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Becker: Here's my take on that, and it starts with Christian radio in general. If you look at Christian radio compared to the mainstream, it's pretty much in its adolescence. It's not really fully formed as an adult or how it responds to the history of contemporary Christian music history as a whole, let alone individual artists. I don't look with wanderlust or wish they'd change, because they've figured out it's profitable to limit their playlists; it helps them get better ads and gives them the ability to stay on the air. I understand how that works, and I don't fault them for not necessarily integrating fully with the historical context.

But I don't think radio is what it was to artistic success. I think there was a time in Christian radio where if you were not played, you would have a very hard time making a living. Now there are a lot of young Christian artists who never made it on Christian radio but make a great living as indie.

I feel very fortunate to have had a long, robust and creative career. But in 2001, my contract was up with Sparrow and I just couldn't do another 12-month turnaround on a record, then tour to promote it and write another one. In order to live that cycle, you probably need to be more on radio, but it's not a cycle I'm living right now and I'm not missing it. I love mixing it up.

When did you realize the ride was going too fast?

Becker: It was a point where all my friends were not only married, but had kids in junior high. I realized I'd given my whole life to my career and I'd come home and have a hard time plugging into community. There were just so many life events that occurred without me even being here, and the fact I couldn't even be at church on a regular basis started to really wear on me.

Do you wish you were married, or have you chosen not to be?

Becker: It's not been by choice so much, though to some degree it is. So much of the years when people cycle into relationships are your 20s and 30s. My 20s and 30s and part of my 40s were on the road. That's not conducive to conducting the actual process that has to take place to get to that point. Early on, before I ever became a Christian artist, I brushed up with a marriage proposal and basically at that point I didn't want to settle. I didn't want to drag him around with me and he didn't want to be dragged around, so we had to make a decision. By 40-something, I certainly wondered if he could've been more flexible and I could've been to!

Coming up on 50, do you feel pressure to settle down?

Becker: I feel like the Christian culture is very relationship-centric. But if you look at the Bible contextually, you see the various communities Christ spoke about including the married, the single, and the widowed. There's supposed to be a conglomeration of people out there functioning not necessarily all the same way. I find peace with that, and I'm not saying I haven't wrestled my angel, but at this point I have a peace where God has me.

Do you ever get lonely?

Becker: Yeah, I totally get lonely. When I was on the road, I couldn't wait to get away from people and I wouldn't come out of my house for days. Now that I'm not on the road as much, I crave people. I have such a great diverse community of people. I make sure I'm pretty busy most of the time. Most evenings I'm hanging with friends or doing something with church. I'm a big socialite.

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