I passed this little Presbyterian church last week while taking a drive out by the lake. It was founded in 1850 at a nearby location. The congregation moved to this spot in 1870, which is very close to what once was the Cherokee Indian town named Tugaloo. The name is derived from the Cherokee Indian settlement named Dugiluyi and scholars believe the word may refer to the forks of a river. The nearby Tugaloo River is part of the head waters of the Savannah River.  Throughout the years, the congregation struggled. By the mid 1950′s the pastorate was abandoned. Sadly, the church dissolved its membership on October 1, 1968. Today, it sits on private land surrounded by a fence. However, someone still cares about it because it has been restored in recent years.

While the center of campus was a hub of activity, the falls was its usual self—peaceful and a place where these three students had a chance to get away and talk for a few minutes.

I did this really weird photoshop action on this photograph and hated it. Everything was washed out. The reason I wanted to post it in the first place was because I loved the color of the blue doors. In fact, I have been walking around for days (a million miles away from this place in England) thinking about this photo and the day we were there. So, I guess I really don’t care if it is too “this” or “that.” I just love the colors and the memory of being in this courtyard over a year ago. (Smiling)

And another set of blue doors. . . . Wonder what in the world is behind these?

The other day while walking the pathway to Toccoa Falls, I confessed to a friend that years ago when I was at the college, I rarely ventured back into the gorge to see this beautiful site. She nodded in agreement. “I don’t go back here that often. But when I do, I always come away thinking how peaceful the area is.” The inexcusable fact is that I just plain forget it is there. How could I possibly forget that a 186 foot waterfalls is a stone’s throw from my doorstep? Simple, I allow myself to become too busy, too wrapped up in stuff to experience what it feels like to stand a few yards away from this awesome sight. Now, that’s a real problem!

This was an interesting weekend. There were lots of decisions that had to be made. By Saturday afternoon, all I wanted to do was to pitch my tent on God’s doorstep and wait until He made the next step very clear. This is exactly what I did, but not necessarily at the location of these photos. The above photograph is one I took of the Baptist church that overlooks the Nacoochee Valley (below) near Helen, Georgia. The valley was once the site of a very large Cherokee Indian village.