By Jessica Bracht

There I was sitting in Anderson Chapel waiting for what I thought would be another typical Sunday night with my friends and my roommate at collegelife. In my hand I was holding a colorful, well-designed 5x7 card with a picture of a girl who I guessed was about 18 years old. The card indicated that the girl’s name was Bethany Dillon, so I casually leaned over to my friend sitting next to me and asked, “Who is Bethany Dillon?”  My friends eyes grew two sizes as she said, “You love music! You’ve never heard of her?” My reply was a simple “No.”

The following Wednesday that same friend who was sitting with me at collegelife stopped by my apartment and handed me a Bethany Dillon CD. Hoping that the album was worth listening to, I promptly put the disc into the player. What came out was this incredible voice followed by lyrics that seemed to be the story of my own faith journey. After listening to the CD all the way through, I logged on to the iTunes music store and purchased two more songs off her new album titled Imagination. After all, I figured it would be silly to go to her concert and not know anything off her new album.

Sitting in Anderson Chapel that following week I patiently waited for Bethany to take the stage. I wasn’t sure what to expect. After all I didn’t really know any of her songs by heart, and since it was collegelife I wondered if we would worship together or if Bethany was just going to play. There was no band set up, so I deduced that this was going to be an acoustic performance. My suspicions were further actualized when I noticed her shiny acoustic guitar sitting next to a wooden stool. After a brief announcement about UMin's new Global Partnerships program, Bethany finally came to the front.

And I was immediately taken aback. Bethany looked a lot like everyone sitting in Anderson Chapel. She looked like a typical college kid. She introduced herself, and when she spoke it sounded nothing like the low, smooth, almost raspy singing voice that I had heard on her CD. As she began to talk about her experiences touring, being at home, and visiting India, I noticed that she was a bit awkward, which made her appear very natural, and she had a sense of humor.

However when Bethany began to sing, she seemed to turn into a completely different person. Her voice became the voice I fell in love with when I first heard her sing. Her confidence kicked in and though she had no band, the sound of her voice and her guitar alone was powerful

For me, Bethany Dillon wasn’t what I was anticipating.  Oh sure, I was impressed with her voice and the way she played guitar. However, the confident, award-winning women I was expecting to take the stage turned out to be a young, nervous, funny, country girl from Ohio.

As I thought about the concert and how Bethany almost switched personalities between singing and speaking, I thought about how much we are like that every day. We are all different parts of ourselves in different situations. Sometimes, what people are expecting is not always what they get. Sometimes they get something better.

Sure, the performance may have been that much better had Bethany been eloquent and profound when she spoke between songs. But who’s to say that she wasn’t both and eloquent and profound for someone sitting in the chapel? Bethany’s personality showed through. She was who she is, and it was refreshing to see a performer and musician be that humble and vulnerable. God has a way of really shining when we catch people in those moments. Between the speaking and singing in our own lives, we may seem to switch personalities but what kind of people would we be if we weren’t able to be vulnerable, humble and honest?

This concert was a different kind of worship than we’re used to at North Park, and it's something I hope we see more of in the future.