One, it's not pretty on the outside, two I have lost much energy, three, I would turn back to 51 or even 61 in a heart beat. What is nice about aging is there is a calmness about life, I flow better with it, don't try to fight against the grain. And there is some wisdom that comes from having a lot of life experiences. Of course wisdom is a choice...I can ask for it or think I know everything. One must stay teachable no matter the age.

Recently I got one of those mirrors that one side is normal and the other side makes things bigger. If one is fearing aging I advice them not to get one. I always look older in the mirror then in my mind. Good post on aging...one can be content in it, well most of the time.

One reason that came to my mind and I know I have thought this way. "I don't want to argue about an issue". Good post Kari...

God is using me to counsel several women recently which always wow's me. To the best of the ability the Lord gave me with wisdom from Him, I spoke truth in love. Of course the devil wants to steal my wow by telling me I was too hard, too soft, too whatever. He hates the wows...yet God keeps them coming. I share this on my blog. A couple Sunday ago our son and three children met us for lunch Sunday after church. He was telling us about their vacation coming up. This couple left but returned only to place some money on the table in front of our son saying, this is for your vacation. Yeah, that was a wow for God to bless our son right in front of us. Wow.

I lean heavily on the scriptures in James. and I have a couple of good friends who will give me advice even the kind I do not want to hear, which is why I will go to them. Good post Kari, have missed reading you.

I always thought I did multi-tasking well, till my own children reminding me they were the ones missing out...ouch. It is one small step at at time of course that makes each thing one does count. Jesus never multi-task and He was concern for the whole world. Good reminders Kari.

You see, without my limitations, I’d more often that not head down the wrong path. I’d miss God’s will. This says it all Kari...I have felt that protective hand of limitations from the Lord protect me many times. Of course at the time I bulk at them but each time I learned a lesson I would not have learned with out them. I am very close to 70 so this age limitation if not fun but it is a process that I can enjoy when I set my mind on Him and how much closer I am to seeing Him face to face. I have stopped resisting the process is what I meant to say, now I feel a sort of freedom that was not there in the resisting. good thoughts.

Focus determines your reality, which means that focus is EVERYTHING. Thats a mouthful of truth as they say where I am from. Great challenge for our everyday race we are in.

I love that sports can teach us so much about life and how to handle almost every aspect of it. We were just with some friends tonight whose boy is starting in baseball, i am going to send these points to the dad, I know he will appreciate them. The reason why I want the Dad to read them is these points also apply to us who watch the game especially parents and grand parents. it's so easy to get bent out of shape when it's OUR KIDS playing. We teach them how to be good spectators and cheerleaders as we watch any game. Great post Kari.

Your post made me think of a song, It Still Takes A Wise Man".

Chorus
It still takes a wise man to bow before a King
To worship and adore Him
More then any earthly thing
We offer up a sacrifice of praise for Him today
Cause it still takes a wise man to pray