Who is driving your car?

I wrote this a couple of months ago...

Sometimes things get really tough. Life gets tough. Everything seems to fall to pieces. Bad things seem to multiply and take on a life of their own. It can be overwhelming. The car you call, "Life" seems to be out of control.

So what do you do? Do you give in to all the crap that reigns down on you? Do you turn your back on your friends? Your family? Your church? Your God? Do you allow Satan to rule your emotions? Do you let bitterness and hate shove everything good from your heart until all that's left is darkness? Or do you give in to all God's blessings that reign down on you? Do you find comfort in your Christian friends? Your family? Your church? Your God? Do you allow the Holy Spirit to rule your emotions? Do you let hope and love shove out everything bad from your heart until all that's left is Light? The choice is yours.

Everything that happens in your life allows you to make a choice FOR God or AGAINST God. It is YOUR choice. Bad things are gonna happen. This is a fallen and sinful world. People sin. They lie, cheat, steal, and kill. You WILL be hurt. First Peter 4:12,13 says, "Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trial you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world."

Just because we are Christians does not mean that we won't sin, or be hurt, or have a hard time in life. In fact, the Bible says we shouldn't be surprised when bad things happen to us. We should EXPECT it! When you face fiery trials, embrace them for what they will mean to your future! Whatever doesn't kill you WILL make you stronger!

First Peter 5:8 says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." Satan is stalking you. He knows exactly what buttons to push to really get you angry and worked up. Don't let him have that power over you! Any control he has over you is control that you have given him. Do you really want Satan in the driver's seat in the car you call, "Life"?

So, I ask you... Who is driving YOUR car? You have the keys... who are you gonna hand them to?

-Dana Centers Ketchum, June 18, 2009

New at this...

So someone asked me the other day why I don't have a blog. And I didn't have a response. I have always thought of blogs as "Me Fests." Ya know, where someone gets out here in the land of techno-friends and goes on and on and on and on about themselves and their lives and themselves and that sounds like absolute... yuck to me. Why would someone want to know what I am thinking on any given day and actually care to read a blog about it. Then I realized... ya know... I can make it whatever I want it to be. So here I am. My blog. Welcome, my friends, to Planet Dana.

On my mind at the moment is a "new" dish that is cooking in my oven right now. Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon, only with chicken. Because I am not eating much beef right now. In two hours, I'll know how it turned out.

Mostly what I want to do with this is help people see that even when life throws lemons your way, you can make some really sweet stuff--Lemon Icebox Pie, for instance.