Digging Deeper

I’ve been kinda quiet here of late.

It’s not because nothing insanely hilarious has happened, because it has…

It’s not because I’m so busy I can’t find time to breathe, because it’s settled down a little bit…

The reality of it is, I’ve been processing.

Set Apart was amazing…between 5 rallies, and 3 leader sessions coupled with the excitement of being in Florida, for the New Year, with all the people I love, there’s been a lot to take in.

I fully expected to come home and process what I took in. For me, I need some time to process. It’s not odd for me to come home from Church on Sunday and take a nap or just sit, to process and chew on all that was just said to me… and that’s just 2 hours of the day…

So you can only imagine the processing time returning from an event like Set Apart.

However, the revelations haven’t stopped since I’ve come home. And it’s totally my fault.

My biggest goal for 2008 was to dig deeper into the Word and get my priorities straight… it was laid very heavily on my heart at the convention. The distractions in my life are more than I can handle and while it makes for a very interesting life, and lots of blog fodder, it hinders other areas… like time with my children, time with my friends, time for me, and time with God.

However, now that I’m a week into the new year, and that I’ve starting digging, the fear sets in. Things are being revealed that I don’t want to hear. Things are being put in my face that I don’t want to see. I want to sweep them back under the rug and forget about them. I’ve done it before and I want to do it again.

But I can’t.

My toes are being stomped on a daily basis.

At youth Sunday night, we had a turn and burn party. I was able to take the things that I want out of my life, write them on a piece of paper and burn them. Gone. See ya.

How liberating was that?

And then there are two things that I’ve heard or read that keep coming back to my mind…

The first being “Jesus is head over heels in love with me.”

ME! Heather Jacobson! Me! Complete with my flaws and imperfections… He loves me. Profound, no?

And the other? It was actually written in the booklet that we were given at the convention…

“God’s holiness goes beyond being separate; it’s beyond ordinary limits, surpassing, exceeding. The more God is the focus, the more everything else fades away. Apart from God nothing is holy in itself. For objects to be holy, God must make them holy. God’s touch transforms people from the commonplace into something special, different and set apart.”

I am Set Apart. It says so in the Bible… “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” Leviticus 20:26.

I was told that I was set apart in Orlando, but it didn’t resonate.

But then in a Bible reading I learned that I was Set Apart… different book, different verse. I did some research and the Bible says that we are set apart for Him at least eight times… because He’s a good Father… he tells us more than once so that we’ll hear it and listen.

I’ve just been going about my life since I’ve been back but every time I turn around, I’m seeing how God sets things apart as holy. It happened again in Bible Study this morning, only this time it was goblets in the book of Daniel.

I get it.

I am Set Apart.

And so this has been nothing but a ramble… me processing some of what I’ve taken in. So much more was revealed to me while I was in Florida and over time, I’ll share that with you as well….

But for today…today… I am set apart.

And 2008 is my year… because “eight” Biblically is the number specially associated with Resurrection and Regeneration, and the beginning of a new era or order.

This is my year.

Until next time….

Heather