Jan Willem Vink reports on CCM star AMY GRANT who has recently released the 'House Of Love' album

"This is the road that I'm on and I've got to travel down it and be glad that God is there with me. I think the older I get, the sillier I get and the less heavy are the things I want to say, because God is God and we are human, and beyond that everyone has to draw their own conclusions..."

A life of relative normality untroubled by excessive fan intrusion is possible for Amy, especially in Nashville because, says Amy, "I grew up in this town and people knew me before I ever was famous. They know me as my parents' child, the youngest of four girls. I don't really want to stick out in a crowd, I want to blend in. I like being a part of a pack, one of the gang. And yes, there are situations where people try to create an environment of 'hype', but that is something that they have created - I don't have anything to do with that. When I flew home from London this last week and got out of the plane, the record company had sent a limousine to pick me up and take me home. I looked at David Slaughter, the president of the management company who has been on this promotional trip with me, and I stared at him with crossed eyes and a really stupid expression on my face. And he said, 'I know you would rather take a taxi.' And I said, 'Of course I would, what's the point of this? I just want to go home.'"

Although Amy prefers the simple things, she was very pleased with a very special award that was recently given to her, the Pax Christi Award (Peace Of Christ). It meant a great deal to Amy. "It was the highlight of my musical career. The Pax Christi Award is given by the monks at a Benedictine Abbey that is part of St John University in St Cloud, Minnesota. I had never heard of it when they asked me if I could be a recipient, and I looked down on the long list of recipients and they were all scholars - and most of them monks! They all had PhD's (Doctors of Philosophy) and there were only two other women... and I'm looking at that list thinking, 'I haven't even graduated from college.'

"But I felt very honoured. I feel like in this age of high technology, high visibility, high entertainment level of our country that they chose to give this award, which basically celebrates the peace of Christ and people whose life celebrates that, to an entertainer was a big change for them - the world of academia meets the world of entertainment. But our common bond in Christ created a very unique and wonderful fellowship. The reason it was such a wonderful experience for me emotionally and spiritually was because of all the participants. There was a scholar, monks who did Gregorian chants, a hundred voice boys' choir, there was an entire symphony, my husband Gary and Michael W Smith were there; there was a herald trumpet core up in the rafters - it was just unbelievable. I have never been a part of anything like that! And it was so worshipful, it wasn't lifting up any human, it was just lifting up the love of God and how that affects us all."

Besides being known for being a singer, Amy is heavily involved in various humanitarian causes, both around the world and in the local community. This is not surprising when she explains what it is like to live in Nashville. "The music industry is much more part of Nashville now. When I was a child I had nothing to do with music until I was about 16 years old. I think that there was a point in time when the old money in Nashville was very snobby and looked down on the music industry, specially because this country music was considered hillbilly, kind of trashy, and these were people living their life on buses and they just managed to come through Nashville to sing on the Grand Old Opry stage. Then people like Minnie Pearl, who is known in the Nashville community as Sarah Cannon, she almost single handedly charmed Nashville, because her persona in country music was this kind of bungling, funny bumpkin who wore a price tag on her hat and the world loved her as Minnie Pearl for the fact that she was a highly educated woman and an incredible humanitarian and philanthropist. She revolved in and out of the wealthy circles in town, onto the Grand Old Opry stage. We named our youngest child after her. She was the beginning of the real coming together of the Nashville community, which is a very unique city. It's an incredibly emotional city, it's backbone is songwriters, it's a very philanthropic community. Almost every weekend, even the high society social events have to do with benefits. There are more charitable happenings in that town than any city I have ever been in."

One of the projects that was set up by Amy and her husband was a series of youth events that took place on a yearly basis in a barn on the Chapman's farm. At this point it looks like the events won't go on next year. "This last year I just was not around so we couldn't do it," says Amy. "It is an outside event that takes place in a loft, or barn. Spring is the only time it makes sense. But the four sessions that we've done with the loft were quite spontaneous. Our schedule opened up and I had time to write songs and lead the singing. We never knew if we would do it again. But then spring would come around and we'd have the time to do another session. And we really tried to make it happen this year, but I just did not have the time.

"We did wonder whether the album would affect the ministry of The Loft but the great thing that happened was that when we did this album, several artists donated their royalty points to a fund that would help other people. The album has made enough money that we contacted a group called 'Habitat For Humanity' who build houses for lower income families. Probably this fall we are going to build a house strictly from the proceeds of that album. We're going to tell all the Loft kids we're building a Loft house and the last night we'll probably do one last Loft meeting at the completion of the house...'

"I believe things change, just like with The Loft," continues Amy thoughtfully. "I love the verse in John where it says, The wind blows wherever it pleases and no one knows where it comes from. And so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.' I think sometimes when we are led by the Holy Spirit to do something - and it really is a great thing - human nature is to package it and make a programme out of it, trying to maintain this emotional spiritual high, so we have to continue doing the same thing and sometimes that is not the right thing to do, and it becomes a burden. That is how I feel about The Loft. If it is meant to be again, I think that we all will feel compelled to pursue it again..."

Amy continues to be heavily involved with Habitat For Humanity as she contributes a percentage of the ticket sales in the various cities she performs in to that Christian-based relief organisation. Amy hopes in every city a house can be built by Habitat For Humanity. That would definitely be a House Of Love.