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I consulted the list I had written up on a long piece of bark. When chaos swirled around me, I worked best when I had a list of things I needed to do. As I accomplished each task, I could scratch a check mark next to it on the bark. At the end of the day, I found there was a better chance that I would have accomplished what I had set out to do. If any smaller tasks remained undone, I could put them on the next day’s list. Abban had taught me this trick years ago, and it was so much a part of my daily life that I no longer gave it much thought.
Meeting with the other moneyed patriarchs who had sent money north. Check.
Agreement to send word to Abban that we would transfer some of the holdings to Eber’s ranch, provided the others could help Eber devise security arrangements. Check.
Agreement on general principles for loans to peasant farmers and repayment. Check.
Prepare Mom and Mary and Judith for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Add another wagon to the caravan to carry all the things they insisted they must take along. Check.
Collect coins from neighbors to offer at the Temple in the neighbors’ names, and load grain offerings onto wagons. Check.
Add yet another wagon to the caravan for more things Mom and Mary and Judith will likely remember at the last minute. Check.
We were ready to go. I would have a last meal with my host, Eber, to thank him for all he had done. Then we would set off through the hills to Samaria, where we would meet up with Simon at Sychar.