Another beautiful fall day with deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and again, no rain. Decided to water the tomatoes still growing in my garden and I found a squash plant blooming. Guess watering was the wrong thing to do ‘cause I just read decreasing watering at the end of the season helps speed up the ripening of the green tomatoes left on the vines. One of the tomato plants has 15 green ones hanging on the dying vine. Oldest brother took two handfuls of tomatoes home this morning. Guess I’m a fall gardener now.

The sunset was so bright and blinding this evening I couldn’t look at the horizon without shading my eyes. The sun was a blazing light house beacon of white and gold prism rays bursting from a core of white hot heat. As the sun dipped down, Mother Nature opened a bottle of pale pink champagne and toasted the evening’s demise. The dusk crept up to the champagne sky and darkness fell across the neighborhood. A beautiful day ended with the promise of a glorious sunrise.

Been reading up on intentional living today. Intentional living is making a conscious choice of how you want to live life, figuring out what is most important to you in your life, being willing to sacrifice to achieve the goals you’ve set, making the most of every day. Can’t help but relate this to a life with faith in God, choosing to live in a way that reflects Christian values. “A life well-lived is a messy life but in a beautiful way. It won’t always be easy, but it’s better than living on auto pilot, merely existing and watching the world from the sidelines,” Jennifer Burger.

God wants us all to succeed, to be brave enough to stand up as warriors for Christ when needed. We can choose how we want to live our lives. God has already drawn our path on his map and he’s placed stumbling blocks and detours to make us humble, to make us realize how we need his grace on our journey through life. Think of God as our co-pilot, stepping in anytime we need help navigating life. But in reality, we need to let God be the pilot of our lives. God controls everything, his hands tight on the steering wheel.

Psalm 121:8 says, “I keep watch over you as you come and go both now and forever.” We have to let go of the life we’ve planned and let God guide us. He can see way ahead. We need to trust his directions and let him steer the path. Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”

I keep this little quote taped to my bathroom mirror and read it when I brush my teeth each morning. It’s a gentle reminder that God gives us choices on how we live our lives. The quote by Heartsill Wilson reads, “This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place. I want it to be a gain, not a loss — good not evil. Success, not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it.” That’s good advice for all of us!

“God is not my co-pilot. He is my Pilot — my Captain. The journey has been turbulent at times, but He is always in control.” — Ava Pennington