ATCs and Challenge #4

Men 

Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.  Luke 18:1  February 6, 2025

Credits:

Faith WordART Mix No 1 by Anna Aspnes

Passover Kit by Lilach Oren

Victory 

Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  Romans 8:37  February 7, 2025

Credits:

Patriots And Loyalists Page Kit by ADB Designs 

Speech

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  Psalm 34:1  February 8, 2025

Credits:

Human Backgrounds Vol2 by Crafty Button Design

Human Characters by Crafty Button Design

Prosperity

The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build   Nehemiah 2:20  February 9, 2025

Prosperity does not always refer to money.  The Lord will help us through the trials of life and through the things we need to accomplish for Him.

Credits:

Romancing the Stone Kit by Lynne Anzelc

Chantilly Lane  by Lynne Anzelc

Doubt

But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.  Matthew 14:30  February 10, 2025

Things come up in our lives that cause us distress.  If we can just remember to put our complete trust in the Lord, we will go through those circumstances with less distress!

Credits:

La Mer Digital Art Kit by Lynne Anzelc

Ship to Shore Kit by Lynne Anzelc

Little Brown Church

Done for the 52 Inspirations Challenge #4 found here:  https://oscraps.com/community/threads/february-challenge-4-52-inspirations.41530/

I remember hearing this song from my Aunt Joyce when I was maybe 10 years old.  I have loved it ever since!  While looking on Unsplash for a winter photo to use for this challenge, I saw this picture and immediately thought of the song my Aunt used to sing for/with me.  While this is not the church this song made famous, it will work for my purposes.

“One bright af­ter­noon of a day in June 1857, I first set foot in old Brad­ford, Io­wa, com­ing by stage from Mc­Gre­gor. My home was in Wis­con­sin. The spot where the “Lit­tle Brown Church” now stands was a set­ting of rare beau­ty. There was no church there, but the spot was there wait­ing for it. When back in my home I wrote the song ‘The Lit­tle Brown Church in the Vale.’ I put the ma­nu­script away. In the spring of 1862 I re­turned to Io­wa and set­tled at Fred­er­icks­burg…

In the years of 1859 and 1860 the good peo­ple of Brad­ford were de­ter­mined to build a church…By the ear­ly win­ter of 1864 the build­ing was rea­dy for de­di­ca­tion. While I was hold­ing the sing­ing school, near its close in the spring, the class went one ev­en­ing to the church. It was not then seat­ed, but rude seats were im­pro­vised. My ma­nu­script of the song I had brought with me from Wis­con­sin. It had nev­er been sung be­fore by any­one but my­self. I sang it there. Soon af­ter­wards I took the ma­nu­script to Chi­ca­go [Il­li­nois], where it was pub­lished by H. M. Hig­gins. It won a speedy re­cog­ni­tion lo­cal­ly and with the years won its way in­to the hearts of the peo­ple of the world.

Soon af­ter its pub­li­ca­tion the church at Brad­ford, which had been paint­ed brown (for want of mo­ney to buy bet­ter paint, some say), be­came known as The Lit­tle Brown Church in the Vale. My hope is that it will stand for a thou­sand years and call the old man and his des­cen­dants to wor­ship.”  William S. Pitts 

“This song was po­pu­lar­ized by the world­wide ev­an­gel­ism cam­paign of Arthur Chap­man and Charles M. Al­ex­an­der in 1893, and by the Wea­ther­wax Bro­thers Quar­tet, be­gin­ning around 1910.  

It has been per­formed by many oth­ers as well, in­clud­ing the Car­ter fa­mi­ly, An­dy Grif­fith and Don Knotts, and the Gai­thers.

Numerous cou­ples still mar­ry in the church each year (over 70,000 since re­cord keep­ing start­ed in 1918), and the church holds an an­nu­al wed­ding re­un­ion.”  Information from Hymntime dot com

The Little Brown Church in the Vale

Words & Mu­sic: Will­iam S. Pitts, 1857

1. There’s a church in the val­ley by the wild­wood,
No love­li­er spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my child­hood,
As the li­ttle brown church in the vale.

Refrain

Come to the church in the wild­wood,
Oh, come to the church in the dale,
No spot is so dear to my child­hood,
As the lit­tle brown church in the vale.

2. How sweet on a clear, Sab­bath morn­ing,
To list to the clear ring­ing bell;
Its tones so sweet­ly are call­ing,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.

3. There, close by the church in the val­ley,
Lies one that I loved so well;
She sleeps, sweet­ly sleeps, ’neath the wil­low,
Disturb not her rest in the vale.

4. There, close by the side of that loved one,
To trees where the wild flow­ers bloom,
When the fare­well hymn shall be chant­ed
I shall rest by her side in the tomb.

5. From the church in the val­ley by the wild­wood,
When day fades away in­to night,
I would fain from this spot of my child­hood
Wing my way to the man­sions of light.

Credits:
52 Inspirations 2025 No 01 New Year Still Me Digiscrap kit by Vicki Stegall
52 Inspirations 2025 No 02 Artful Memories Winter Transfers Vicki Robinson 

Photo credit:  casey-horner-ruw8P6KRnjQ-unsplash