cant wait.

It has been almost a year since i lasted posted something. i guess I'm not very good at keeping up with this stuff. but i hope that changes starting in 3.....2.....1....

As i was spending time with Jesus today i realized some new things that i wanted to share with you all...i have three things to share so ready set go!

1.) "Praise is not a response to our circumstances, which constantly fluctuate. Praise is a response to the goodness and love of God who never changes." -Nancy Leigh DeMoss

i read this quote tonight over and over again just thinking about how true it actually is, following this quote was a little story about the weather and how we never really know what its going to do (ex. when the wind blows, when clouds come on a sunny day etc...) The weather made me think of the awful tornado's that came here about four weeks ago. I had never experienced anything like it and never ever want to again. The after math was so sad, so heart breaking, pulling out of my neighborhood and seeing how close this awful thing was to my home made me sick to my stomach. although life is back to normal for me it is not back to normal for so many families in my town. So many homes were swept away, loved ones missing or terribly hurt, all of it just breaks your heart to know, hear, or see. BUT i was reminded tonight that i serve a God that is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He is never leaving us. no matter what happens in our lives we can respond to God`s goodness and love regardless of whats going on in our lives. we just have to choose to. Some might can not think of anything to praise Him for through these tornado's but the fact that God never changes is something that is always worth praise. So my prayer for this is "Help me to praise you, Lord, regardless of the weather" I understand not everyone had a tornado come through there town but it doesn't have to be something like that. for example this past Sunday i got mad on the way to church and i let it effect me the whole time instead of forgetting about it and focusing on Jesus. That was my "storm" for the day. So i think you get the picture now. on to point number two.

2.) " Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!/ O what a fortaste of glory divine./ Heir of salvation, purchase of God,/ born of His Spirit, washed in His blood." -Fanny Crosby

i love this song. i love old hymns in general really but tonight this one reminded me of the precious treasure we have in Jesus. We always put our hope in something, promising to do this and that. we always like to be so sure of something, everyone likes being right and never proven wrong but lets face it at least one time in your life you have broken a promise, our hope has been washed away and we have been wrong....a lot. But no matter how many times a promise has been broken, hope was lost, and you were wrong as a follower of Jesus Christ you can always have the assurance in one thing. Jesus is ours- in our lives, in our hearts. He is there not wanting to go anywhere. Having him gives us a fortaste of what is to come, the glory he promises us in heaven with his Father. Isn't that so cool!!! So no matter how many times this world fails you, you can be certain of this- Jesus is yours. And his promises are yours as well. My prayer is this " thank you for giving me blessed assurance in you!"

and last but not least. number 3.) " How i need to order my life around one incredible thought: God is to be honored in all i do. My hearts desire is to be so overwhelmed with...God that my life cannot help but bring Him glory." -Cynthia Healed

i loved this quote! It describes what i have been praying and working for for a while now. I want to bring him glory just like how i breath or walk. I want it to be an everyday thing that i cant help but do. Its what we were made to do. Just like the sun was made to rise and shine he made us to do the same....to display his glory. What if just like the sun warms the earth we radiate the warmth of God`s love to others. How awesome would that be. I want my hearts desire, above all else to be Him. my prayer here is " Lord i want to honor you today in everything i do." So the next time you watch a sunrise think of how you can bring glory to God on that day just like the sun is.

So i know all that was a lot. but i just wanted to share it with anyone who reads this. i hope you were encouraged and challenged by these just as much as i was.

Until next time. jordan katlin.

summer.

long time no see my friends. how are we? i haven't been on here in quiet some time. A few grand things have happened since then...

a.) i finished aesthetic school..not only finished but I'm only one test away from getting my license. you have no idea how happy that makes me. and of course I'm sure your wondering...."where are you going to work once your done?" well I'm not so sure. I've looked at a view places in Chattanooga as far as makeup shops but it didn't workout. ill start looking at salons and spas closer to august.

b.)I'm starting to make a little money again. I'm babysitting my cousins for the summer. and i cant complain at all.

c.) i have come to find out i LOVE mocha lattes. they are SO good. mmm makes me want one right now just thinking about it. :)

d.) it will be nine months for me and Alex next week. Yay.

e.) i have started reading Nicolas Sparks books and i absolutely love them. even though each one of them makes me cry at the end i still love all of them.

f.) Vegas- camp, sunshine, hot weather, Alex, my family, not Cleveland, Pei Wei, Sheridan's, in-n-out, plane rides, great fellowship. all in less then 3 days. cant. wait.

g.) God has taught me how to trust him more and more and more. and it has not been easy at all. but it sure has been worth it.

h.) i have also come to love the show wife swap....and ghost adventures.....i know. imma loser. so I've been told.

So I'm sure a lot more great things have happened that I'm leaving off here but to sum it all up. i love life right now. :)

But on a sad little note....

a.) my nose ring fell out and i couldn't put it back in so i went and got it periced again and yep you guessed it, it fell out too. i guess I'm not meant to have a nose ring :(

b.) i gave my little fur ball, charlie away. it was kinda bitter sweet. he was getting so messy and collecting to many gnats in my room that i just couldn't handle. but he is so cute. i miss him and i hope he is enjoying his new home. he will always be precious to me and i hold him in a special place on my heart :)

I'm looking forward to what this summer has in store for me. the things planed and the things unplanned. I'm ready to grow and learn and love and trust and find and have fun. i hope you all have a fabulous summer too. Have a great Monday! you are loved.

-jordan katlin.

childlike faith.

hello frans. i would like you to be aware that i am not going to say that this post doesn't make sense because Alex told me i say that every time. so now I'm not :) how is everyone? well i hope.

Do you ever wish you could just become little again? you never had to worry about anything. mom and dad took care of everything. man we sure did have it good. not only do i wish i could just become little again but i also wish i could have that childlike faith again. and I'm not just talking about faith in God. A good example is with the faith i had in my grandmother. Looking back i realize now that my "mamaw eddie" was my very best friend, and not just because she gave me everything i wanted. I always went to my mamaw eddie for everything, weather i was sick, hungry, needing attention, love or to tell a secret i could always depend on my mamaw. Well just like i depended on my mamaw eddie for everything i need to depend on God even more so. I need to come to him when I'm sick, hungry, needing attention, love, and to tell a secret. because my God is my healer, my portion, my listener, my lover, and my trusty friend. He is all those things and more. He is good! and He is never ever ever going to leave because he is faithful. hmm that's makes my heart smile.

I got to thinking about all this a couple days ago when i heard a little boy at church, Will, singing his little heart out "savior he can move the mountains, my God is mighty to save" and then him singing that reminded me of when i went to Alex's house once and you could hear his little sister maria singing "blessed be the name of the Lord" in her room. she was singing at the top of her lungs and i couldn't help but smile. Then i thought about how God absolutely LOVES hearing his little ones singing to him. He adores it and probably lets out a little laughs sometimes.

Lets start having that childlike faith again and next time we sing lets sing at the top of our lungs and with all our hearts. you are loved my friends. have a great Tuesday!

-jordan katlin.

calls and answers.

two things before i start to talk about what is blog post is really all about...

one: this post might not make a lot of since, just a warning.

two: i have decided that I'm going to start carrying my camera everywhere i go so i can become a grand photographer.

okay now the post begins......

Recently i have been asking the Lord for something. i don't know what i was asking him for exactly but yesterday he for sure answered me :) I honestly don't know how he answered me and what he answered but in my heart i know he did because i could feel it smiling. In a new way he became so real and i understood just a little more of him in a fresh way. don't you just love that feeling? i do. its one of my favorites. i think my heart started to skip a beat when we started singing " Ti's so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word; just to rest upon his promise, just to know "thus saith the Lord" Jesus, Jesus how i trust him! How I've proved him o'er and o'er Jesus Jesus precious Jesus O for grace to trust him more. O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust his cleansing blood; just in simple faith to plunge me 'neath the healing cleansing flood. Ti's so sweet in trust in Jesus. just from sin and self to cease; just from Jesus simply taking life and rest an joy and peace. I'm so glad i learned to trust him, precious Jesus, savior, friend; and i know that he is with me, will be with me till the end."

WOW. i have heard that song over and over again through the years and yesterday was the first time i really got it. it is now my desire to learn and for you also to learn to trust him more, to simply take him at his word and to rest upon his promise (that one i have done many many times). Although this is a beautiful song and is so true it is still so complete hard to do. everyone knows it, is so hard for us to trust fully in Jesus. we like to handle things on our own. and its actually kinda scary to trust in him completely because we have no idea what his plan is for our lives and where he is going to take us. weather the be out of our comfort zone or not. but that's when the "simple faith" comes into play and if we do exactly that we will have the "life, rest, joy, and peace"

God is good isn't he? he leaves me standing in awe quite often. but i love it. i love praising him and loving him. its so worth it because then i get to experience moments like these in my life. the little treasure that i will carry in my heart forever. i want Jesus to be proud of me. my life is his. and i hope yours is to. i mean after all....in Christ alone my home is found :) you are loved my friends. have a beautiful Monday.

-jordan katlin.

"so ill stand with arms high and heart abandoned in awe of the one who gave it all. so ill stand to you lord my soul surrender. all i am is yours"

some random thoughts.

~while Alex is in class i figured i would write a new blog to pass the time....how is everyone doing? well i hope! i am loving this weather. it makes me even more ready for summer. i already have a huge list of things i wanna do this summer some being....

-take Alex to Vegas.

-look at the stars.

-go hiking.

-stay out late.

-swim.

-movies.

-tattoo.

-become a licensed esthetician.

-pictures...lots.

-the beach.

the list go on and on. I'm ready to start it now! but i wont focus on that at the moment because i don't want to miss out on the here and now. life is beautiful and I'm thankful to live it :)

~as i was driving home this afternoon the sky was beautiful! there was the brightest, clearest rainbow i have ever seen and as i was leaving that behind i turned the corner only to see a beautiful blue, orange, pink, and gray sky with little puff clouds making there way across. it was simply breath taking. God is a wonderful artiest.

~ Ive been working out everyday this week and let me tell ya it as caused my feet some major pain! 3 blisters on the the bottoms of each foot. i limp everywhere i go. oh well it will pay off one of these days :)

~a new show of the office comes on tonight!

~which reminds me...season 6 of lost is starting very soon. yay!

~Alex finally got his toms...and he looks reallll good in em! ;)

~i hate storms.

~I'm dying to put a hoop ring in my nose.

i guess that's enough random thoughts for one blog. have a marvelous day! you are loved.

-jordan katlin.

a new year.

well i figured i would be like everyone else and blog about the new year but first lets look back on 2009. What a great year, one i never want to forget.... its cool to look back on it and see what all God did and see the prayers he answered. i remember that i "prayed in the year 2009" meaning that at 11:55 in 2008 i started praying and i didn't stop until it was 2009 (if that makes sense) i remember praying for big things to happen, life changing experiences, and of course personal (and a few selfish things) and i see now that a lot of them were answered. my brother got married which meant i finally got a sister, i graduated, dollywood with my sisters, las vegas camp was incredible, Jesus let me help him lead this precious middle school girl to His heart, i got my nose periced, took a road trip to Ohio and watched my precious lamb and fitz get married, went to VA with my fabulous cousin and met an incredible family, spent my 18th birthday in the city that has captured my heart, tried to get a tattoo, got my first boyfriend, first real job, started aesthetics school, got a lot better at my photography, got charlie, and so many more. two thousand nine, thank you for being so great, but I'm ready to move on to two thousand ten. but don't worry ill never forget you.

I have no idea what two thousand ten has in store for me but I'm excited to find out. I know that God is going to teach me brand new, exciting, things. I'm expecting him to and i have the assurance that God is faithful and he keeps his promises. Yay! I'm liking twenty ten so far. Ive got a great boyfriend (http://breakfastwithalex.blogspot.com/), awesome family, beautiful best friends, Ive already been hiking to one of my favorite places, God has given us a little gift of snow meaning getting out of school :). So.... i may be a week late but....welcome two thousand ten. I'm glad your here.

And of course now to talk about something spiritual :)...... Lately my quite times have been kinda short compared to normal. not that that's a bad thing or anything because I'm still learning and stuff but in my prayer journal instead of writing 7 pages i write like 5. which is very unusual for me. So today i was like why is that? Is something wrong between me and God? And i came to a conclusion...and discovered that no, nothing at all is wrong with me and my Father, in fact, he is blessing me so much right now. Life is simply just good and i am so thankful for that. He is still even blessing me more. I just finished the book of Luke and man did Jesus have a lot of story's to tell or what?! ha ha I enjoyed it and am now moving on to Joshua...I'm excited! God is good and weird, and beautiful and we are tweaked, blessed, and loved.

Last but not least i want to write the lyrics to a song i heard this past Sunday at church and have kinda fallen in love with it... "Follow You" " You lived among the least of these the weary and the weak and it would be a tragedy for me to turn away. All my needs you have supplied. When i was dead you gave me life. How could i not give it away so freely? And ill follow you into the homes of the broken. Follow you into the world. Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God. Follow you into the world. Use my hands, use my feet to make your kingdom come. Through the coroners of the earth until your work is done. Cause faith with out works is dead and on the cross your blood was shed. So how could i not give it away so freely? I give all my self. I give all my self to you God."

I don't really know why i like that song so much. I like to think that its because He has something big in store for me, something so big i cant even imagine. And this song is just one way he is preparing my heart. ....Well that's all i got. I'm out. have a wonderful night my beloved friends.

-jordan katlin.

its real.

as i lay here on my couch watching the precious movie "UP" im just thinking about a few things....one being how this has been a super long day, two how much i don't want to go to school tomorrow, three how ready i am for Christmas...and a haircut. but what really is capturing my thoughts would be the thing that i thought about this morning in church....

its something i hear all the time but it really just became so real to me this morning and it made my heart so sad. i don't even know why this came to my mind but my mind wonders a lot so its no surprise that i think of such random things sometimes. But I'm guessing something Shannon said stood out to me and honestly i don't remember what that certain thing was but it made me start thinking about my teacher and the people i go to school with. i realized today that out of all those people in that school I'm the only one that has a relationship with Jesus and that broke my heart. I love my teacher so much. she is so fun and you can tell that she wants to teach you everything she possibly can. she is great at what she does. her kids are precious too. and then there is my Spanish friend. she cracks me up and half the time i don't even know what she is saying. she brought her daughter to school with her last Saturday and we talked for forever because she can speak English and Spanish and that just amazed me ha ha. and of course Crystal. she is awesome and could do some fancy nail art. she makes me laugh every single day. i enjoy each of these ladies company and i was thinking the morning that if anything ever happened to them or me i would never ever see them again. I want to change that.

They know that i am a christian because every morning i do my Jesus time at my desk. a few of them have made comments to me or have asked what i was doing and that's exciting because then i get to share all about it and why i do it. Crystal has told me that she does her quit time at night but by the way the acts you can tell she is producing no fruit....but shame on me to judge her. Janette (the Spanish lady) is from Cuba and the other day we were talking about Christmas and she told us that she doesn't celebrate Christmas. she never has and never will. i was shocked so i asked her why and she told me its because her dad is in the military in Cuba so the cant have a religion so when she moved to the U.S she didn't even know what Christmas was or how to celebrate. i was blown away. that shows how sheltered. Ms. D, my teacher has shared with me before about how she used to be this religion but now she isn't anything and doesn't go to church. and as long as your a good person it okay. And she is right being a good person is great but there is so much more she is missing. It all just made me so sad and then i got so frustrated with myself because here we were having an hour and a half long conversation about something i am so passionate about and i just sat there in silence not knowing one thing to say. Why is that? its not that i was scared to say what i believe i just had no words.

So ever since then i have wanted to share now more then ever and i think with the realization i had today i can do it a little better. And a little praying form you guys would hurt either :)