Everyone has their own opinions on tattoos, but it can’t be denied that some tattoos truly are pieces of art. Tattoos allow people to express themselves and to permanently put something on their bodies that is meaningful to them.

Some people get matching tattoos with family members, others choose to get a wedding band tattooed onto their finger with their husband or wife.

Michelle Torino-Barcelos was having lunch with her husband one Sunday after church at McAlister’s Deli in San Angelo, Texas when she noticed a tattoo of a fellow diner. The tattoo read, “Together we serve,” alongside a cross, and Michelle asked her husband if he could take a look at it. The tattoo was particularly meaningful to Michelle.

“I told my husband, it can have double meanings,” she explained. “The word ‘we’ may mean as we, as a whole serving God, or ‘we’ can also mean him, together with his other half; it can be his girlfriend or his wife.”

Minutes later, a woman joined the man, and Michelle was stunned to see that she had the same “Together we serve” message tattooed on her left arm!

Michelle was then even more shocked to see that the couple was praying together!

“I thought, it was like the sweetest thing ever that I saw from a couple, having that same kind of tattoo written on their arm … But my heart melted more when they started holding each other’s hands as they pray before eating!” she recalled. “I was blown away! Not only by seeing how sweet they were but by just simply being bold enough in professing their faith in public. And for me, that is really what a relationship goal must be!”

Michelle was so inspired by what the couple was doing that she walked over to them.

“I told my husband that as soon as we finished eating, I would love to come to the couple and approach them,” she said. “Just to say that we were blessed and inspired by just looking at them, their tattoo, and their faith and love for God.”

When Michelle began talking to the couple, she learned the true meaning behind their tattoo. It turns out that the couple had married just a couple of months before and worked for the United States Army.

“In my heart, not only that they want to serve the country together, they also want to serve God together, and that is what their tattoo really means,” Michelle said. “And that is the best #RelationshipGoal ever!”

The couple was so touched by Michelle’s interest in their tattoos that they asked her if they could pray for her and her husband.

“For the first time in our entire lives, never did we experience strangers praying for us!” Michelle recounted. “Inside that cafe, all four of us held each other’s hands, bowed our heads down, as this beautiful couple from the U.S. Army prayed for me and my husband! They prayed that we may always be blessed, and that we may continue to be a blessing to everyone else, and may our love for God prosper and grow just as how God’s love and grace overflows in our lives. How amazing that moment is! May God always bless and protect them, and may their lives always be a blessing too as they serve God and their country together.”

God bless this young couple, and we wish them many more years of happiness together!