She's the picture of success, the most awarded female vocalist in Christian music history - five Grammys, 39 Dove Awards, 2004 Gospel Hall of Fame inductee - and happily married with her own Brady Bunch.

Still, when Sandi Patty recorded "His Eye is on the Sparrow" for her new album "Hymns of Faith ... Songs of Inspiration," she broke down in tears.

"About 12 years ago, I went through a divorce. It was a very difficult three or four years, personally as well as professionally," Patty says from her home in Anderson, Ind. "So to come to a place in my life and look back on all that has transpired, and to really know in my heart that I sing because I'm happy now is a wonderful thing."

Patty joins Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops in "Happy Holidays from the Pops" through Sunday in Music Hall.

Truth is, her latest album is not only a return to her gospel roots, but a professional comeback. For years, Christian radio stations and the churches where her career had flourished shunned her, when news surfaced that she had had an affair during her marriage with a married backup singer. Although she and that singer, Don Peslis, are now married, the pain of that time is never far away.

"I think there are certain expectations that a Christian artist will uphold the Christian faith. I was making some choices that

weren't necessarily upholding that," she says. "I understand that I hurt a lot of my fans and disappointed them, and they've been very gracious to stick with me."

Patty grew up with Christian music all around her; her father was a minister of music and her mother a church pianist. But if you ask her which singers inspired her most, she points to Barbra Streisand and Karen Carpenter.

"I loved Barbra Streisand's phrasing, the way she would place notes, and the way she would make the words really come alive," she says. "The way Karen Carpenter would interpret a song was just magical. It wasn't just, let's sing and be done with it. There was a lot of passion in the words."

The time was right for an album about faith because of the time in which we live, she believes.

"I think everybody is always looking for answers in life," she says. "I don't know if it's because of 9/11, or because kids these days are getting into more trouble. ... I think people are realizing that we need to make some changes that begin with us, and faith is an integral part of that."

Her blended family is close, and her husband is "the love of my life." She had four and he had three children when they married. They adopted Sam, now 8. These days, she is learning lessons from her children.

"I've learned a lot of patience and a lot of understanding," she says, with a hearty laugh. "I've learned (sometimes) don't take life so seriously and just enjoy the moment. And, you know, I've learned to take the time to listen."

So if she gets teary when she sings her favorite hymn, "His Eye is on the Sparrow," it isn't because she's sad.

"It's a great thing to be able to say, after 25 years in this business, to still be singing because I'm happy," she says.