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When Mark Hall was first diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability, early in elementary school, he thought it was cool that he got to go to a special class. But as he grew older, he began to feel some of the weight and stigma of the label, and tried to hide it from his friends. Today, as frontman for the hugely popular band Casting Crowns, Hall sees his disability as a "little thorn in my flesh," but doesn't let the label define his identity. Instead, he says it helps him rely more fully on God. And now, as the group prepares to release their sophomore album, Lifesong, on August 30, Hall looks back at how his challenges—with God's help-have shaped him, discusses how he's balancing the demands of the band with his job as a youth pastor at his home church, and talks a bit about the new album—and the high expectations on the heels of their platinum-selling 2003 debut.

Defying all expectations, and with the grace of God, Mark Hall (seated, center) and Casting Crowns have quickly risen to the top of Christian music.

When were you first diagnosed with a learning disability?

Mark Hall I think it was in second or third grade. I got tested, but the whole time it was happening I didn't know what was going on. My mom was different in her approach about this than I think most parents are. There were times that I really questioned how she handled this whole thing, but now I see it as such a blessing. My mom never told me I was dyslexic. She didn't walk around with a big sign and hang it over my neck.

Were there any indicators back in school that led to the testing?

Hall The teacher told [my mom I wasn't] keeping up and that there were certain areas she needed to look at. So I took the test and remember meeting with the counselor and standing outside the room hearing them talk about me. My mom was like, "What do you mean?" and it kind of hurt me for a little bit, but my mom didn't build my life around this big label. She told me "Mark, here's what we're going to do. You're going to go to a totally different class for part of the day and they're going to work a little closer with you on your reading and your math and then you'll be back with your class."

It must have been tough for you to be separated from your friends and classmates.

Hall I thought it was kind of cool I got to leave class, and I actually thought at the time, "Hey suckers, I'm out of here!" I went to that class and I never remember it being a degrading thing. It was just a different class I went to. When I got bad grades, I got in trouble. When I didn't do my homework, I got rode on. It was never something to where they said, "Here's your label, you don't have to try as hard as everyone else and if you do bad, here's why." I never got that. Instead [my mom] was always like, "You better get on and get going!"

Did you ever come to recognize it as a problem?

Hall Up through middle school I started realizing what was going on. At the same time, my friends never knew I was in those classes because once I figured out that it wasn't a cool thing, I hid it from them. They never knew why they didn't have classes with me. I had to become a master of changing the subject and moving around.

I was almost out of tenth grade when I got frustrated because they weren't helping me. It was sort of a catch all class—anyone that was struggling got in, and I came to regard those classes as boring. It wasn't like I was stupid. I just don't learn the way the others did. In those classes they'd slow everything down and I turned into a behavioral issue.

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