I leave February 16th (read on at leisure)

Every to-do for to-do Jill

Liked planning a lot

But Argentina timing, just south of her

Did not…

I would continue the narrative a le Grinch, but I’m not sure that I’d be up for Seussian rhyming (it doesn’t get more brilliant than nimbly-chimbly) and Christmas, even for our most eastern brothers and sisters, is over. Besides, you can probably tell where my parody is headed: straight up the side of Mt. Crumpit and downhill into a rant about plans, uncertainty, im/patience, and other developments of character.

Character development is a very difficult thing to write. My own writing tends to be very plot driven, and I often skim over the “slow” sections of even my most favorite books. Those long walkabouts through the dead marshes, Muggle-free forests, Sinai deserts, Mt. Crumpits, or wilderness tend to lose me. Incidentally, they also lose the protagonists; slow pace leads to soul-searching leads to stress. This annoys me. Bring on the battles, the witty repartees, the plot twists, and the who-hash, but lead me not into the doldrums.

From a plot perspective, the doldrums are indelibly frustrating. From a character perspective, they are essential. Slow paces sink deeper into the trail. Soul-searching is good for the soul. Stress is…not fun; there really isn’t much positive that can be said about it. I won’t pretend that I’ve undergone distress in the past few months of uncertainty (am I going to Argentina? when? should I? why? who? how? why so many wh- questions?); that would be melodramatic. However, whatever uncertainty I have experienced has wrought something like patience: quiet patience in the moment, a tried-and-true character (δοκιμή) that can withstand a thousand miles any direction or an inch that seems to go nowhere, and hope.

And hope does not disappoint.

Peace, Jill

*P.S. This seems antithetical to what I have just written, but you seem curious, so here goes:

I fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina February 16^th (God willing), where I will be attending a Biblical/Ministerial Seminary (Sebima, per its Spanish acronym) there, living on campus with a yet-unknown roommate, and teaching English. And…I’ll be home for Christmas!