Dolly Parton has spent her entire life as a country singer. She began writing songs as a child and was performing at the Grand Ole Opry by the time she was a pre-teen. Still, she has expressed the belief that she was meant for more than just music. Her mother thought the same thing.

Dolly Parton said her mom thought she would be more than just a singer

While Parton has spent years working tirelessly as a country music artist, she wasn’t sure this was her true calling. Her mother thought she might help people find God.

“I often wonder what my calling really was because I often thought I was born for a purpose other than just to be a country singer,” she said, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “My mamma always predicted that someday I would lead a lot of people to the Lord. She said, ‘I don’t care where you go or what you do in this world, you are one of God’s children and someday you are going to do a great work for the Lord.’”

Parton clarified that this didn’t mean she wanted to convert people to Christianity or convince them to come to church. She had a different view of spirituality.

“I expect that someday, in some way, before I die I’ll have done some good for God, who I think has done all the good in me that’s ever been done,” she said, adding, “The way I look at God is, I think He means somethin’ different to everybody. We are all God’s children, if we just clear a way for Him to work through us. You don’t have to be standin’ in a church house to reach people to change their lives to do good.”

Music is still very important to her

While Parton thinks her purpose in life might lie outside of music, she takes her craft very seriously. She writes every day and places particular value on her songwriting.

“I take myself more serious as a songwriter than anything else,” Parton said during an interview with CNBC. “I always say I’ve written about 3,000 songs and three good ones, but I just love the joy of writing.”

On her most prolific day of writing ever, Parton wrote 20 songs.

Dolly Parton’s father was proudest of something she did outside of being a singer

Parton has a number of ventures outside of music, including her Imagination Library. The program brings free books to children under the age of five. She said her father was proudest of her for this.

“Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” she wrote on the website. “I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy. He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.”

She said she has made it her goal in life to inspire children to read.

“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.”