Becoming a pop star was neither Clay Aiken's goal nor his dream. Prior to American Idol, he'd formed a life plan: he'd teach, get his master's in administration, then become a principal by age 50.

He'd found his passion in teaching children with developmental disabilities, and began working one-on-one with an autistic student, Mike Bubel. Mike's mom, Diane, had seen Idol and knew of Clay's talent. When she heard Idol was auditioning, she pestered Clay until he agreed to try out. Her persistence changed Clay's life.

But all the glamour of Hollywood couldn't sway Clay from his first calling. Immediately after Idol wrapped, he started The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, a nonprofit that assists children with special needs.

"I get excited about the work that I see being done through the foundation," Clay told Today's Christian. "We have an amazing group of my fans who have, in turn, become supporters of the foundation. Through them we have been able to do a great deal of work in spreading the word about the need for and the benefits of inclusion for children with disabilities."

In addition to work with his own charity, Clay also has signed on as an ambassador for both Ronald McDonald House Charities and UNICEF. This year he assisted with a UNICEF telethon to aid South Asia tsunami victims, then visited the most devastated area in Indonesia in March. A month after that visit, he testified before Congress on behalf of UNICEF, asking for increased U.S. funding to aid tsunami victims. He also visited war-torn Uganda with UNICEF to raise awareness about the plight of children there.

It's opportunities like these that keep the singer grounded and mindful of why God led him to American Idol. "My life has been guided by Provident direction more than anything else," he says. "I was really in the place God wanted me to be, at the time He wanted me to be there."