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 :)

welcome back.

its been a while since ive been on here. but life's been crazy busy. but hopefully that will change soon and i can start relaxing a bit.

But anyways I'm super excited that Christmas is so soon. Soon as in...next week! Although i haven't got all my Christmas shopping done I'm super excited to see Travis, Micah, and Shar when they come home. Although i don't talk to them much i sure do miss them. This is a special Christmas for me because its the first Christmas i will have a boyfriend, and a great one at that, and hopefully we will have many more to come. :)

On another note...God is so good. His truth is becoming more and more real and evident to me and i love it. Ive gone through the book of Isaiah, just finished Romans and now starting Luke. Romans was so good and encouraging and this has been a stressful month so i don't think its any mistake that Romans was what i was reading this month. God is cool...He is indeed. So many things have stood out to me while reading Romans i cant even begin to tell you but i always like to give at least one example of how and this is the one that stood out the most...

Romans 15:5 says this " May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other- each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other." okay so recently i have been praying that my attitude would not be all about me and my pride and selfishness. But as i prayed that i kept feeling like i wasn't saying the right words, like something was missing, (if that makes sense) and what do you know God gave me an answer that very week. My attitude needs to be like Jesus. joyful, loving, kind, good, pure etc.... That's what i want my heart to look like...like Jesus.

Have i mentioned that God is cool? because he really really is. you know why? Because all the stuff i just said goes along with this song that i just so happen to be singing all week long. like as soon as i woke up it was in my head i at wouldn't leave. it says " Jesus give me your heart, break me down, build me up. let who i was keep falling apart, come on and let the fire start give me your heart. my creator oh my creator. may i be low low low so your made higher. may i be low low low so your made higher. for I'm weak then you are strong, weak for you are strong in the weak man" Now your probably like how in the world does that go together...well i have a weird brain/thought processes so let me explain....first by saying Jesus give me your heart its kinda like saying Jesus give me an attitude like you. I want Jesus to break me, to humble me so i can see more of him and less of me. I want him to build me up, to be strong in him and have a fire in my heart for him. But here is the main point i want to get across. It says may i be low low low so your made higher....okay everyone who knows me knows that i love my analogy of "going deeper" and each morning before i even get out of bed i pray that i will be made lower today so he will be exalted on high and that he will take me deeper with him that day. Well i was thinking about it and those kinda go hand in hand...if you go low then your going down, or going deeper and he is being made higher as you seek and find more of him. okay now imagine a circle. Jesus is the circle and you are this little bitty dot in the middle but as you find him he takes you deeper, making you lower and boom your at the bottom, right by Jesus. A lot of people would probably think" i want to be in the middle of the circle that way he is all around me, equal on every side". Well I'm sorry my friend you are wrong because remember we want to have an attitude like Jesus. The world (the circle) doesn't revole around us. Its all about him so we never just want to be right in the middle we want to be right by him :) does that all make sense? i hope so!

okay well some food is calling my name. i Hope you have a wonderful day. and i promise it wont be a million years before i write again....not that anyone cares ha ha.

jordan katlin.

part 2.

hello all. i know i posted a long one last night but i wanted to finish it. so, here it goes...

Can i first just say that God is just good. he blows my mind and i love it. Okay with that being said ill start in chapter 42 in Isaiah. verse one says " Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, and i am pleased with him." hmm that's good stuff. I am God`s chosen one. that in itself is incredible. i am His beloved Child. i cant fully comprehend that. Okay but not only are we his chosen but he also strengthens us. That is such an encouragement to me because life is tough and i know i need his help each and everyday. Each morning before i even get out of bed i give my day to Jesus, confessing that i need him today and knowing that he is the only one that can give me all the strength i need for that day. and sure enough God comes through every time. Have i mentioned how good He is? :) (i also suggest you go read Isaiah 42:6-7)

On in chapter 43, basically all of that chapter is good and i underlined most of the chapter but my very favorite parts were these..." I have called you by my name, you are mine...I will be with you....you are precious to me. You are honored and i love you. ( that is different parts of verses 1-4) Oh i love it! God clearly tells us we are his. He has written my name upon his heart, carved it in his hand. He is with me always, never changing. We are his precious lambs :). He honors us so we should honor him and give me all the glory honor and praise he deserves because clearly, he is worth it! He loves us! AH that makes me so excited!

As i read all these chapters i am picturing in my mind a guy standing on the street corner just shouting all this stuff. He is so excited and just wants people to understand how good God is. that might sound silly but that's what i picture.

He mentions in chapter 43 and again in 44 how he "blots out all our sin" he tells us he will never think of them again. he has scattered them as far as the east is to the west. hmmm isn't that such a comfort. I think it is because i know i mess up each day but praise the Lord that i am a victim of grace and he holds nothing against me.

So I'm still not done but sadly i have to go get ready for dreaded work. ill finish this soon. promise. Have a beautiful Monday!

-jordan katlin.

an over due post.

well hello blog! ....i haven't seen you in a while. but that's my fault and i do apologize. forgive me? i hope so!

Where to begin? a lot has happened and I'm sure I'm going to leave something out but ill start with this... The month of October has been very kind, and beautiful to me. ya wanna know why? 1.)the 18th was one month for me and Alex (if that sounds cheesy, I'm sorry but it makes me happy :))

2.)the 31st Alana, Michelle, and i dressed up like 80s girls, although i kinda ended up looking more like a clown but it was still fun!

3.) i also finished the star wars movies...yes i know be proud! and the best part is...i didn't hate them. i guess i owe you an apology, star wars movies for making fun of you. i hope you will forgive me.

So many other good things happened in October but thats over now and I'm looking forward to what November has in store for me. So far it has been fabulous! this past week was incredible. and i needed it for sure! after work and school every day its draining (those of you who read this are probably thinking I'm being a baby but hey growing up is still new to me) but this week i was definitely refreshed. Sunday- I went to church with Alex. it was awesome. Afterwards we went to Greg's house and had some good food and good bible study. Monday- i got to sleep in so that always just makes my day better :) Tuesday- I got to school and realized that i now have enough hours that i can be on the floor, meaning i can work on clients. which is exciting and makes me nervous all at the same time. Another thing that happened Tuesday, i got to talk to my boss but work next semester. I'm a team leader right now and if you cant tell by my earlier blogs, well I'm not the biggest fan of my job. its stressful and hectic and i always have to stay over time and never get paid. SO after talking with my boss she said she would move me to being a tutor. which is 10 times better to say the least. Tuesday night at bible study was awesome and to finish my great day i had a wonderful wonderful conversation with Alex. Wednesday- I had an incredible time with Jesus. those days just always great. Thursday- Thursday Fun Night. nothing else needs to be said. Friday- i had a date, and another wonderful talk with Alex. Saturday- I experienced my very first TN Vols game, and it was with Alex. i had a blast! it was a perfect ending to a perfect week!

Now i also wanted to tell you about what God did in my heart this week because it makes me smile. I heard this song and the words were simply "Jesus" over and over again. while listening to them singing i was thinking...why don't we get excited when we here that name anymore? why aren't we falling on our faces surrendering to him and simply just in awe of his goodness and grace? We have gotten why to comfortable with it and i cant say that i like it all that much. lets me and you change that. I also got introduced to a new analogy, which you can imagine made me happy because i love analogy's :) Alright so its the picture at the top(sorry I'm not the greatest artist) and ill try to explain it as good as he did. the water is the judgement and the fish in the water are the people. The boat represents Jesus and the person in the boat is meant to be the christian. and then the net. each christian has their own net that we are suppose mend and clean and keep strong. Were not only suppose to do that we are most importantly, throw the net out and catch the people to save the from judgment. make sense? i hope so!

To add a long to that, i was thinking about it afterwards. and in order to throw are net out and to be able to pull it back up with out the devil pulling us down with them we have to be strong and grounded in Jesus, in that boat. if that makes any sense at all. Now something else God has been teaching me....i am still going through the book of Isaiah and in chapter 37 verse 26 it says " It was i the Lord, who decided this long ago. I planned what I am now causing to happen" then in verse 28 it says " But i know you well- your coming and goings and all you do" I thought both of those verses were so cool and after reading them i was humbled. Shame on me for ever thinking i was big enough to handle something on my own or that i bigger then God. because clearly, I'm not. Its cool to think though that God is big enough. he is big enough to handle all and everything. he knows everything that's going to happen. he knows all about you and loves you. just thinking about that leaves me in awe.

The next verse that i really liked was in chapter 38, the ending of verse 19, " Each generation can make known your faithfulness to the next" that was more of a challenge to me i guess. I have had those leaders and girls in my life who have poured there love into me and taught me what it meant to be a leader and how to love Jesus with all my heart. Melissa always told me i was apart of the generation that seeks his face. and i think she is totally right. But now i want to be that to some young girl who is shy, innocent and ridiculous just like i was. On into chapter 41 talks about Israel and how they are God`s chosen people. in verse 9 it says " For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious hand." wow! i know he is talking to Israel here but i like to think he is talking to me. Go read that and throw in your name at the beginning of each sentence. it is good stuff my friend!

Okay well i have so much more to share but i can only blog for so long. so they will be saved until next time i write. i hope you enjoy my dear friend. have a joyful day you are loved!

-jordan katlin.

a new song.

well where to begin? this week has been crazy.

lets start with school. i changed schools. i now go to Franklin Academy. and so far so good. i am actually learning which is marvelous. i have learned more the past 5 days at Franklin then i did the whole month i was at new concepts. and unfortunately my hours from new concepts didn't transfer and we have to pay them a lot of money for nothing. so that's annoying but oh well that's life right? i am happy where i am now. I've learned how to wax eyebrows and do the basic facial. so that's pretty cool. i think i am going to enjoy this.

and work...I'm off allll week for fall break. the end on that subject :)

and what i really want to talk about...me and Jesus! i am falling more in love with him and i am loving it. he is so incredible and leaves me in awe. this morning i went to church with Alex at Greenway and it was really good. you know the song solid rock? the old hymn that everyone knows. well we sang that today and I'm pretty sure that song has never been more real to me and has never made me smile so big then it did this morning. just listen to the words...my hope is built on nothing less then Jesus blood and righteousness. i dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name. when darkness seems to hide is face i rest on his unchanging grace. in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil. when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may i then in him be found. dressed in his righteousness alone faultless to stand before the throne. and then the chours we all know...on Christ the solid rock i stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking sand..... wow isn't that awesome! i loved it and when i was singing it this morning me and my heart were smiling. on another Jesus note.... :)... in the last post i told you that i had started reading Isaiah and i think i stopped on chapter 7 in the post well I'm going to skip to chapter 11. Isaiah 11:1-5 describes Jesus in a beautiful and perfect way. and he is beautiful and perfect so they did a pretty good job don't ya think? :) so go read it! on down in verse 9 the last part says "and as the waters fill the seas, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord" i picture that in my head as people all around, people who love Jesus with all their heart, who know is goodness, and have experienced is grace and mercy. picture us all gathered together, a group as big as the sea, all worshiping our savior, our God. i love it! i wish i could paint because i think i could create some pretty awesome painting....but i cant so ill stick to photography :) oh and speaking of paintings i think God is an awesome one. Just look at the earth. but i can also see it when i read the bible. maybe poet would be a better word....in chapter 18 of Isaiah verse 4 says this "i will watch quietly from my dwelling place-as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the dew forms on an autumn morning during the harvest" isn't that beautiful!? i think so! on down in the last part of verse 7, actually its the last sentence in the chapter it says "..the place where is name dwells" when i read that i thought of how cool it would be if the place that his name dwells would be upon my heart. like i cant explain it entirely but i want my heart to be his dwelling place. my heart is his. i want him to take me deeper. teach me how to love him more. trust him more and have faith like Paul did. i love spending time with him. he is my daddy and i have the privilege to crawl up in his lap each day to listen to his stories and to feel his heart beat. i am blessed.

so i think this post is coming to an end. i feel like i went all over the place in this but oh well...have a beautiful day :)

-jordan katlin.