Canadian Christian singer Justin Bieber and his mother Pattie Mallette might not be as close as they would like to be right now, but that does not mean that they love each other any less.

When Bieber celebrated his birthday recently, his mother sent him the sweetest greeting through her Twitter account (@pattiemallette): "22 years ago I was 18 [years] old, pregnant & scared. But God. Lord encounter @justinbieber for his bday! Give him all I couldn't in Jesus name."

The relationship between Bieber and his mother got strained when he catapulted into the limelight and indulged in a life of heavy drinking, partying, and drugs.

"I was distant because I was ashamed. I never wanted my mom to be disappointed in me and I knew she was," Bieber told Billboard last year. "We spent some time not talking, so it takes time to rebuild that trust. She's living in Hawaii now, so it's hard, but getting better."

It was actually Mallette who built Bieber's Christian foundation, which the singer is trying his best to nurture now. "When I was seven, she wouldn't let me listen to anything but [Pastor] Judah's tapes falling asleep," Bieber recalled.

Even though he initially tried resisting his mother's Christian influence because of the "weird pastors" she introduced to him, Bieber has now embraced the faith. He raves that Mallette is "an amazing woman and I love her."

As for his father Jeremy, Bieber would like to give him more credit than he is usually given. It's true that Jeremy was an "immature" kid who could not handle fatherhood, since he left when Bieber was only four.

"I remember my mom said, 'If you're going to be here, you have to be here,'" Bieber said. "There's a misconception that he's this deadbeat dad, but he has been in my life since. I was with him on weekends and Wednesdays."