Your Music
Mindy Daleo
Where Would I Be Had You Not Rescued Me
Going to church on a weekly basis was a regular routine for my family, and being in a Christian school was something extremely familiar to me. At the age of 5, I remember so vividly sitting with my dad as he began to talk to me about how God had changed his life. At the end, I remember asking him if I could have what he had. We prayed and I asked Jesus into my heart that day.
As the years went on and I entered into junior high, I became much more curious about what I had been missing having grown up in a Christian home all my life. There was a lot of peer pressure in school and I began to compare myself with other girls. I started hanging around the wrong crowd and got involved in unhealthy relationships. During this time I slowly started to slip into depression. I went into our basement and took razors and carved things into my hands.
Since music was the only thing I could relate to at times, I locked myself in rooms listening to the most depressing song I could find and just journalled. I wrote suicidal letters about how much I hated my life. It got to the point where my carvings turned into cutting, which turned into me trying to commit suicide several times. I had a lot of pain on the inside, so much that I would take that pain out on myself on the outside. I would just cry and cry and wanted to get rid of the pain that I was feeling inside and the only way I could do that was by cutting myself.
During this time, my parents decided to change churches. I didn’t care about the church I was in, but the thought of going to a new place just made me more embittered. They’d drag me with them and I’d sit in the back, slouched down. Somewhere deep down I knew there was something different about this place. I felt and experienced something I never felt before: the reality of God. The love that the people had for one another was incredible. They would still come up to me and talk to me after I just totally blew them off, and the love that they had for the Lord slowly began to work in me.
Music always had an influential place in my life. It was during that time that I came into a setting, where there were musicians playing on the platform and people pouring out their hearts to God in worship. For any that know the song “Everything” by Lifehouse, one of my favorite lines is, “How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?” And that’s my story… I couldn’t stand in the presence of God without being moved by Him. All the pain, hurt, and loneliness just melted away as I stood in His presence. It was in that moment that the revelation became mine. I was grateful and thankful for what my parents taught me, but this was about me and Him. Shortly after that, I recommitted my life to Christ.
I wouldn’t have been able to write this testimony were it not for His Love that rescued me.
– Mindy Daleo
Mindy Daleo grew up loving music. In elementary school she played the flute and later taught herself to play the bass. “My secret passion is the drums. My mom wouldn’t let me do it because she was afraid I would be a tomboy growing up, so I picked bass because it’s a very rhythm-driven instrument.” In addition to her musical talent, she is an avid writer. It was when she put her two worlds together – music and writing – that she taught herself to play the acoustic guitar and began putting her writings into music.
Today, Mindy serves as a worship leader at her home church in NJ and continues to pursue her passion for singing and songwriting. You can also catch her playing at local cafes, church conferences, and music festivals, sharing her personal testimony and message of hope. “When I went through one of the darkest places in my life, music played such an influential role and a vital part in finding God for myself. And now, being able to use music as a tool to reach people to connect with God and see people touched by His presence amazes me.”
One listen to the opening track of her debut EP, Picturesque, and you’ll understand why Mindy was one of the select artists to grace the Nashville Stage at Revelation Generation ’09 (“RevGen”) alongside the likes of Bethany Dillon, Jon Foreman and Paul Colman. Having been a closet writer for years, she admits, “When I first started playing in front of crowds, I would literally shake and get butterflies in my stomach.” Over the years, she has grown to understand that her priority as a worship leader is to first minister to the Lord and then to lead the audience. And although she doesn’t normally get nervous in front of crowds any more, she recalls those butterflies at RevGen, thinking to herself, “Oh my goodness, who booked us after Jon Foreman?”
Mindy and her husband, Michael Daleo, an accomplished musician who plays in her band (keys/guitar), are looking to head back into the studio in 2010 to record a new album. While her first album contained mostly “mainstream-friendly” worship songs, she told IV she’s looking to “make a bit of a turn” with this next project. Her musical influences include Misty Edwards, Jessie Goodman, and Christy Nockels.
Mindy’s story is an inspiration for people to break out of “religion” and encounter a living God as we come before Him just as we are. “We wake up to days that are bright and blissful and others that are dark and difficult. We need to know that we're not alone. We were created to love and be loved. We were made to live a life in relationship with other people and most of all with our Maker. Pain is real but Hope and His Love are even more real. Hosea 2:15 says, ‘You will make the valley of trouble a door of hope and there I will sing.’ He saved my life and I’m going to serve Him the rest of my life." 
Photography by: Heather Mosher www.heathermosher.com
See Mindy perform live: www.vimeo.com/5722570
www.mindydaleo.com
www.myspace.com/mindydaleo