[Johny Joe Hold]

I chatted with Aunt Annie at the Senior Center yesterday. She said she had a letter folks at LBC might like to read. From deep in her purse came this:

Dear Aunt Annie: I hope this finds you well. My life has been turned upside down and I need your help. I am a young wife with two small children. My husband is a fine man of Christian upbringing. What I'm writing you about started when a new young preacher came to our church. He is SO handsome. And, he is single. As the Sunday's went on I began to spend my time in church fantasizing about him in a, you know, romantic way. When we leave church and shake hands with him my knees go weak. I want in the worst way to tell him how I feel. What should I do? Thank you. Smitten

Dear Smitten--I'm glad you had the courage to write me. Your situation is not so unusual. My concern begins with the focus on yourself. You also mention a husband and children. You scarcely mention the well being of the most important person in the situation. The most important person is the young preacher. He was put on earth by God to save souls from sin and Satan. Everyone around him needs to help him in God's mission. The important question, then, is does he think you could help him? If you came into his life would he save more souls? To find out, you need to have a private conversation with him, maybe a Christian counseling session. You can tell him of your desire to help in his ministry. He will respond. You can then decide where your future will take you. All the best my dear.

[MitzaLizalor]

As you know, I enjoy sewing and keep a range of lively fabrics to choose from. Some of them are luminous, some are iridescent, all are graceful and restrained and of course I never combine fabrics. Under artificial lights a cotton material reacts differently from, say, polyester or silk regardless of whether they use the same pigment in dyes. Around this time of year there's an increased demand for the latest styles, rendered as a costume, for halloween. I always decline.

This year I've been asked for costumes for an ANTI-halloween party (do you know what that is?) and in some very specific textures which I don't normally stock. It sounds like they require them to be very waterproof. The problem is: I don't know what an anti-halloween party is and am wondering whether Aunt Annie has had to advise on a similar enquiry before?

Thank you.