It Slapped Me In The Face

But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Luke 18:16

I now understand why sweet Jesus demanded the little, innocent children come to Him and why the Heaven would belong to "such as these." The masquerade and facade that seems to come with age among Christians does not exist to children. They are raw, honest, sometimes brutally honest, but upfront nonetheless. 

If only we could all have a touch more of this. 

What is the root of my tangent you ask.

A little girl named Sydney who is very dear to me. I nanny for Syd's family and last night I babysat both her and her sister Avery. As she was showing me a project she did for her 5th grade class, she pointed out a verse she picked for a portion of the project. Our conversation went a little like this:

Syd: "Wanna know why I picked this verse?"

(Revelation 3:16 ---- So because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth)

Me: "I don't know Syd, you tell me."

Syd: "because it slapped me in the face."

Me: "It what?"

Syd: "slapped me in the face. Ya know, I realized, I was lukewarm."

As I drove home that night, I could not stop replaying this conversation in my mind. In churches all over America today, people are trying to find out what is "enough" to get them into Heaven. 

Church once a week or once a year even? 

A few mission trips?

Teaching Sunday School?

Well, maybe the children should start teaching us, because this one at least seems to have it.

There was no pride in this child's statement, she said it as she felt it was.

In fact, her response "slapped me in the face." 

Rather than reading the Bible as a weapon to judge and accuse others or to tweak to fit our own desires, may we read it at face value, and be just as open and honest with ourselves as Sydney was.

Vices

Beth Moore once said something that struck a cord with me.

"Be very careful and conscious of the things you 'must' do daily/cannot live without."

Whether or not this was the point to her statement, I took it as a motivation to check my habits, my vices, patterns, and so on.

It was so eye opening and I encourage anyone who hasn't ever to take inventory on their 'must haves' and other 'necessities.' 

My prayer is that Jesus be my one 'must have' in life. I yearn for Him to be the one thing I need a daily dose of to keep me going.

In analyzing my quirks and those things which I deemed necessary, I realized it was slightly humiliating.

1. Diet Coke. 

      I began to average how much I spent even just weekly fueling my DC addiction. Oh my lands y'all. Hence why I gave up this vice once and for all.

2. Facebook.

      While I might not have assumed this to be a habit of mine, I noticed that I did check Facebook daily, without hesitation. Then I began to realize what a time trap it is.

3. Lists/Day Planners/Calendars.

       I love 'em and I hate 'em. I would feel like a chicken with its head cut off without mine, but yet my most memorable and my absolute favorite times in life are when I am free to roam, be a little spontaneous, not follow a schedule to a T

4. Writing/Reading.

      My day does not feel complete without doing one of these two things. They are two of my biggest passions in life.

But where does talking to my Savior, reading my Bible, giving to others, memorizing scripture, encouraging a friend fall into these 'vices.' Honestly, others come more easily than these sometimes and the world has 1,000 + 1 excuses for me to substitute my time with God for.

So as I continue to take inventory of my 'vices,' I encourage you to do the same, it is so eye opening. 

May Jesus be the one thing we crave, our one vice, and our passion. 

Mondays.

I love Mondays (sometimes).
I loved this Monday for a couple reasons.


1. Today marked the last A. P. Government class I will ever have to endure.
2. I was able to spend time with my best friend, I'm counting the moments right now y'all.

3. The tunes of the songs played in church yesterday kept coming back to me throughout the day. I love that. Through all the darkness and discouraging things in this world, insert Praise music, and Jesus drowns out all the yuck. 
4. Summer is approaching. Rapidly. 
Graduation is less than a month away. 
All these events are so bittersweet.


I hope you were able to see the good in your Monday too : )


Blessings!

Newk's

I'm in love.

It's true.

Okay, so while love might be a little much. I am in major like, to say the least.

I have a new favorite restaurant. 

This is huge for the Webb family, because we find a favorite and then never go anywhere new.

Well, last night I talked my sister and mom into stepping out on the wild side and going for something other than the norm.

Although apprehensive at first, after the first bite they were glad =]

We all got the chicken salad sandwich and it was seriously the best chicken salad I have ever tasted.

Naturally we all agreed we had to try a piece of their cake, and we went for Caramel. Yumm.

I am also beyond thrilled to announce that there is a Newk's all of 2.5 miles from Samford. 

Excitement.

So if you are driving around, feeling a little adventurous and hungry... go to Newk's.

And there ya have it... Newks.

Then Jesus Christ Laid Death In His Grave

I was still slacking on the blog during Easter, but I fell in love with this video and wanted to share!

Prom 2011

Senior year prom certainly lived up to any and all expectations!

It was such a blast and I cannot believe it has already come and gone.

I went with my bud Will Cavanaugh, which rocked. He is venturing to Samford with me next year, hence the two of us being deemed "Mr. & Mrs. Samford" at prom. 

Ha-ha. 

After taking pictures at the ever-so-beautiful Freedom Park in Downtown Charlotte, we all headed to 131 Main for Dinner and of course, Prom afterwards! 

I thought the easiest way to relive the night would be to share some pictures : )

I had minor difficulty with the flower. 

Throwin' up the trinity sign. 

This Picture describes our relationship perfectly!

The Gang!!!

Can't believe my sister went this year too, surreal!

Also can't believe we wore the same color.

#wewould.

Everyone at Freedom!

Seriously, it is just now setting in that this prom marked my last...ever. 

It was a great one though! 

I am so blessed to have such amazing friends to celebrate fun nights like these with. 

The Firsts and The Lasts

Today was tough.

I never thought that the end of senior year would be marked by much else than feelings of excitement about the upcoming chapter.

I constantly look forward to my first day of college classes, my first Samford football game, my first discipleship group in AL, so on and so forth. 

I forget about the lasts though.

The last time I will walk into Hickory Grove as a student, which I have done for the last 13 years.

The last time I will complain about having to find a collard shirt to wear.

The last time I will take my sister to school and jam out to Michael Jackson.

Then there was today, which marked the last time that I would ever have discipleship with the beautiful group of girls in the photo above. 

I have met with these girls nearly every Wednesday over the last 4 years. I have cried and laughed with them, grown alongside them, been encouraged by them, traveled to the Dominican Republic with them, and so much more. I can honestly say I am blessed to have them in my life. They love the Lord and as I told all of them today, no matter where in this world the Lord takes us, no matter how many miles come between us over the years, my prayers will forever be with them.

Thank you, Lord, for sweet Jesus girls.