The Girl with the Disney Tattoos

There’s a childhood book I loved to read to my children and now to my grandchildren. It’s My Little Golden Book About God by Eloise Wilkin and I pretty much have it memorized. There’s one line I love:

“He gives us memories of yesterdays, so that happy times and people we love we can keep with us always in our hearts. For God is love.” 

Memories are supposed to be wonderful reminders of people, places, moments. We all have reminders built into our lives to remind us of moments past — the seashell you picked up on the beach, the special ring you wear on your finger — a photo, a favorite place, a song that takes you back.

I met a girl on a film set in Hollywood who had tattoos all over her body — Disneyland characters and scenes burned in dark ink on her legs, her arms, her chest. A limb from the talking tree Groot wound down her arm and onto her fingers.

The tattoos were reminders for her. As a child, her family had planned a glorious birthday party at Disneyland and, as the custom was for her school, all the girls from her class were invited.

The day came, but no one showed up. Not even one of her classmates.

And since that day, her father started a tradition that every year on her birthday they would go to Disneyland, just the two of them. As she grew older, she started adding the tattoos. Cinderella, Snow White, the famous Disney castle, Groot. The pain in her heart was deep; the tattoos were burned in reminders of the cruelty of the world and the love of her father.

What reminders are you holding in your heart, wearing on your arm? Do they remind you of “happy times and people we love” or do they take you back to painful moments in your life?

We have a Father who can heal the pain, soothe the hurt, disinfect the wound. I pray today would be your day to exchange your pain for his comfort. I pray you would build into your life new reminders of his overriding care that is ours even when the world is cruel. 

“Guard my teachings as your most precious possession. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.” (Proverbs 7:3)