Shalom: story of my tattoo
Back in 2014, I started looking into tattoo designs. I had decided that I would finally get my first tattoo. My eyes were glued to Pinterest, hoping to find the right design. I scrolled through hundreds of images.
Finally, after 3 years, in 2017 summer, I made up my mind. It was going to be writing in the Hebrew language, “שלום”. “Shalom” means peace, which is one of my favorite words. Like the Hawaiian expression “Aloha” used for hi and bye, “Shalom” is both greeting and farewelling. It also means peace that surpasses all understanding from Elohim (God), inner wholeness, and completeness.
Personally for me, I suffered from depression and bipolar disorder for 3-4 years. After I asked God to heal me, God’s peace, “shalom,” gave me hope for the future after living in hopelessness for years. So it made sense for me to get this writing as my first tattoo.
6-7 months after I got the first tattoo, I started to fall in love more and more with Jesus as My King. It’s no big secret that I love Israel for Jesus as well. And as I became more curious about His historical background, I learned that Jesus came from the Tribe of Judah. It is the same royal line as the King David. In my admiration, I declared to Him one day, “I will be proud as if I am from the Tribe of Judah.” I honestly don’t know where that random statement came from, but it surely came out of my mouth. And funny enough, I realized that this statement had been true already.
Several hours after I made that declaration, I became aware of one thing. My husband has three last names, and one of them is “Solomons”. I totally forgot about it because he doesn’t usually go by this one. King Solomon, the famous king known for his wisdom, was King David’s son from the Tribe of Judah. I was prompted to google the meaning of “Solomon,” and I found out that the meaning is derived from “Shalom.”
I froze, looking at the computer screen to absorb this new information. So that day, I found out that my declaration had been true for a while. Not only was I proud of being from the Tribe of Judah through marriage, but it was also a tattoo on my arm, my husband’s last name, Solomons, which is ‘shalom’ in Hebrew.
Finally, after 3 years, in 2017 summer, I made up my mind. It was going to be writing in the Hebrew language, “שלום”. “Shalom” means peace, which is one of my favorite words. Like the Hawaiian expression “Aloha” used for hi and bye, “Shalom” is both greeting and farewelling. It also means peace that surpasses all understanding from Elohim (God), inner wholeness, and completeness.
Personally for me, I suffered from depression and bipolar disorder for 3-4 years. After I asked God to heal me, God’s peace, “shalom,” gave me hope for the future after living in hopelessness for years. So it made sense for me to get this writing as my first tattoo.
6-7 months after I got the first tattoo, I started to fall in love more and more with Jesus as My King. It’s no big secret that I love Israel for Jesus as well. And as I became more curious about His historical background, I learned that Jesus came from the Tribe of Judah. It is the same royal line as the King David. In my admiration, I declared to Him one day, “I will be proud as if I am from the Tribe of Judah.” I honestly don’t know where that random statement came from, but it surely came out of my mouth. And funny enough, I realized that this statement had been true already.
Several hours after I made that declaration, I became aware of one thing. My husband has three last names, and one of them is “Solomons”. I totally forgot about it because he doesn’t usually go by this one. King Solomon, the famous king known for his wisdom, was King David’s son from the Tribe of Judah. I was prompted to google the meaning of “Solomon,” and I found out that the meaning is derived from “Shalom.”
I froze, looking at the computer screen to absorb this new information. So that day, I found out that my declaration had been true for a while. Not only was I proud of being from the Tribe of Judah through marriage, but it was also a tattoo on my arm, my husband’s last name, Solomons, which is ‘shalom’ in Hebrew.