On the shed door I’ve hung a metal pumpkin decoration I found. It’s big enough to be seen at the road and goes well with the “plumey” plants on the porch.

The kitchen counter has been covered with a fall runner, small pumpkins, and a Brambley Hedge Autumn plate that belongs to my daughter whose birthday is on the first day of fall. The plate will be there until she realizes that I still have it. It would look really cute on her cabinet in her kitchen! But for now it looks nice in mine!
My corner shelf holds candles, a ceramic pumpkin, and an antique book that has a page about fall and giving thanks. I love to use old books to decorate – they have such character.

I put a pumpkin on a sconce that normally holds a candle. It’s fun to reinvent items and give them a new use.

On my coffee table are old Southern Living magazines from the months of September and October. I also have a book about autumn that gives beautiful ideas to decorate your home, fall foods to cook, and activities to do. I get inspired by books like these!

What do you do to decorate for fall? What inspires you? Tell me about it!

One of our dear church ladies shared some garden-fresh green peppers with us this week, so I used those for our Sunday dinner. What a perfect Sunday meal because I did all the prep on Saturday and they only had to be warmed up after we came home from church.

I love this recipe for peppers because of two things – the peppers are only boiled 3 minutes which keeps them a little crisp, and the meat doesn’t have a tomato sauce base. These are really tasty and came from a cookbook of reduced fat recipes! These peppers only have 8g of fat and 244 calories.

In large skillet cook meat and onion till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in the tomatoes, uncooked rice, water, Worcestershire sauce, basil or oregano, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes or till the rice is tender. Stir in half of the cheese. Spoon meat mixture into peppers. Place peppers in an 8x8x2-inch baking dish. Spoon any remaining meat mixture into baking dish.

If eating immediately, bake uncovered in 375 degree oven about 15 minutes or till heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes or till the cheese melts.

If you make these ahead for Sunday as I did, add a couple tablespoons of water to the dish, cover with syran wrap and warm in the microwave until heated through (Mine only took about 5 minutes, but my microwave is pretty powerful. Adjust cooking time as needed).

This past Wednesday night in Prayer meeting it was time to share testimonies. I immediately thought of the praise in my heart for the way the Lord had specifically answered prayer in my life this week. That’s when the battle began.

I got a recipe a few years ago for a Garden Tomato Pie. It’s like a Bacon Tomato sandwich in a pie crust. If you have summer tomatoes left that you don’t know what to do with try this. We love it!

1 9-inch pie shell, baked and cooled
2 large tomatoes, peeled and thickly sliced (or enough to fill pie shell)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp. dried sweet basil or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
10 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 C mayonnaise (the recipe calls for 1 C, but I think it’s too much)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill pie shell with tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, basil, chives, and bacon. Mix mayonnaise and cheese. Spread over tomatoes. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Garnish pie with a slice of tomato and basil leaves, if desired.

Do you have a recipe you love that uses fresh tomatoes?

Have you ever been in a place in your life when you’re trying to discern the will of God in a matter? We all have. Perhaps you’re there right now. We need God to show us who to date or marry, what house to buy, what to do about a conflict going on in our life, or whether or not to accept an opportunity that has come our way.

1. Make sure you are in fellowship with God with sin confessed and are walking in the Spirit. Psalm 66:18 – If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Not only will the Lord not hear you when you talk to Him, but you won’t hear Him when He wants to lead you.
2. Be reading the Word of God daily. Psalm 119:105 – Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. As we read the Word of God He sheds light on our feet to show us where to walk. We often want the light to be cast way on ahead of us so we can see what’s coming in the future. God will show us what we need to know when we need to know it. Matthew 6:33 – Take no thought for the morrow...
3. Obey what you read in the Word – Joshua 1:8 – This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
4. Pray for God to guide you. 1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. God wants us to come to Him for wisdom (James 1:5) so if we come and ask Him for wisdom concerning His will He will reveal it to us.
5. Watch for what happens next. The Lord will bring people and circumstances into your life to continue to reveal His will. Don’t be anxious about it; just trust Him and WAIT. Don’t be in a hurry.

Years ago when I was trying to decide where to go to college and what to do with my life I applied for a nursing school near my home. I had compassion towards sick people all my life and thought nursing would be a good thing for me, so I was pursuing that. All the while, I was praying and telling the Lord I’d do what He desired for me. Then I had the opportunity to visit a Christian college – not necessarily as a prospective place for me to attend, I just visited to participate in a weekend event they had on campus. I visited some classes and services and really enjoyed my time there.

When I got home I attended an open house at the small nursing school where I had applied. It was supposedly a “Christian” school. When I toured the campus with a couple girls who were students, they showed me a room at the end of the dorm hall. “This is the prayer room, but no one uses it!” one girl told me. I visited a lecture class and while teaching the professor cursed. I was dumbfounded. The whole weekend continued to give me the very clear impression that this was not the place the Lord would want me. I could literally hear the door slamming shut on what I thought I was supposed to do.

I got in my car and cried the whole way home. “Now what, Lord?” He kept directing me to the Christian school I had visited the weekend before. However, when I approached my parents about it, they weren’t in favor of my going to school several states away. I really felt sure this is what the Lord wanted, but I honored them and got a job at Coca Cola Bottling Company in the accounts receivable department. I worked there for a year and I continue to pray that if the Lord wanted me to go to this college He would make a way for me to attend.

One day, out of the clear blue, my mom approached me and told me that if I still felt the Lord wanted me at the Christian college she and my dad were behind me! It took being still, waiting, and trusting the Lord for many months to see Him direct my steps – but He did!

That experience taught me so much. I can look back on that time and be reminded that God will show me His will in His time if I’ll do what I know I should be doing and wait on Him. You know what? He’ll do the same for you!

How have you seen the Lord direct your steps and reveal His will?