Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a day when we all (hopefully) spend a little time considering the things we are thankful for.  It’s a good exercise.  But instead of asking you for a list of those “thankful things,” I want to take a little different approach.

In addition to all we do in connection with our Gatlinburg cabins, All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower, I am now the Executive Director of a small leadership institute (www.DeltaOneLeadership.org).  That gives me a great opportunity to continue working with people I first met at ServiceMaster, especially the former Chairman, Bill Pollard.  So I want to share a quote about ‘thanksgiving’ from Bill’s book, “Serving Two Masters?  Reflections on God and Profit.”  In the book, there’s a whole chapter on Prayer. 

Think about all the drawings you have seen of that first Thanksgiving, almost 400 years ago.  Many of them show pilgrims who are praying.  So, today, please think about this quote from Bill Pollard in his book: 

“When I pray, I should be ready to act to accomplish the things I am praying for. As I pray, I should not be anxious, but have a spirit of THANKSGIVING. I can worship God in my prayers and bring delight to Him as I seek His way and His will.”

Prayer is definitely more than just asking God.  It’s also a time for thanking God.  That’s something we should probably do more often – especially today.