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

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.

For me, the backdrop of half the experiences of life includes music.

In the past, when I'd recorded during a break in a tour, it was so easy to sing, because I felt strong. Also, like so many new mothers, I wasn't getting a lot of sleep, and sleeping is such a huge part of being able to sing.

I just think people should find the music that helps them through the day and enjoy that. I've never felt like, if somebody does or doesn't like what I'm doing, it's a morality issue.

I love being with my children. They're fascinating people.

Everybody's entitled to think whatever they want and to express that, but my personal day-to-day experience does not come into contact with any of those people.

You have to treat people gently because we're all in a process. What might seem like a good idea to somebody at 21 is probably not going to seem like a good idea at 50, but you don't know that until you get there.

Anybody who's ever gone through a hard time - any outsider's perception, no matter how much information they're given, they have no idea what the person's life is like.

I'm frustrated by something, it's my fault for exposing myself to it in the first place. The rumor mill always seemed like a grass fire to me. Why walk out in the middle of the field, it's just going to flame out and go away just like everything else does?

I feel a part of the congregation. I've never had to do special music. The kids sing in the choir. It's just normal. We're treated like everybody else.

I've found that music allows years to fold like an accordion over each other, so I guess you don't feel the passage of time as much.

Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there's shadow - no, not just shadow, but fullness. You've got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that's real.

The people I've been exposed to have been people of amazing integrity.

There's a beauty to wisdom and experience that cannot be faked. It's impossible to be mature without having lived.

I'm not anxious to be anywhere other than where I am right now.

It's human nature to be curious about people, and to be more curious about young people than old people. We want to cheer something on at the same time we want to tear it down. That's just so normal.

Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect. If it's not based on respect, nothing that appears to be good will last very long.

Come Christmas Eve, we usually go to my mom and dad's. Everybody brings one gift and then we play that game when we all steal it from each other. Some are really cool, others are useful and some are a bit out there.

If you went to your closet today, would you pull out the same outfit you wore 10 or 15 years ago? You wear feelings and faith differently as well.

I think that if my kids are completely convinced of God's unfailing love for them, whether they fail or not, they'll have confidence to persevere in life.

But now it's kind of a given that a 15-year-old would have a record deal and sell a quarter of a million records. No one's expecting her to answer any deep theological questions. And I'll tell you, I was asked some deep theological questions from the git-go.

Since I travel so much, it's always great to be home. There's nothing like getting to raid my own refrigerator at two in the morning.

I can look back at different times in my life when I felt I could not find my way out of whatever it was. I'm not necessarily talking about marriage, but I wanted to pack it in. I wanted to disappear. A lot of that has to do with being in the public eye.

I did the best I could, and in some arenas, my best was not good enough. I've made some bad choices.

The fact of the matter is, when I'm on tour, I'm juggling so hard to keep all the balls in the air that I don't often get to really enjoy what I'm out there doing.

Life goes by really fast, and it seems that there are times when you're burying a lot of friends and family. And then there are times that feel really precious and everybody is doing okay. This is one of those times.

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

Do I think all contemporary Christian music is good? No.

I was taught a lot of Bible at home and had a voracious appetite for reading the Bible.

I can look at the future with anticipation. And it's comforting to know that someday, as Christians, we'll be able to look back and have a little more clarity on why certain things in life happened.

I think for a woman, the hardest thing about growing old is becoming invisible. There's something very front and center about being young.

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.

Faith is salted and peppered through everything at Christmas. And I love at least one night by the Christmas tree to sing and feel the quiet holiness of that time that's set apart to celebrate love, friendship, and God's gift of the Christ child.

Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel big or tiny? Because there's something good about feeling both.

How we absorb music is unique. I know what I do. When I'm listening to music, I tend to find myself in a song. That's what really makes you connect is if you feel what that song is saying.

I don't write songs that don't affect me on some level, because I figure if I am not moved by it, if its not something that I have a longing to celebrate or to be reminded of, if it doesn't affect me, then how can I possibly think it is going to affect somebody else. My touchstone is write something that matters.

I just think music is such a beautiful thing. It lifts the heart and buoys up your spirits - all kinds of music.

I need music like I need water.

I never thought getting older would be so great. But when it comes to depression, I have experienced less the older I've gotten.

I think a woman can have all of the ideas and mental pictures. She can be a real planner and a motivator. But in the end, I think a woman does best when she responds to a man.

I think our culture encourages all of us to always put our best foot forward. I think it's a good thing. I think it's nice to rise to the occasion, to be kind and considerate, and have self control.

I think what I mostly realize is just that life is unpredictable. So don't be afraid, but just enjoy the day you're in. Really make the most of it.

Life is a process, and you just take it a day at a time, and you can't live in tomorrow, and you can't reach back and be in yesterday. No matter how much you want to, you just have what's right there in front of you.

People are going to come into your life that need you, and being there for them makes the day worth living. People are going to come into your life that you need, and that's the really crazy thing.

Real relationship is gritty and earthy, the stuff that life is made of.

Rich Mullins was the uneasy conscience of Christian music. He didn't live like a star. He'd taken a vow of poverty so that what he earned could be used to help others.

Somebody who has been in a very bad wreck is going to be very conscientious about not speeding through a yellow light... You just learn so many good lessons when you go through a failed marriage.

Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.