MP3 Van Pelt Gospel Family; Connect III; Melodies of Love; Churchoir - Making a Connection with the Resurrection

beautiful harmony by the duo. A wonderful blend by the trio, beautiful melodies and heart warming
words. All the songs are very uplifting. (Just Listen to them)

12 MP3 Songs
GOSPEL: Country Gospel, GOSPEL: Traditional Gospel



Details:
MAKING A CONNECTION WITH THE RESURRECTION

Biography: Van Pelt Gospel Family; Anne Van Pelt, Marta Kennedy, Brenda Van Pelt

The story of how this CD came to be started approximately in 1959 when Anne Van Pelt was raising 2 small daughters, Marta and Brenda, with her husband Bob. As things happen for a young mother, there is never enough time, energy or money to do what needs to be done. Young mothers on occasion feel that nobody cares. Anne's situation was no different. As time allowed, Anne would sit at an old upright piano and play music. As she sat down one day after feeling overwhelmed, this song came to her. She put the words and music together and called this song "Nobody Cares."

Over the years music continued to be an important part of our family with singing and playing. Additional original songs didn't come together until one Sunday morning while at church. Anne watched the small boys in the front pews while they listened to the pastor preach. His sermon title was called "Now Lord" and the message was about what God does for all His people and how he watches over them and provides their every need. One of the little boys just blurted out "What's He gonna' do for me?" Anne watched the boys during the church, listened to what they had to say about the message and went home thinking about a song. The song "Now Lord" written in the mid 1970's was the next song that Anne wrote.

The family continued to share their ministry at churches, nursing homes and community events. They always had a good time singing and playing for the Lord and sharing what the Lord gave to them. Dad would always say, "Sing it again girls, it sounds so good."

One night in the mid 1990's, Marta, by then, a married women with 2 grown daughters was standing at the kitchen sink, washing up the supper dishes when she felt she should write poetry. She had never written poetry but decided to make a humble attempt to do so. After some time working at the computer, 5 poems were written. She telephoned her mom and read them to her and asked her what she thought. Anne replied, "These are songs." And the songs became, "Knowing," "By Faith," "Celebration," Walkin' & Talkin' With My Lord," and "Who's This Man." The 2 got together and put words and melodies together, and again, Bob was there.

In the late 1990's the remainder of the songs came into being. "Good News," was a song that Marta tried to write several years ago to no avail. Her prayer was to have the Lord provide this in His time. One day, while driving to the bank, the words and the melody flooded her thoughts. She started singing while driving and had to pull over and frantically search for pen and paper. She dug into her purse only to find an old pay envelope. After praying that the Lord would send it to her once more, she frantically wrote on the envelope so as to not miss one word. It was as if her cup was overflowing.

Again, during these times, the family continued to sing and praise God at every opportunity while having so much fun and always being encouraged by Bob (Dad.) We always kidded with him saying Bob Van Pelt was our "manager." He sat with us at every practice and went everywhere to enjoy the music. It was a time that was special and to this very day continues to fill our hearts with warm memories of good times.

Our church, Emery Chapel United Methodist Church, was planning the annual Christmas program. Anne decided to write the play and some of the songs in which the church could use for this play. And that's what she did. The play "Isn't It Amazing" is a story about a modern day Mary and Joe. Anne and Marta worked on the theme song of the same title. Now when Anne was a little girl, she and her brother David, would enjoy family get-togethers. At Christmas, their Grandma would make the world's BEST applesauce, home made noodles and mashed potatoes. Anne wanted to share this memory with all who would hear the Christmas play. And the song "Mashed Potatoes" was born. Anne, Marta and Brenda wrote this song together, it made them so hungry!!

During the 1990s our "manager" became ill with several health problems and his ability to travel with us became difficult. But he always made an effort and always encouraged us to share the music.

There came a time in 2002 when we realized that God had provided us with everything needed to complete this CD. Again, we prayed for His guiding hand. During a time at our church when change was upon the church, a decision was made to build a new parsonage. It was a difficult decision for our church to make, but the church moved forward in faith. After much prayer, Anne and Marta had decided to dedicate all proceeds from the sale of the CD to the parsonage mortgage up to $20,000. And so, we started recording the songs at a local studio in January 2003 and finished with all the songs by March 2003.

Our Dad's condition continued to decline during this time, and the 3 of us wanted to let him know just how much we appreciated his loving encouragement, so we decided to dedicate the CD to him. The church decided as well, to honor him on Father's Day, June 15, 2003 with a special plaque and recognition for "Father of the Year." During most of 2003 he spent much time in and out of hospitals.

The day fell upon us and Father's Day did not happen as we had envisioned. Instead of celebrating at the church with the church family and dedicating the CD to our "manager", we spent this day celebrating something a little different. We celebrated his victory over life. You see, he had run the race and had won and went to be with his Lord on June 11, 2003. Yes, we spent Father's Day with him but in a different way. He, our Lord and Savior, who took our "manager" home, took him home to his rightful place in eternity, a place where our dad saw first hand the meaning of "Making a Connection with the Resurrection."

Now more than ever, the Van Pelt Gospel Family continues to sing and praise Him. For we have experienced first hand, that in the midst of our sorrow came a blessing. We still see Dad's warm loving smile and hear his voice telling us, "Sing it again girls, it sounds so good."