History

God Directs Us to the Chosen Land

After my trip, things remained quiet while we waited, but we continued to pray for discernment and direction on where God wanted the Center built. In July 2007 God began to answer our prayers when Greg had a providential encounter with a friend he had not seen in a long time, Patty Steele. In speaking with her he discovered she also had a call to build a Center, but did not know the specifics of it. She also stated it was to built on a hill, which is what first got his attention as this is what I had told him sometime back. In addition, she stated she knew it was supposed to be built in North Georgia and had been looking for land for the past year. As she is a lay Carmelite, she stated her group had been praying for direction for the Center for the past year. What was most astonishing was that she knew what the Center was supposed to look like. Patty stated, “when you fly over it, the building looks like a cross!” Again, the same design we had!

After this meeting with Patty, we determined it would be good to revisit with Barbara and Gordon about their land, which just happened to be in the North Georgia mountains, in Cleveland. In speaking with Barbara, it seemed as this was where God was pointing for the Center to be built. Gordon and Barbara had purchased 112 acres and felt called to build a Chapel there. We learned that when she and Gordon went to the look at the land to determine if they should buy it, they decided to pray about it atop the 700-foot hill located on the property. While they prayed it was raining, and they asked Our Lord if they were supposed to buy the property. The answer was given while they prayed as they saw the clouds part and a rainbow appear through the hole in the clouds. This was their answer and so they purchased it. They later found out that the former property owner had recently decided to clear cut about 20 acres of the top of the hill, without knowing why. He had also built a bridge over a river, which is sturdy enough for trucks to pass over providing access to the hill. In addition, the property has another small stream on it, called “Peaceful Stream.” Providential? Absolutely! A perfect setting for the Center!

Remaining under obedience at all times in this mission, this was all shared with Monsignor Marren to get his direction, in which he gave us his approval to continue to move forward in our efforts.