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The last time I spoke with Jaci Velasquez, in the summer of 2005, the popular singer—with millions of album sales in both the Christian and Latin markets—had just released a new CD called Beauty Has Grace. The cover image, a close-up of her face, nicely captured both words—a beautiful visage that had graced dozens of magazine covers, and yet one that here was barely airbrushed; her freckles and slightly messy hair brought some earthy simplicity to her beauty.

When that album released in May 2005, fans had no clue what Velasquez was going through. Three months later, she revealed that her two-year marriage had just ended in divorce, and that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. At the time, Velasquez said she had never "felt such pain before. My heart felt like it was breaking in half."

Fast forward six years, and it's a very different story. Velasquez is a ridiculously happy wife and mother of two precious children. She has been married for five years to Nic Gonzales, frontman for Christian Latin band Salvador, and they're the proud parents of two boys—Zealand, 4, and Soren, almost 3. And the bipolar disorder? All gone; apparently it was a misdiagnosis.

All of that life experience—the better and parts and the worse parts—has shaped the songs of her new album, Diamond, which releases today on Inpop Records, the label she signed with last August. As Velasquez tells it, the precious gems have to go through a difficult refining process, and even the finished products usually have flaws. But, she accentuates, they nonetheless sparkle—sometimes even more so because of those flaws.

We caught up with a positive sparkling Velasquez recently to talk about the new album, her family, and what she has learned along the way.

What's behind the album's title?

I called it Diamond because it's the idea of beauty from ashes—that God refined something that the world has tossed away and turned into something beautiful. And diamonds with flaws in them are the ones that sparkle most. That's kind of how my life feels now—the whole idea that sometimes you have to go through tough things to get to the place God has designed for you.

You were going through some of those tough things when we talked six years ago. You had just gone through a divorce, your parents had divorced, you had just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and …

Apparently that was a misdiagnosis. They said that it was a situational thing, a result of me going through so much at that time. That is definitely not an issue anymore. But you know, it was a part of the journey. And what's that saying? There's always story before the glory. I believe that.

There's a lyric on the new song "Stay" that goes, "The birds are singing outside, but my heart is still breaking inside." What's that about?

It's about Soren. When he was 1 year old, we were watching Dora the Explorer, and in this particular episode, they all wished upon a star and said [to viewers], "Okay, everybody make a wish." I asked the boys, "Are you guys making wishes?" And they just looked at me like, Mom, you're a nerd. But I leaned into Soren's ear and said, "My wish is that you'll never grow up and you'll stay a baby forever. Stay with Mommy and never leave." So I wrote that song with the realization that they are only babies once, and the day will come that he will stand at the door and leave me for a beautiful woman. I know that I'll be saying, "I love you," but inside in the deepest part of my heart I will have a broken heart because he'll be gone.

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