There are people out there who want to provoke me and bring back the old Mary but I'm not giving them the satisfaction.

God loves me and sent his son to die for me so I have to live to please him because he saved me when everyone abandoned me.

I've been a tomboy my whole life. But then you get older, you get married, you soften up.

I was inspired to create 'My Life' so I could finally share a personal part of my life beyond my music.

I barely have time for my own children. To adopt more children and not have time for them, that would be poor parenting on my part.

When someone comes up to me and says, 'Mary, you helped save my marriage', or, 'Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship', I'm in it, really in their lives. And I'm so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs.

I felt ashamed about everything. Me dropping out of high school, me not, you know, just not being beautiful enough. I just didn't feel like I was smart enough or beautiful enough, you know, for years.