My wife went to our alma mater today to pay a visit and sort of an homage to the loss of Gate Cottage, a beautiful building nestled in the North Georgia mountains. Gate Cottage was literally the gateway to Toccoa Falls, a must see in Stephens county, Georgia and this building burned down two days ago. In 1977 Toccoa Falls College suffered a great tragedy when a flood destroyed much of the campus. This historical building survived the ragin waters. Let me quote a friend of mine that wrote the introducttion to the devotionals Beauty for Ashes,

“Like Richard and Evelyn Forrest, our hearts will search for hope amid the ashes of our broken dreams. And just as He spoke to Richard Forrest, God will say to us, “I will give you beauty from the ashes and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness so that I might be glorified.” It is our prayer that you will be encouraged through these devotionals taken from the teaching material of Richard and Evelyn Forrest and others.”

Goodbye Gate Cottage, you saw many weddings, baby showers, Sunday brunches, Rotary club meetings, hungry security guards, and a stranded snapping turtle or two.  I know the campus at Toccoa Falls college is a blessed campus and in times like these we remember how blessed we are for what we have and how we need to be better stewards of it.

Below is a picture of the Gate Cottage I remember.

gate-old