The job of costumer has two components. I am responsible to create or conjure the right garb for the entire cast. This winter that involves fifty members who change clothes hurriedly back stage. The chorus vacillates from portraying bedraggled citizens of the Big Apple, barely able to scratch together a living during the 1930's, to the sharp staff of Oliver Warbucks, and finally to glitzy tap dancers on the sidewalks of Manhattan. 

 

When I remembered that I needed to make twenty two gray vests for the male servants I was flummoxed. Having recently finished seventeen charcoal dresses with starched cuffs for the maids, I had gone through three bolts of fabric already. Luck was in my favor, however, because my sister who recently retired offered to whip them up. There was not the slightest question that she was capable, since her resume includes a lifetime of pineapple and Hershey's kiss Halloween costumes, a bevy of wedding dresses, and forty creamy wool vests for her favorite fraternity back in high school. 

 

The second part of my job entails teaching students to sew. They are between fourteen and seventeen, with varying levels of familiarity with cloth, and a cheerful dose of gumption. I laid out the instructions for white aprons, and only needed to rip a few of the more creative seams. One young lady took the entire class period to attach four buttons, but I declare they will never fall off. The intention is that the kids will help as much as possible with the current show, and I am a fan of such an ideal. 

 

But Annie's red Christmas dress was not up for practicing on. I kept that sweet project for myself.

 

She appears with her dog Sandy, and when you hear her voice explode like confetti across the auditorium, you will want to adopt her too. Annie is the refrain of hope, at a time when poverty, and loneliness sting your eyes like a December chill. I know I need reminding, in a world where children are sometimes treated as if no one wants them. 

 

A friend who is wiser than me tried to assure me that God is in charge. The Lord was on duty back in the Depression, and He still is today. While we busy ourselves with learning the dance steps, and threading needles, God has kept the truly crucial task of our eternal welfare for Himself. He considers it to be His job.