a dream of mine..

in English class we have been learning about Transcendentalism. in case you might be wondering the top five signs that you might be a transcendentalist are: 

you believe that nature demands the most serious reverence. 

you believe that intuition is more important than logic. 

you believe that ALL knowledge comes from inside-- one does not need the past, the family, or society to act as guides to behavior. 

you believe strongly in a philosophy of individualism and self-reliance. 

you insist that we should follow our instincts wherever they may lead no matter what rules or convention might demand. 

in the process of learning about this we read some pieces from the famous transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. the one we read today in class titled Walden written by Thoreau made me think more than the others. in the book Thoreau describes his experience of living as simple as simple can get. Thoreau spent a time during his life living in a little one room cabin in the woods. he built it on his friend Emerson's land and lived right near a pond. Thoreau lived off the land and wrote much about his experience there. as i was reading this i begin to dream. i began to dream of a time where i could do just as Thoreau did. finding a little cabin in the woods somewhere and living in solitude for a couple months. spending time listening to the birds, writing, watching the sunsets and sunrises, and living as much as i could off the land. taking time to separate myself from the society that adds so much stress to our lives. i wonder how would that experience change me? i am so curious to know. because i believe the more we are in tune with nature the more we will be in awe of God. i envision that time to be a time where God would be my only source of survival. now even though i wouldn't call myself a transcendentalist i do believe taking care and being aware of God's creation is very important. now i ask you what are some of your dreams? do you even take time to dream? 

ill leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein and some pictures....

"look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

Here is a picture of the pond Thoreau lived by. 

This is the one room cabin Thoreau lived in. 

one of Thoreau's quotes....

take care.

inspiration...i have been inspired by these quotes below...i hope you can be too..

i love to ponder this quote. how would our lives be differently if we chose to take a moment  and think of something else besides ourselves and all earthly things? 

i think i fully grasped this quote after my experience at Chrysalis. i cried a lot during that weekend. not always because i was sad but because of how amazed i was at God. 

i struggle with this A LOT. i think we all do. loneliness makes us do things we wouldnt normally do. ive learned and i am still learning to gain my confidence from HIM instead of him. its a hard thing to do. and i havent fully mastered this one yet.  

this quote doesnt really need explaining. its one of my favorites though. 

i try to do this with every person God brings into my life. because we are all hurting and we all need to know someone cares. 

i love my friends. 

amen. 

 i need to do this more often. 

i love music so very much. it always seems to calm me and put things into perspective. 

this quote puts exactly how i feel in words. its one of those things that inspires me in life. 

i surrender to you Lord. own me . i am willing to be changed.


i hope you have been inspired by these quotes. i know i have. take care. 

beautiful BELOVED b r u n e t t e...

my name is emily kauffman northwest chrysalis flight #28 table of B cubed which stands for beautiful BELOVED brunettes (this is how we had to introduce ourselves during the flight) and wow..wow..wow..wow..i could go on forever..for me right now "wow" is the only word that can kind of begin to describe how my weekend was. like i said in the previous post i went on a chrysalis flight this past weekend. i dont think i will be able to describe my experience in just one post so this post will just be a summary of what it was like for me. there isnt one word to even begin to describe how it went! i have never felt that loved or inspired in awhile. the most important thing that i came away with was the confirmation that Ohio is truly where God wants our family to be. there was a group of 7 girls from pettisville that went on the flight. we grew so close thoughout the retreat and think of eachother as sisters now :) we shed so many tears together, laughs together, smiles together, and prayers together.  it was so awesome! all the feelings of loneliness and fear were wiped away for me. i am loved. i am accepted. i am so grateful i had the opportunity to experience something like this. during the weekend i also got to know my table group. i was so inspired and challenged by their own journeys. it was truly amazing to be placed in such a mature group of believers. i was so grateful. there were 15 talks during the 3 days. that may seem like a lot but they were all so so good. i went into the weekend thinking i had it pretty much all together. but i quickly learned that i dont. God is so good! thank you to all of you who wrote letters to me. i shed many tears while reading your sincere words to me. you all mean the world to me. and i thank God for the role you each have played and continue to play in my journey. there will be more to come, dont worry. take care. 

anticipating becoming a butterfly...

tomorrow morning at 8AM i will be embarking on a new adventure. i will be traveling to Maumee, Ohio and spending a weekend of what is called a Chrysalis Flight. to explain it simply it is like a spiritual retreat. i do not know much about what all i will be doing but i have heard nothing but positiveness from previous attenders. i am really looking forward to seeing how God works through me and the others there. i know of 8 other girls from my school that will also be going on the flight. i cant wait to connect more with them throughout the weekend as well. through all the excitement i also have some concerns as well. my prayer for the weekend goes like this:

jesus... 

i come to you with some burdens i want to hand over to you. i'm kind of anxious about this weekend. not really knowing what to expect. i want so badly to go in with an open mind and heart. im excited to see what you want to teach me. help me to step out of my comfort zone and meet some new people. i have no doubts it will be a great experience. but i dont want to go in with high expectations. i want to participate and not anticipate. work through me jesus. help me to break free from my chrysalis and become a butterfly that in turn will fly to you someday. i love you. 

amen. 

i would appreciate your prayers this weekend. i will definitely let you know when i get back how things went. 

take care.