Give Me a Love

Give me a love that can only come from You
Help me to see all these people as You do
It's not gonna be easy, but I'm ready

Use my words, may they only come from You
Shape my heart so that loving is all I do
Give me eyes that will choose to see the best
Help me to show the same grace that You possess
It's not gonna be easy, but I'm ready

I'm tired of these judgments in my mind
Please lift this burden from inside

Use my words, may they only come from You
Shape my heart so that loving is all I do
So that loving is all I do…

It's not gonna be easy, but I'm ready

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my new blog! I chose the name “Only Comes from You” because of this song that Grayson Cato wrote and performed with HeartSong. HeartSong is a ministry I'm involved in at Cedarville University. We are 5 teams of 8 students each, and we form worship bands and tour the US on weekends during the school year and 10 weeks over the summer. Last year I was the keyboard player for the Green Team, and we were stationed at Lake Ann Camp in northern MI, playing 6 chapels a day there during the week and travelling to different churches in Michigan on the weekends. This year I am so blessed to be back on the Green Team, and I am STOCKED to be going back to Lake Ann!!

At the end of last summer, this song became huge in my life as I thought through the past year. As much as I would love to say this song has been my prayer all summer, it really hasn't. I absolutely LOVED being an "assistant counselor" of sorts at Lake Ann, serving others and praying for them, and making music all the time. But because I loved my job so much, there were times I felt I was entitled to being comfortable all the time, so when things weren't going my way I became very selfish. I didn't always have a love that could only come from Jesus, or surrender my thoughts and words to be used by Him. The bridge of this song--I'm tired of these judgments in my mind, please lift this burden from inside--became my prayer as the summer ended and I looked forward at the coming school year. I want to see people as Jesus sees them and love them with a love that is only from Him. And I know that it's not going to be easy because I am so selfish, but I am ready for God to work in my heart this year and next summer and make me more into the woman He wants me to be.

This year I am blessed to travel again with Dane, Green Team's sound technician from last year and a wonderful friend. Our team leader is Colin, who traveled with Yellow Team during the school year last year and Blue Team over the summer playing bass guitar. I am also excited to travel with Dani, a vocalist from last year's Blue Team that I originally thought was not going to be on my team because we're 2 of only 4 returning girls; we thought for sure they'd split us up! The other 4 members of our team are new to HeartSong and also new to Cedarville: Isaac is our worship leader, Ashtyn is our other female vocalist, Caleb is our drummer, and David is our electric guitar player, whose roommate I traveled with last summer. Four returning and four new, and I am so excited to see the ways we interact as a team and come together to glorify God with our music and our ministry.

I try my best to keep my blog updated, but sometimes I fall behind. That's why I have a Twitter, where I will be posting updates from on the road, probably more during the summer than the school year. I hope that as you read this blog you will praise God for what He is doing through our ministry and that only He will get the glory. Because any talents and opportunities I have can only come from Him. Soli Deo Gloria!!

~Deanna