The July 2001 issue of Faith & Friends profiled R&B singer Deborah Cox. Back then, she was on the cusp of stardom with two wildly successful CDs to her credit. She has since gone from strength to strength, with appearances on Broadway and three more successful CDs. Still married to her high-school sweetheart, Lascelles, and now the mother of three children, Deborah shows no signs of slowing down. Faith & Friends caught up again with her in the middle of a tour in Toronto.

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Has marriage and motherhood changed you?
Tremendously. Time management is key. You've got to be extremely organized when you have kids because you only have a certain timeframe. And juggling parenthood and running a business can be difficult. But Lascelles and I are both family oriented and we'd do anything for our kids.

Who are your musical influences?
I love '80s pop, but I always go back to the older artists: Nat “King” Cole, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra. I also look to people like Ray Charles, mavericks who started their own labels, owned their own masters, really had ownership of their brand, who never compromised themselves, who followed their heart and their dreams.

How has your faith figured in these last eight years?
It's been a constant; it's what's kept me sane. Because I've always had faith as my foundation, my love for Christ will always keep me grounded, focused and level-headed. With a husband, three children and a career, sometimes I'm so busy that by the time the children are finally asleep, I'm right behind them! But then I realize, God, I went a whole day without even praying to You! I have to remind myself that if I pray in those quiet moments wherever I find them, it's all good. As long as I acknowledge Him and stay connected with the Holy Spirit, that's a big part of keeping my faith alive.

Now that I have kids, it's important for them to have a good foundation in faith, too. We attend church whenever we can, and we try to have a devotional time with our children, reading Bible stories with them.

Has my faith grown? I'm always aware of God's presence and conscious that everything I do reflects Him. I've always prided myself on saying yes to projects that are meaningful, projects that I'm passionate about and that have integrity. I'll never be embarrassed about anything I've done. Thank God!

When you look back at the original Faith & Friends article, what do you remember about that time in your life?
I remember it was just such a whirlwind. I was travelling so much, I was doing so much, I hardly had time to see family and friends. There were weddings and funerals that I just wasn't there for.

Around that time, I started getting worried about the sacrifices Lascelles and I were making for the business. We needed to concentrate on starting a family, but I didn't know how to say no to the record labels, and the last thing they wanted to hear was “baby.” (laughs) So I stayed caught up in the whirlwind.

Was there a point when you finally decided that enough was enough?
I've never actually talked about this before but I remember a duet with Whitney Houston in a studio in Miami. Out of the blue, she turned to me during a break and asked, “When are you going to start a family?” Maybe she sensed my anxiety. “Don't let that wait,” she continued. “There should be something else outside of this. Too many people end up sacrificing and missing out on the important things. They put all their stock in the music, in the business.” That was a turning point for me.

It's been eight years since we first profiled you. Where do you see yourself eight years from now?
Ideally, I'll be appearing in a stationary show, like Celine Dion's in Las Vegas, where I won't have to travel as much yet still write and make music. I also want to write some children's books. I've written a couple of short stories that only my husband's seen. (laughs) And I want to develop some music CDs for kids. I've always loved coming up with little melodies at bedtime. I want to stay as busy as possible and be as creative as I can.