Real Life Puppets?

I was part of a small group recently that read "The Shack" together (which is a MUST read if you haven't read it!), and we had a great discussion about predestination. I've found myself thinking about it more and more as of late. Basically there are two views on this:

1) Calvinist - believe that everything that we experience in life was decided beforehand by God to come to pass, and we pretty much have no power over it. Certain people are appointed for salvation, while others are destined for damnation.

2) Arminian - believe that humanity is empowered with free will and we each choose the path we will take. Salvation is available to any and all who will receive it, and God's will is "conditional" based on the choices we make.

Our discussion focused around whether or not the choices we make in life are already written in God's "manual" for our lives. Are we just puppets, oblivious to the marionette strings attached, mistakenly convinced of our own independence; or are we actually able to exercise a power of choice that can truly alter and decide the course of our lives?

I am definitely more of an Arminian, believing in free will and the God-bestowed power within us to decide our own destiny (side note: a member of our group said, "All worship leaders are Arminian!" --can you say stereotype? :-). I have considered the possibility, however, of God's absolute foreknowledge, and how that relates to predestination. Maybe we're not predestined for certain things, but God knows exactly what will transpire before it actually happens. When God confronted the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, afflicting him with blindness, do you think He knew that he would eventually change his life and become one of the most influential leaders of the Christian church? I do.

When I think about times in my life when I have felt forgotten or ignored by God, even victimized by circumstances that I did not choose, I can see in hindsight how those moments have become turning points, milestones, proving grounds that have forever impacted my life. I've changed my thinking from "thank God I'm not there anymore" to "thank God I WAS THERE." At the end of the day, the answer to the question of whether God is the supreme puppetmaster over humanity doesn't wreck my faith...because more than anything, He is LOVE. If I am just a marionette doing His dance, I'm just glad it doesn't feel that way.