Everyone kept asking me if it hurt! 

“How did it feel?”  

“Will you do it again?” 

“Really, YOU!?”

I did something this year that I never thought in a million years I would do… It wasn’t what anyone would expect at all, especially me. And it DID hurt.  Like 10,000 sweat bee stings over and over.  I watched in fascination as the high priest (his name was Aaron, so that’s a little nerdy Biblical humor) wiped blood off with each little gouge of the needle!

Yep! I got a tattoo!!!

It’s on my inner right wrist and it’s an infinity symbol with the words “Life Accumulates.”  I was inspired, after a hard season of the try/fail/try again cycle, to get a permanent reminder that our little choices matter, and they accumulate over time.  It’s not the ONE dish of Ghirardelli Triple Fudge Chocolate Brownies with 3 scoops of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream that causes problems (Oh my! That does explain some things, doesn’t it!?!). It’s their accumulation over time.

In spite of the indelible ink on my inner wrist (that still takes me by surprise when I brush my teeth every morning), I can’t seem to remember moment by moment that life accumulates. Whether it’s my diet, my time, my money, or my habits, I can’t seem to score very high on the faithfulness metric.  

Like most things that are out of “balance,” I believe the answer is rooted in the spiritual.  The spiritual issue?  Stewardship.  None of the things that are accumulating wrongly in my life belong to me.  All that I am and all that I have belong to a Master.  Ultimately, my use or misuse of these things is a reflection of my surrender to His Lordship.

Jesus taught that if I could be trusted with the little things, He would reward me with much more.  Another writer, personal development guru Jim Rohn, said it like this:

“When we really check your faithfulness is when the amounts are small.”

When Pastor Trevor asked us to choose a word - a fruit of the Spirit - at the beginning of 2017, the one that I believe God spoke to me was "faithfulness". And now at the end of the year, I see why.  It’s the little choices.

I never seem to have enough time.  But I’m also not faithful to give Him time everyday. It gets pushed back in favor of more sleep time or a scroll down facebook lane.  Just a little thing. A little thing that could accumulate differently if I chose better.

I never seem to have enough money.  I’m faithful to tithe, but my giving is often stifled by other choices. Debt and mismanagement accumulate… It’s not the one time we eat out, but the accumulation that hinders my ability to give.  A small change - dinner in or margin of time so that the drive-thru isn’t my “best” option - could accumulate in a different direction.  My faithfulness financially would net me more resources to share.

I never seem to be thinner. :-) Maybe the Ghirardelli once a month instead of once a week.  Maybe no fries with that Big Bob’s Burger.  Oh, how my choices could accumulate!!

I’ve been more conscious of faithfulness this year. My prayer is that I will continue to be, and that I will surrender those small insignificant increments of time and money and habits to the Master who is prepared to shower me with abundance when I am faithful with even the smallest of things.

I plan to keep faithfulness in front of me in 2018.  I hope my “Life Accumulates” tattoo continues to surprise me every morning so that the message is fresh.  

I choose Jesus.

I choose to use His time better.

I choose to use His resources better.

I choose to treat His temple better.

Little by little.

Life Accumulates.

I will be faithful.