Sara Evans on New Life, Love and Song

Oct. 7, 2008— -- Country singer Sara Evans has crafted a successful career singing about love, faith, longing and heartache -- and her life, at times, seemed to mirror her lyrics.

In 2006, her 13-year marriage fell apart in the most public way -- while she competed on "Dancing With the Stars." Evans decided to depart the show early to deal with the breakup and her family in hopes of shielding her three young children.

She kept the television off and didn't look at the splashy magazines documenting her painful divorce, and today she still doesn't discuss it publicly.

"I won't talk about the divorce now because, you know, your children are gonna watch TV. They're gonna read magazines," she said. "The whole effort is to protect them because they're already going through enough without the whole world [knowing]."

But now, Evans said her previous troubles seem "like another life" because she has been able to find love again and marry former college football star and radio host Jay Barker. Their relationship probably is worthy of its own country song, though Evans admits she hasn't written one for him just yet.

"I haven't written any songs since we've met 'cause I've been on the road so much. And -- but, I'm getting ready to start writing for the new album. And I have a couple of ideas," Evans said.

"I'm obsessed with Jay Barker. Like, I adore him," Evans added. "I just stare at him all the time. I think he's so gorgeous. But, not only that. But, he's so smart. And he has the best ideas. He's such a great father."

The pair, who were married last June, was introduced by a marriage counselor that helped each of them as their marriages crumbled.

"After both of our divorces were final, I got an e-mail from him saying, you know, 'There is a guy I want you to pray for and he is going through a rough time, and you all are very similar and I think that you could be great friends,'" Evans said.

And so, Barker's and Evans' courtship began slowly. It was just e-mail and phone calls in the beginning. The two had their first date last October when they played softball.