Thandaza- the tale behind the tat (part 3)

Fast forward to October of 2012. I had grown a little bit in Jesus since the Summer of 2011, and even though Thandaza was not my truest self yet, I knew I wanted her to be. God had confirmed in so many ways that prayer was to be my lifeblood, the thing that would identify me to others. I would be a woman of prayer. So I decided to have it inked into me permanently, serving as a constant reminder of my covenant with God and as a living testimony of His faithfulness in my life. I figured this wouldn’t be an issue on the race, seeing as everybody on my squad was getting a billion tattoos. I would just go with a group at one point and get one for myself.

Unfortunately for me, funds were super tight my whole trip. I came home in July without knowing the touch of a foreign needle. (insert mournful sighing here)

In August, I went to project Searchlight. This is an event hosted by the organization that started the World Race. It serves as a launch pad of sorts to reunite squads and talk about what the next season may hold. Most of my squad was there (including my squad besties, Erin and Teresa) and I had some birthday money to spend in Georgia. (The way Jesus orchestrated all of this was beautiful, by the way.) On the last night of Searchlight, all of my squadmates went out to dinner in honor of my birthday, and a small group of us went to the tattoo place after.

This is where the story gets straight up crazy. Ready? Okay.

My dear friend and spiritual big sister Mel caught wind of my plans to tat it up in Georgia and gave me a word of caution against it. Mel (I call her mama Mel) is a very Godly woman. She follows the Father’s will closer than just about anyone I know, and I’ve always been able to trust her counsel. So she exhorted me not to do this for the wrong reasons and to be discerning. At this point, I shared the name “Thandaza” with her and what it meant to me. She replied by telling me that the name “Tandaza” in Kiswahili is a name meaning “to spread out,” and it originated with a verse in Isaiah 54. Immediately, I was pulled back to 2010. I was sitting in my car in tears, reading the promises my God was giving me in that passage. “Your maker is your husband…more are the children of the desolate woman…you will spread out to the right and left, and your descendants will occupy other nations…”

The confirmation to my soul was impossible to deny. A few days later, I was sitting in a tattoo parlor in Gainesville, Georgia, getting my African name branded into my skin.

I meant to tell you this story almost a year ago. It faded from my mind until this morning, when I was lying awake and thinking of the different promises God made me in Isaiah all those years ago. As each one came to mind, He revealed with shocking clarity how He has already brought them to pass.

“MORE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE WOMAN THAN OF HER WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”

At this point in my life, I have had the privilege of meeting and loving precious babies all over the world. Even now, I have 23 preschoolers that I get to care for and watch over every week. God has certainly fulfilled this promise in my life. I have loved more kiddos than I can count, and not one of them came from me.

“YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL OCCUPY OTHER NATIONS.”

In my travels to other nations, God has seen fit to bring people into my path that He wanted to touch through me. Only He knows the spiritual births that have taken place through those encounters, but I am confident that He has already brought this statement to pass. I have never had biological children or grandchildren, but my descendants occupy other nations, and they will continue to.

“YOUR MAKER IS YOUR HUSBAND.”

Oh, how I have seen the truth of this. Who has been more faithful to me than my God? Who has stood by me in my infidelity and my faithlessness? Who has been faithful to discipline me in my wandering and hold onto me in my suffering? He has been more loyal to me than the best of husbands, more loving than the most doting of fathers.

What does all this mean? This means that God has fulfilled every single promise He has made to me. Not in the ways I thought He would, but in ways I could never have imagined or thought to ask Him. This is the way He is. If I never lived a day past 25, I would have children all over the world, descendants in other countries, and a husband better than any that has ever existed. All the things my heart has longed for, He has given me in a matter of 5 years.
And I remember whenever I see it…

Note – As added entertainment, I’ve clipped together a short video from the night I got my tattoo. enjoy!