Category: By Her Hand

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Ink and Community

We haven’t been to a lot of Allschoolers park day meetups recently.  We’re in a different season of life with work, music, jiu-jitsu, and other interests pulling us in different directions.

In all these endeavors, I am constantly reminded of how Allschoolers remains a critical support structure for me family.

My girlfriend and I opened By Her Hand Tattoos last year and we’ve been able to serve several Allschoolers. Just this week, we had one client referred to us by a member and another Allschooler with a very special project.

Two sisters trusted us with a memorial piece. They didn’t know we had a homeschooling connection, but we put it together quickly. I lost my wife almost seven years ago and Kristen’s memorial tattoos have become a part of my healing process.

Thank you to everyone in the group. You have been a positive constant through the last four years.

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What Would Mary Think?

I sure don’t know.

The enormous magnolia in our front yard is a constant reminder that Mary is watching over us.

She always loved to bring the big blooms inside. I love going out each morning in May and June to look for ones within reach.

This one came with us to By Her Hand Tattoos. That’s where things get weird. Mary wouldn’t be surprised that I met a wonderful woman and started a business with her. Mary and I had similar dreams of working together to open a bookstore or cafe.

She would be surprised that I chose to open a tattoo studio. Neither of us had tattoos and I held them in disdain for my entire adulthood.

Losing Mary shattered many of the assumptions I had about myself. These six years have been the most uncomfortable. I’ve had to wrestle growth and change from a past Self that lived my wife-kids-home dream.

There’s a small part of me that still tugs toward the impossible nostalgia of that life.

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The Ladder

Genesis 28:12 KJV — And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

John 1:51 KJV — And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

According to Pastor Chuck Smith, Jacob “was sort of stuck between the fear of the past, and the fear of the future.”

I’m fortunate to not experience a lot of fear, but I do feel a tension between the past and the future. On a household level, my past parenting mistakes are manifesting in destructive and selfish behaviors from my younger son. On the subject of the future, my relationship with my girlfriend and the growth of our business look increasingly bright.

All of our building energy is matched by a material crumbling in another realm of our lives.

It is a puzzle, but I can’t help but believe that recent spiritual wins are marking a new dawning of peace for our quiltwork family.