Initiate Shutdown Sequence

Sounds awfully cold and technical for making a major change in one's life, doesn't it?
I think so too.

Sorting through things, packing, discarding, setting aside for the future - this always brings me face-to-face with the past, what was and what could have been. I spent a good deal of time on the phone with Leslie yesterday, but came away with unresolved feelings of remorse for things forgotten or unsaid. I'm filled with regret for being too divided, too splintered, too preoccupied with the trivialities that spew from our hasty lives and myriad devices to focus on what is truly important.

True, the Internet is a valid tool for many things. I spent time today finalizing our honeymoon. Does it really matter where we go and what we do, if we are both not fully present in those precious moments? This is my problem. How do I resolve it?

For years my bride-to-be has been talking to me and sending me letters and clippings about some of the things we are reading about more and more now; about the perils of technology and its potential ability to strip us of our humanity, even while it "connects" us in ways not imagined a flicker of memory ago.

While packing yesterday I came upon the manila envelope that contains Leslie's letters and clippings, and found a newspaper article - from July 10, 2005 - that is prescient in its assertions and painfully relevant to what is happening to us today.

Patricia Dalton, a clinical psychologist in Washington, DC, wrote then in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Ever since the first electric bulb shed artificial light, we have been detaching ourselves from our natural rhythms. Business travelers cross time zones and go right back to work; adults extend their hours by bringing work home with them; teenagers contact friends anywhere at any time of the day or night.

Until, that is, they end up in therapists' offices, stopped in their tracks by physical or psychological dysfunction. Many blame themselves when things go wrong. They minimize the impact of our supercharged environment on their psychological well-being.

The column goes into greater depth about the impact of technology on so many different parts of our lives. "I don't mean to underestimate the benefits of technology", Dr. Dalton writes. "We can stay in touch with relatives and friends who live at a distance. We can get work done more efficiently. Huge amounts of information are at our fingertips. But the angst and dysfunction I've described are real."

I have worked for many years in professions that seek to either leverage the latest technology for the benefit of moving and evaluating more information, or works hard to keep up with society's leveraging of it for the same purposes. The proliferation of the Internet, and of wireless information delivery, and it's slow, corkscrewing integration into our society, is having some really nasty effects on our abilities to slow down, and enjoy each other in the simplest ways.

This is coming too close to some real issues that I have in my life, and I don't really have enough time to expand upon them here. It's probably a good time to make an exit for a while, so that I can get the things done that are really important, and interface with those people who matter so much. Time to shut down.

Postscript, 3/2/11: Joe and Linda Skinner's column in the February 25 Free Press (not posted online yet), titled "Immortality or Immolation?", makes reference to more recent news stories that reinforce Dr. Dalton's warnings in 2005. Specifically, Time Magazine's recent coverage which reports that children, on average, spend 7 hours a day engaged in various online activities, and ponders the effects on their young, developing brains as a result.

One wonders what the effects could be on an aging brain that is trying to keep up, rather than ignore the revolution.

My friend Linda Skinner, writing in the "He Said/She Said" style that is the hallmark of her and her husband's online dialogue, said it simply and wisely:

"I cannot help but think I would not get the same thrill from a blinky light machine with a faultless memory as I get from talking with you. I don't care how many USB ports you might have, I prefer to be hugged by your warm arms. Although, a cyborg would know how to pile the dishes and load the dishwasher properly."

I'll close with something else that Leslie shared with me. Perhaps it speaks more about what we have left behind than what we have to look forward to. If that's the case, then I think that we, myself included, have left behind a critical part of humanity that may be as unrecoverable as it is possible to turn back the clock.

*******

The Man and the Child
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

It is the man in us who works;

Who earns his daily bread and anxious scans
The evening skies to know tomorrow's plans;
It is the man who hurries as he walks;
Finds courage in a crowd; shouts as he talks;
Who shuts his eyes and burrows through his task;
Who doubts his neighbor and who wears a mask;
Who moves in armor and who hides his tears.
It is the man in us who fears.

It is the child in us who plays;
Who sees no happiness beyond today's;
Who sings for joy; who wonders, and who weeps;
It is the child in us at night who sleeps.
It is the child who silent turns his face,
Open and maskless, naked of defense,
Simple with trust, distilled of all pretense,
To sudden beauty in another's face -

It is the child in us who loves.

*******

Good-bye for now.

Your Christmas Break Beer Pong Headquarters

Walmart, Grand Junction, CO (West), 12/22/10

This end cap (retail parlance for the shelves at the end of an aisle) display is a recent addition to one of Grand Junction's two Walmart stores. It has two items on it; 18-ounce plastic "party cups" and table tennis balls.

I thought it was curious, maybe a little funny, and maybe a little sad that a company that exercises its considerable market leverage to influence, censor, and refuse to sell products from the entertainment, media, and even health care sectors would choose to openly market two products together that really only serve one purpose when combined; a drinking game popular with many not yet of legal drinking age.

The timing of this display, to coincide with Christmas break for schools and colleges, is interesting as well.

I spoke with an Assistant Manager of the store, who said that she had also "noticed" the display, but offered no other insight or corrective action. I stated to her that I thought it interesting that a company that requires adults of just about any age to show ID when purchasing an R-rated DVD would be tacitly endorsing, if not encouraging, potentially illegal and damaging behavior.

Evan and Leslie both thought I was barking up the wrong tree with this. Leslie thought I should be focusing on my own hypocrisies before I worry about Walmart's. Evan adopted an almost libertarian viewpoint about what people can and cannot buy, the right of a private business to sell or not sell what it wants to, the identification of markets, and catering to the needs of those markets being just good business sense. They both make valid points.

Still, it just seems kind of contradictory to me. It reminds me of when Walmart and other local stores start stocking up on Mardi Gras-style bead necklaces as Country Jam approaches every year. These beads and other decorations are popular among attendees.

I can remember marketing displays with these beads that included such items as sunscreen, styrofoam coolers, and handheld misting fans. I wonder what the community reaction might be if they added hangover remedies, 5-gallon buckets, and condoms to these displays. They also might not be a bad addition to our beer pong end cap above. Hey, it's a free country...

On a more serious note, I found out while doing some research that the Mesa County Underage Drinking Prevention Task Force is no longer in existence. Their grant funding ran out this past June. However, there is still a dedicated liquor enforcement person at the GJPD who might find the above information interesting, if not humorous in a sad kind of way. At least the lady at the Mesa County Health Department that answered the former task force "hotline" did. Luckily, the task force website still works, and is just as informative and accessible as always.

If beer pong is to become another festive holiday tradition, like wassail and egg nog, maybe Walmart should do it better next year. Let's try green ping-pong balls with the red cups. What's Christmas all about, after all?

Yeah. That's right. You know what's coming.

Have a blessed and safe holiday.

Backpacks for the Coach

This afternoon I attended John Fullmer's memorial service at Canyon View Vineyard Church. Aside from the church staff, John's wife Jennifer, and those from the small group I attended along with them, I really didn't know most of the literally hundreds of people who turned out. It was nonetheless a poignant and uplifting experience to see so many come to pay their respects to a man who impacted numerous lives in the Fruita area as a coach, parent, husband, Christian mentor, and friend.

Donations in John's memory have been suggested to the Kids Aid Backpack Program, a non-profit making a difference in the health of children in need in the Grand Junction area. I've known about the program through attending Canyon View, and knew that they were helping kids be able to eat something nutritious on the weekends by collecting food donations and sending them home in backpacks with the kids after school.

There are several pages on their website that detail the nature and scope of their distribution program, as well as the story of how they came to be. It's worth the time to read, not only because of what inspired Mr. Berry to do it, but also because he tried to emulate a very successful program in Metro Denver, the Totes of Hope program of Food Bank of the Rockies.
Message to those attempting to craft a plan to address our community's homeless problem; re-inventing the wheel is not always necessary.

It was coincidental and equally gratifying to see in today's Sentinel that Mike Berry, the founder of the Kids Aid program, is a finalist for national recognition by the charitable arm of a trade association for financial professionals. Congratulations are in order to Mr. Berry not only for the award, but for adapting a proven method of addressing a need to effective use locally.

There are several ways to help Kids Aid. I was tempted to pull out the checkbook, but I think I will try to donate some of whatever free time I have to help prepare and distribute, or whatever they need. I hope I can be consistent with this.

You can help too. If for no other reason, do it to honor the memory of a man who touched many local lives. Do it for Coach Fullmer.

Good night.

Michaela At Rest

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for the darkness is as light to you;

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

- Psalms 139:11-14
(NRSV)

I Am Not There

Michaela Aleasha Russo

November 15, 2001 - July 15, 2010

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight.

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there -- I do not die.

- Mary Elizabeth Frye (1932)

Michaela Russo

Prayers For Michaela - The Road Home

Leetsdale, PA - As many of you know from either conversations with me or through several posts here, my fiancee Leslie has two daughters. The youngest, Michaela, has been fighting neuroblastoma, an aggressive cancer involving nerve cells, since December of 2005. Michaela has endured two major operations, stem cell and bone marrow transplants, extensive radiation and chemotherapy, and most recently some specialized radiation treatments in an attempt to arrest this disease.

When I left Pittsburgh around a month ago, Michaela was in the same general condition as when I had seen her in late March. She was still struggling with nausea and vomiting, resulting in a considerable loss of weight. At the same time she would also have good days, wanting to be more active, willing and able to hold down some of her favorite foods.

The big difference in Michaela's disposition was that she felt too weak to walk long distances. Leslie got her a portable wheelchair, which helped a great deal. In this photo Michaela is looking at a statue of a Triceratops covered with small toys, many of them dating from my childhood. I saw lots of green plastic army men in there..

Recent GI studies to attempt to ascertain the cause of Michaela's vomiting located a narrowing of one of the loops of her small intestine. Michaela's surgeon was hesitant to proceed without some additional nutritional support. With that plan in mind, Michaela checked into Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh in mid-May to begin Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), in hopes of building her up to a point where she could safely endure an exploratory procedure.
After admission, a CT Scan of Michaela's abdomen revealed extensive new tumor growth throughout.

After the scan, Michaela started having more difficulty with pain. Leslie and Michaela elected to go home with the TPN, pain meds, and hospice care. She has lost more weight in the past month.

Getting Michaela to and from Children's almost every day has been a difficult task for Leslie. Michaela has two portable IV pumps, and needs the wheelchair as well. Like any sick child, her patience is limited, and those around her can be subjected to the effects. Leslie is excelling in her role as a full-time caregiver, but is plainly exhausted by the end of the day.

On top of these harsh realities comes the stark realization that Michaela could soon lose her battle, and be called home.

Since I got back here last week, I've been helping with general household duties and assisting Leslie with the almost daily trips to Children's for radiation treatments, as well as occasional transfusions of blood or platelets. Michaela's body may be weakening, but her spirit and belief in God do not appear to have been shaken by her experiences in fighting cancer, and tolerating the treatment regimen that may be arguably as taxing on the body and spirit as the cancer itself.

I initially thought that being in Leslie's position in terms of having lost a loved one to cancer would help me understand things better, especially since both of us have teenagers that have also been affected by this illness. I find myself feeling at times inadequate to the task, primarily because I'm not here as much as I should be, but also because it's a child that is suffering.

This inadequacy may also be an extension of feelings that have affected my relationship with Leslie, related to distance, logistics, and bringing two families together through hardships past and present.

So I'm here to help, learn, adapt, and most importantly, love. As Michaela's struggle continues, so does the need to deal with medical and other expenses that have been steadily building up over the course of her illness and treatment. Those of you with the resources to assist in this area can send your donations to:

Michaela Russo Care Fund Trust

c/o Dollar Bank

P.O. Box 765

Pittsburgh, PA 15230-0765

Thanks very much, and have a good week ahead.

The Road from Commencement

My son, my mother and I traveled to Denver on Sunday, spent the night, then did a little shopping and some evaluating of a training program before returning last evening.


View Larger Map

We took an unconventional route to Denver that took about 6 1/2 hours to complete, with stops in Montrose and Salida. My mother had never been past Montrose on Highway 50, so I thought that the scenery of Blue Mesa (especially the Dillon Pinnacles), Monarch Pass, and the high plains of Park County would be an interesting and welcome respite from the "usual" views afforded when traveling I-70. I like Salida (a lot), and so did she, especially Riverside Park with the Arkansas moving rafters and kayakers swiftly by.

On these long road trips, I am grateful for the variety offered by satellite radio. We were checking the various news channels trying to see if any of them were airing President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame, and while we could not find one that was airing the complete speech we found plenty of excerpts, including when he was interrupted by hecklers.

As it happens, upon returning home and checking my usual news links, I ran across a commencement address that may have been largely overlooked by the MSM, but was an incredibly moving and thoughtful speech, not by a politician, learned scholar, but by an entertainer.

John Legend's address to this year's graduates of his alma mater, Penn, contained some truly inspirational passages. While also touching upon current events, he challenged the Class of '09 to pursue truth. A simple and profound goal, many might say, but when you contemplate the last several years it's easy to see why a reminder is sometimes necessary. Here's a sample:

Too often we become apathetic. We see the lies, we see the obfuscation, the deception. But we fail to point it out.

We're afraid to rain on the parade. Afraid to rock the boat. Afraid to pursue the truth.

While your education here at Penn does not require that you are a spokesperson for any particular cause, you now have the resources and skills, the privilege and yes, hopefully, the passion, to pursue the truth. To be witnesses of today and for tomorrow. To speak truth to power. And to speak the truth on behalf of the powerless.

Sometimes there isn't a single answer. But there is always the truth.

Now, I don't assume that the word "truth" is commonly found. Like its bedfellows of "democracy" and "justice," I believe it is quite rare to find.

It is born through process. It is gained through questioning. It is found in listening.

The speech is about 13 minutes long, and is well worth reading and listening to. You can do both by clicking here.

Part of our trip to Denver was dedicated to going to the Apple Store and picking out a computer for Evan's graduation present. I told him that I saved the money to get him this so he would have the necessary tools to properly embark on his post-secondary education, and neither these important years nor the material tools he has to help navigate them should be squandered on things that do not enrich his life.

Like the graduates of Notre Dame and Penn, I hope he gets the message.

Graduation 2009

The Daily Sentinel - Christopher Tomlinson

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao Tse

Evan -

"What a long, strange trip it's been" - and for you, it's only begun to get interesting.

You've had to grow the last few years under less than ideal circumstances. While your choices for taking steps through this life are not the ones I would take, they are uniquely yours, and set you on a path that I hope will be a fruitful and happy one for you.

Your mother is proud of you today, and loves you like no one else - as do I.

Good job.

Stay close, no matter how divergent our paths become.

Much Love,

Dad

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers I know. Considering that this is also graduation week, that's quite a lot who I have known for a long time, from the time our children first walked into Kindergarten, onto the soccer field, or into their first meeting of Cub Scouts.

I'm fortunate to still have my mother, and she's come out to celebrate her only grandson's graduation. My brother and his wife will be joining us later this morning. We are going to treat my mother to a nice dinner and a glimpse of some of the unique scenery our area has to offer.

Evan has to work this Mother's Day, and although I wish he could join us I also have to let him assume this responsibility as his own, do what he can, deal with both the pleasantries and the drudgery of the working world, and let him learn his way. Despite the significant challenges of losing his mother, he's turned out to be a resourceful, resilient, and articulate young man, who I daresay is better prepared for some of this world's more difficult realities than perhaps some of his peers.

He's trying to get into Mesa State for the fall, and has a plan mapped out as far as what he wants to study. I have the means to help him out initially, but depending on how his plans and dreams shake out he may end up paying for some of his college education. That's not a bad thing in my mind; I think that he will learn and be ready for whatever gets thrown at him, or adapt quickly.
In a world like ours today, that ability is invaluable.

There are pink tulips and purple irises adorning my girlfriend Leslie's house today, and while she says she enjoys the flowers there is a reminder of the physical distance between us that the sentiment behind the flowers must somehow compensate for. I'm a better person with her close by. I miss you, baby.

It's been a busy weekend with relatives coming in from out of town and having to work on Saturday, but with the cool evening breezes tempering the heat of the mid-spring day, and the sound of good music wafting into the neighborhood from the festival downtown, I'm feeling pretty good about the days ahead, but a little empty as well for those who are not with us.
To absent friends...

To add to the quiet satisfaction is the triumph of the Penguins again last evening. One more win and they're halfway to the Stanley Cup. The first time they won it was in 1991, when two other things happened that I thought would not in my lifetime; that I would own a house, and have a child.

Despite the loss and disappointment over the last few years, I can truly say that I am blessed by the love of my family, including those who are far away. Thanks to all the moms out there; one way or another, we couldn't have got here without you.

Enjoy the day and the week ahead.

Prom Night 2009

Christopher Tomlinson - The Daily Sentinel

Saturday evening was rather blustery and unsettled, as evidenced by the photo above. By the time that my son, his date and the group of kids they went with to Grand Junction High School's prom had assembled, the wind was gusting significantly, and a dirt-infused rain was trying to work its way across the valley.

The kids all looked great, but I of course focused on Evan and his date, Morgan. They made for a very cute couple, which may sound trite considering it's Prom Night, but there was something different about these two. They genuinely looked interested in each other, not just the spectacle of the event. They seemed to complement each other very well.


After the kids were on their way, I went down to KAFM to take in two events at The Radio Room. One was the opening of an exhibit by members of The Art Quilt Association (AQuA).

janrickman.com

I was really looking forward to the show, and it didn't disappoint. There are some extraordinary artists in our area, and it was a privilege to see so many excellent examples in one place. The website includes pictures of pieces by many of AQuA's members.

The staff of KAFM has shown their expertise and versatility in making the Radio Room a quality, versatile venue for art exhibition, concerts, lectures, film, and other community gatherings. The station has leveraged this resource rather well.

The timing of the quilt show unintentionally coincides with some controversy about quilting in recent news items. Seems that Quilter's Home Magazine has featured more controversial art quilts that have challenged the status quo of the hobby in the minds of many, both in and out of the quilting community. Publisher Mark Lipinski is making waves with a unique take on the hobby that is exciting both quilters and fans of the art form.

While you won't see anything as provocative at this show as what's in the magazine, it is nonetheless worth stopping by if you're in town on your lunch break. The exhibit is open from 11-1, weekdays through May and June.

After the quilt show opening, the Radio Room transformed into a concert venue for singer/songwriter Gigi Love. Ms. Love has an excellent singing voice, and writes some very good music. She had an excellent electric guitar player accompanying her acoustic playing as well.

As good as Ms. Love's performance was, it seemed hampered by some difficulties trying to get her guitar in tune, and get it to stay there. I'm wondering if a significant reduction in barometric pressure as a result of the passage of a nasty cold front, occurring between her sound check and the actual performance, could have been a contributing factor. Ahh, springtime in Western Colorado..

Evan made it home in one piece the next morning, and said he had a good time. I was in bed by midnight, and could say the same thing. Rather than musing about transitions and waxing nostalgic, I'll leave it at that. Those of you with teenage kids know what I mean.

Hope the rest of your week is a good one.

'Sexting' - Sinister or Just Stupid?

About a year and a half ago my son had a call come up on his cell phone. With this lovely device you can associate a photo with a particular caller or group of callers. When I saw the photo of the naked female torso on his phone, I was immediately concerned and alarmed; was that someone he knew? Why did he have it on his phone?

After eliciting an explanation and expressing my extreme displeasure, the picture disappeared from his phone. While the person that exposed themselves for their cell phone was unidentifiable from the picture, it was undoubtedly circulated to several other people. Why would someone do something like that?

As time has passed others have had occasion to ask the same question of teenagers, both famous and not, and the reaction from the so-called responsible adult segment of our society has been as varied as there are political systems at work in our 50 states.

Our always-at-the-ready-to-pounce-on-anything-remotely-resembling-anything-sexual news media has brought forth numerous examples of kids taking pictures of themselves in various states of undress for boy/girlfriends, and finding that the ubiquitous, pervasive, and permanent nature of the Internet, combined with human error, indifference, and in some cases cruelty, has proliferated these images wayyy beyond the intended audience.

The reaction from said media, parents, other teens, and the criminal justice system has been all over the place. This has ranged from the to-be-expected ridicule from a lot of insensitive kids to a well-publicized suicide resulting from this.

As is commonplace when technology and its' uses race ahead of common sense attempts to regulate it, the response from many law enforcement agencies and prosecutors has been ham-handed and less than appropriate. This week's court case involving a Pennsylvania DA (surprise) threatening child pornography charges against three girls who circulated provocative pictures of themselves is an example. There are several other cases out there, including one from Florida where the boy who sent a nude picture of his girlfriend to others (after she sent it to him) may have to register as a sex offender.

Many people are asking if the punishment fits the crime here. Others go as far as to ask if there is a crime being committed if the images are taken and disseminated with the full knowledge and consent of the participants. Still others wonder if this is largely an unwarranted intrusion by government into the parent-child relationship. Lots of so-called experts with more time and clearer heads than mine have weighed in expertly on this subject. You can read their assessments here, here, and here.

I decided to mull over all of this from a parent's perspective, and tried to come up with something meaningful to say to my child that would hopefully stick. So here goes:

The first time that someone you love chooses to share their body with you will hopefully be something that you can happily carry with you the rest of your days on this earth. You won't need a picture to remind you; it will be an indelible imprint on your memory, a sweet something written with a purple Sharpie on the inside cover of your favorite book.

That sweet something is best when it stays with just the two of you. To make it something more than the profound statement of love and trust that it should be cheapens both the experience and those who shared it. Keep this close to your heart, for when your heart feels close to someone else.

May you have a blessed and safe Easter weekend.

Ticking

Killer's motivation will remain a mystery

- The Daily Sentinel

"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

- Elton John and Bernie Taupin

I won't even begin to think on how to speculate on what was tormenting the young man that opened fire on two Grand Junction couples and a neighbor last year. It's just something that our meager earthly resources just can't comprehend.

I might go further to ask if we would even want to, and what would we do with abilities like that?
We have an idea thanks to masters of imagination like Philip K. Dick, whose The Minority Report delved into a world of extrasensory knowledge, as well as human imperfection.

In any case, it's over. Judging from the newspaper accounts, the survivors are moving on. So should we, but not before we embrace our loved ones and children, tell them how much we love them, and show it by putting down the paper, shutting off the TV, and stepping away from the computer and any other weapon of mass distraction and listening to and guiding our children.
If we don't, the manifest trappings of the marketplace will do it for us, and their motive is to make more customers, not quality human beings.

It's tough not to be immersed in the waves of information that we are bombarded with daily through the various outlets of communication that we are subjected (or subject ourselves) to. That's been my life and my livelihood, so guilty as charged. I need to remember to periodically come up for air, and take a walk among the truly beautiful things of this world, very few of which are of man's creation.

A couple of other things crossed my mind or were put before me today that seemed appropriate to the topic at hand. One came from a friend on Facebook, and seems to be to be an excellent primer for anyone looking for someone, and perhaps thinking that Mr. or Ms. Right will solve all their problems:

You long to give yourself to someone to have a deep soul relationship to another.
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But God says, "No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone…
With giving yourself totally unreserved to Me.
To have an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone.
Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction can be found.
Then you will be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are united with Me.
Exclusive of anyone or anything else.
Exclusive of any other desires or longings.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing…one that you cannot imagine.
I want you to have the best.
Please allow me to bring it in to you, just expect the greatest things.
Keep listening and learning the things I tell you.
Just wait, that's all.
Don't be anxious, don't worry.
Don't look around at the things that others have gotten or I have given them.
Don't look at the things that you want.
Just keep looking off and away and up to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you with a love more wonderful that you would ever dream of.
You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready.
(I am working even this very moment to have both of you ready at the same time)
Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me And the life I have prepared for you,
You can't experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me.
And is thus, the perfect love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love in My time.
I want you to see, in the flesh, a picture of your relationship with Me.
And to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself.
Know that I LOVE YOU evenly.
BELIEVE it and be SATISFIED.

And finally, Philippians 4:4-7:

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. With the confidence that you are loved, and have the ability to love, it'll be beautiful no matter the weather.