Jaci Velasquez – Mountains Into Molehills

CCM: I would think, when you really like your kids, not just love them, perhaps it deepens your trust that God really likes you, not simply loves you. He’s not just putting up with us because we’re related.
JV: Yeah. Cause we’re called to love, but we’re not called to like. The Bible doesn’t say we have to like everybody, it just says we have to love everybody. But liking is a different thing.

CCM: Speaking of love, you’re very inclusive of your international audience. You always have been. What keeps you embracing international audiences?
JV: When I sing in English, it’s my first language, so it’s my heart. But when I get to sing in Spanish, it’s my soul. The passion. The intensity. I don’t know what it is about the language—it just makes you … (ROARS) … love big, love thick, love all. Love. It’s just a different thing. Something changes in your brain, even in your voice, when you sing in Spanish.

I was born in the United States. My husband is second generation Mexican American. His grandparents were from Mexico. But I speak more Spanish than my husband.

CCM: Come on, Nic!
JV: [Laughing] I know. My kids, poor guys, talk with a country twang. But I could never lose my roots. That Latin spice makes everything nice.

CCM: So, twenty years in. You’ve lived a lot of life for a young woman. At this juncture of life, on the road with your audiences, or at home with your family, what is it that you want your life and lyrics to say now?
JV: I can’t think of anything clever. I think it’s real simple … inspiring. Who doesn’t want to inspire?