Sunday Notes, Silhouette Mess and Chat Video

Listened to Pastor John Hagee this morning as he finished his America series calling all Christians to pray.  He used very well-known scriptures to me this morning.

Mark 11:23-24  (Notice it is in red.  That is because JESUS said it!)
²³ For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
²⁴ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them

I know that one by heart, and I say it a lot.  I learned it when I was in my early 30's and listened to dozens of Kenneth Hagin, Sr. tape series.  Kenneth Hagin, Sr. was born in 1917 in McKinny, TX which is just 75 miles south of where I am typing this blog post to you.  When he came into the world as a tiny preemie baby, the doctor looked at him and decided he was dead.  He gave the tiny baby to the mother's sister and told her to go bury IT in the back yard.  The aunt obeyed and went into the back yard to bury the baby next to a tree.  As she was digging the hole, she heard a very weak, soft gurgle come from the baby.  She picked the baby up, and she brought it back into the house.  She started feeding the baby with an eye dropper.

Kenneth was VERY sick his whole life which almost ended at 16 years of age as he laid in bed for months and months, unable to walk a single step.  The whole family was just waiting for him to die.  He actually did die THREE times.  When I heard him speak the first time, he told this story.  After that, I read it many times in one of his books.  He also refers to it in many of his tapes.

He was raised in the Baptist church.  Seems like his Dad had died or left when he was young.  His mother was a Christian and took him to church.  Kenneth THOUGHT he was a Christian because he belonged to the Baptist church.  As he used to say a lot in his tapes, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than being in a garage makes you a car!"

Kenneth died in his bed.  His spirit left his body and descended down to the gates of Hell.  He argued the whole trip that this just COULDN'T be right.  HOW could he be going to Hell????  He belonged to the church.  This just CAN'T be right. 

He came back to life.

He died the second time and the third time, and the same thing happened every time.  I don't remember all the details of the story now, but suffice it to say.  Kenneth accepted Jesus as his Savior.  He buried himself in the Word, and he found that scripture up there at the top of this page.  He decided that

#1:  Either God was a liar and the whole Bible was fake and it was worthless.

Or

#2:  God was truth.  The Bible was truth.  The Bible meant what it said and you could believe it!

He chose to believe the latter.

He stood firmly on that scripture - Mark 11:23-24.  He told his legs to walk and his heart to function properly.  He spoke to whatever other ailments he had, which were myriad!  It didn't happen overnight, but he was totally healed.  He was still 16, I believe.  He lived to be 86 years old and had an amazing ministry.  He founded Rhema Bible Church and School in Tulsa, OK.  Many of the preachers I listen to today were taught by him.  He could no longer be Baptist because they don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  You sure couldn't tell HIM "it isn't for today"!

BACK TO TODAY'S SERMON:  Hagee said that if that was the ONLY scripture in the whole Bible, it was enough for us to stand on as we pray for our nation.  The 40 days of prayer begins this coming Friday, September 28.  I hope you will go to www.jhm.org and pray together with Jerry and me, and Phylly and all the other people praying for the election in November.  We MUST believe our all-powerful God will hear us and respond. 

Hagee said, "The tragedy of our day is NOT unanswered prayer; it is UNPRAYED prayer."  So true. 

He also said, "When you get in the firey furnace, God doesn't send someone.  He shows up HIMSELF!!!"

He continued, and I paraphrase:  God has given us the ability TO SPEAK.  Why is that?  It wasn't so we could talk on our cell phones!  Why can't animals speak?  Some of them are very smart.  God gave us the ability to speak so we can PRAY!  

He described HOW we should pray:

1.  Don't make vain repetitions.  God is not a statue.  God HEARS when we talk.  Ask BIG!  Move the angels.

2.  Pray in Jesus' name!

3.  Ask according to the Word. 

                            

^{I John 5:14-15:}   This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

4.  Pray in faith, believing.  (Praying without faith is like going to the mall without money.)

5.  Pray SPECIFICALLY.  Who - What - When.  Jesus prayed "give us THIS DAY our DAILY BREAD".

I better get onto my next subject before the internet runs out of paper here!  I could talk all day and forever about Jesus and the Bible and the sermons I've heard.  Jerry and Phylly are the only two in my life that actually will listen to any of it without taking offense.  Guess that is why I love to write about it.

My next issue is Peggy Sagers and Silhouette Patterns.  I really like a lot of her designs because they are different.  She also gives B, C and D bust patterns.  All of that would be peachy-keen IF her instructions were any good.  Her pattern sheets have very incomplete instructions, and sometimes, have the WRONG instruction or wrong diagram.  Sooooooooooo frustrating.

This pattern looked so complicated, that I decided not to try to adjust my SFD blueprint.  It has the weirdest design lines I have ever seen. 




 Look at this collar shape?  No indication anywhere as to what attaches where.

And THIS is the front of the blouse that I could not figure out how and where to attach the collar either.

And there is this piece that instructs you to CUT 2, but the instructions have you use only 1. 

There are no instructions as to whether the collar is sewn on 1-to-1 OR if it is stretched and how far and where.  I sewed this collar on -- ripped it all out -- and sewed it on again.  Both times, it looked terrible.  The front "tail" ended up too LONG one time, and then too SHORT the second time.

I really LIKE this wrap around collar, and would love to try it again.

Wonder if there is a way I can draw it on my SFD blueprint?  I know how to do the dart.  What I need is the top of the blouse FRONT and the COLLAR.

This also has long sleeves which are currently IN THE TRASH with the wadded up blouse and pattern pieces.  AARRGGHH!!!!

Here is another picture to try to show you the very strange front.  ONE SHOULDER (pink) is pattern piece #2 above.  The other shoulder is part of the long collar.

To me, this doesn't even LOOK LIKE the line drawing on the back of the pattern.

UPDATE:  Received an email from Peggy Sagers (Silhouette Patterns) this morning.  Her response:  Yes, the line drawing is wrong.  Yes, the sleeve pulls in funny like that.  Yes, the notches on the collar mean something.  (But she doesn't say WHAT they mean.)  Just put the sleeves in it, and all will be fine.

She didn't answer the several other questions I asked her.  She said she would be happy to call.  Maybe I will call her when I get a sufficient amount of coffee consumed.  I doubt it though.  Some people will never change.  I am just sorry I have wasted my money on this pattern.  I will NEVER buy another Silhouette Pattern!

Hugs, Joy