More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams.

Depending on what day of the week it is and what time of the month it is, I'm a good friend or not a good friend. I'm more or less a good mom or not a good mom, more or less a good mate or not a good mate. That's just life, whether or not you're public.

The most consistent musical experience I had growing up was church music.

But my experience is that people who have been through painful, difficult times are filled with compassion.

But to make a holiday record that involves favorite American songs and then also get to sing about Jesus birth, it just seemed like a real easy, subtle way to combine a couple of things that I love.

The great thing about a song is that no one has to know your story. But if you tell it in a way that has clarity and means something to somebody else, then it can apply to their story.

If it all just happened overnight, you would never learn to believe in what you cannot see.