This is the 1st post of my new blog site. It is a tribute to Ed's preaching legacy and his impact on my life and ministry. I'm sure everyone has a similar testimony about him. I hope this encourages us all as we remember him daily. One of the scariest experiences is to be driving down a dark, lonely road not really sure of exact directions and all of a sudden your GPS navigation system begins to shut down unexpectedly. You realize that you must continue driving and that eventually with prayer and intuition you will get to your destination but you will no longer have the comfort or the ease of hearing that voice tell you which turns to take. For so many others and myself, Ed Adams was that navigation system who was there to whisper in your ear as you navigated & traveled through ministry and life. I had never before (and never since) met someone who knew exactly what to say at precisely the right time. He had a way of speaking to your fears and encouraging you to “keep driving.” Ed could see the destiny inside of people and he helped propel you to that destination. He would also give you practical and applicable methods to help solve your issues. He never offered empty words or used scripture to compensate for the fact that he didn’t know what to say. By the time you got off the phone with Ed or left his presence you knew exactly WHAT you needed to do and HOW you needed to do it. When I first entered the ministry in high school, I was literally a young “fireball” as my pastor often calls me. I possessed a lot of energy and zeal but I lacked substance and character. My opinion was the only right one. If I didn’t like or agree with something that was said, I was quick to voice how I felt. I also enjoyed the excitement of preaching and traveling to different churches but I did not take seriously the responsibility of preparing sermons carefully and effectively. Ed broke me down in all of these areas. There were days he would sit on the phone for hours trying to get through to me. He hounded me on the fact that sermon preparation was not watching you tube videos. It was about serious reading and reflection. Every time I saw him, he had at least 2 books in hand that he “needed” me to read. After I read works by Bonhoeffer, Thurman, Swindoll, and Fosdick he would call to analyze and discuss. Ed taught seminary courses for me and several friends in his own living room or at the local Lizard’s Thicket restaurant when he was in town. Ed taught the importance of developing my own theology. It’s important to consider what I believe and what I know about God. Spending time with God and allowing him to speak to my heart on some things gave clarity on who I was as a Christian and what I truly believed. Ed would often ask, “What does Racquel think about God? Gill, you cannot preach about a God that you have not taken time to sit down and get to know.” By far the greatest lesson I learned from Ed was the importance of exposure. As I was debating whether or not to serve as a ministry intern in California, he was my strongest support system. I had never been that far away. I didn’t really know if I wanted to leave my family after the loss of one grandmother and the cancer diagnosis of another. It just felt like bad timing. As Ed was sitting in the back of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Ridgeway, preparing to preach, he looked to the ceiling as he often did and said, “Gill, exposure is the necessary ingredient for excellence.” In other words, there is life outside of your comfort zone little girl. I could believe Ed. Ed had left our small town several times and succeeded in Ohio, Texas, and Durham, NC. He knew what it meant to leave the comforts of home and find fulfillment. This is what I always loved about him. He believed in excellence and being his best self no matter the context or the location. So as I sit and think on all that this guy poured into so many people, I wonder how difficult will it be now? Everything inside wants to pull over on the side of the road and turn off the ecclesiastical engine. Although it has its great moments, doing ministry just doesn’t seem like the “joyride” that it once was since he has transitioned. Yet I know that giving up or wallowing in self pity is just not in the spirit of Rev. Ed Adams. Despite all of the obstacles that he faced, he kept driving and did so with a smile on his face. Therefore so must I. Even when the GPS shuts down, the road seems lonely, and the path isn’t as clear as I wished, the one thing I cannot do is stop. Neither can you. Thanks Ed.