Bethany Dillon: Sweet & Sixteen

Impulsive and exuberant, 16-year-old Bethany Dillon says normal teenage things like “Holla!” when she gets excited. But then she gets on stage with a guitar and makes grown women cry as she ardently expresses God’s undying love for their beauty. A powerful force in the ever-expanding group of teens who are speaking their already well-developed minds to the Christian public, Dillon has intrigued music fans with her uncanny maturity laced with unfiltered enthusiasm. Here she shares the most interesting aspects of her life.

In what area of your life have you grown the most this past year? I have grown the most in my quiet times with the Lord. It’s such a precious thing to have moments with Him that are quiet and still. Now that I have experienced that, I’m desperate for it because there’s so much peace there that I never knew existed.

What is the hope or dream you think about the most? I think most about doing missions someday. I’m involved with this organization called Gospel for Asia. I love what God is doing in the world — that hearts are responding to Him and reaching toward light in their darkness.

What are you most looking forward to about growing up? As cheese-ball as it might sound, I’m going to love having a family someday. I love the Old Testament and the legacy of the faithfulness of God’s people and how God blesses their children and their children’s children. I’m excited to continue that. I can’t wait to fall in love with a good man who is following hard after Jesus, to have children and to tell them stories about Jesus and see them on their own journey.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year? The runner up is finishing my [second] record. I have dreamt about it for the longest time. But the thing I’m most looking forward to is my sister, Kate, getting married in May!

What is the most important advice you have been given? I was telling my mom about a weekend I spent in Atlanta, Ga. with a bunch of great artists and she sensed a little bit of jealousy in my voice. I was pretty down about my own performance. She stopped me and said, “Do you know that you’re not called to be anybody but yourself? You’re not called to be Sara Groves or Nichole Nordeman or Stacie Orrico. You’re called to be Beth. You’re not there to perform and put on a show. You’re there to encourage believers and to do what God has sent you out to do.” It really convicted me; I really struggle with it.

What are you the most thankful for? I’m most thankful for my family. We have a loud and crazy family. Emphasis on crazy! I have amazing parents who encourage me and who are faithful to each other and to God. And I have a bunch of siblings who are hilarious and following after the Lord.

What is one of the most crazy things you have ever done? Well, while driving in a van on tour, (percussionist) Joey Parish was teasing me about my age. He knows it gets on my nerves! I was chewing some gum and he looked away for a moment. So I took the gum out of my mouth and stuck it in his arm hair. Now mind you, he’s a very hairy man. And I didn’t just gently place it there. God bless Joey, he just looked at me, looked at his arm and started laughing. He had to shave his arm, so there was a bald spot on his arm for the rest of the tour!