Brett Favre's Wife Deanna Speaks Out

Oct. 21, 2010— -- Brett Favre's wife, Deanna Favre, spoke out today about her superstar husband's alleged extra-marital scandal, saying her faith will see her through.

"I'm a woman of faith," Deanna Favre told "Good Morning America" today. "Faith has gotten me through many difficult struggles. It will get me through this one."

Brett Favre, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, has not denied allegations that he sent sexually suggestive messages and pictures to a woman who worked for the New York Jets in 2008. Favre met with NFL Vice President for Security Milt Ahlerich on Tuesday but has declined to answer media questions about the meeting.

"That's a league issue," he told reporters Wednesday. "That I just have to leave at that."

Deanna Favre agreed to an interview with "GMA" before the allegations surfaced, but said she did not cancel because it's a central theme of her new book "The Cure for the Chronic Life" to look to not focus on yourself.

"Outward focus, not inward," she said.

Deanna Favre offered advice from the book to those facing personal challenges, perhaps appropriate to her own situation.

"You have to not let this struggle define you. You have to define your struggle and use it in a good way," she said. "You can turn this into success in some way, shape or form."

Deanna Favre and Pastor Shane Stanford's Struggles and Triumphs

At first glance, Deanna Favre and Pastor Shane Stanford seem to lead charmed lives.

She's the wife of legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre, and mother of two lovely girls.

He's the pastor of one of the largest Methodist churches in the country with three children of his own.

But behind the facade, both have struggled with some heart-wrenching battles in their lives.

Together they wrote a book, "The Cure for the Chronic Life," about their experiences overcoming adversity.

Deanna Favre is a breast cancer survivor. She has helped her husband through problems with substance abuse and this most recent scandal.

Pastor Stanford is fighting his own uphill battles. A hemophiliac, Stanford contracted HIV from a blood transfusion when he was 16 years old.

In 1986, the diagnosis was considered a death sentence, but he never gave up hope. Even when he tried to find a congregation to lead, but was rejected because of his illness, he persevered. He now leads the Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, which has over 5,000 members.

Faith has helped Stanford and Favre through some trying times. In Deanna Favre's New York Times bestselling autobiography, "Don't Bet Against Me!," she wrote that she threatened to leave her husband more than once because of his inappropriate behavior with women, alcohol binges, and vicodin abuse.

"My life's journey did not always go as I had planned," Deanna Favre says in "The Cure for the Chronic Life."

"Brett and I ran into our share of obstacles in the beginning and spent a great deal of time working our way through one difficult moment after another. For example, it was not easy for me being a single mom, but I also worried about the future and, with so much uncertainty in our lives, the possibility of entering into a marriage covenant that might have no chance of working. We didn't understand the full scope of what such a decision might mean, and so we trudged through the path doing the best we could," she wrote.

Finding Peace Through the 'CURE'

Both Favre and Stanford have found peace and fulfillment by helping others. A clue to how they survived their trials lies in the title of "The CURE for the Chronic Life." C stands for Compassion, U is for Understanding, R for Response, or living life with an outward focus instead of looking inward, and E stands for Encouragement.

"Together, it's like a life preserver," Stanford told "GMA".

The book urges readers to break out of patterns that are hopeless, like addictions and bad relationships.

Instead of becoming consumed by a difficult person, obstacle or issue, Favre and Stanford offer a coping program.

"The Cure for the Chronic Life" includes a 40-day "Spiritual Treatment Plan," including life lessons, individual analysis and spiritual wisdom. Along with the 40-day plan, the book helps readers identify "Seven Worries of Living in Crisis" and transform those troubles into triumphs.

CLICK HERE to learn more about "The Cure for the Chronic Life."