By: EDGE
After cooking for 10 years Adams knows what it takes to survive in the industry. “You need to be passionate and since they love to test your passion, you need a lot of perseverance and perseverance for me comes from knowing God is always with me, especially when it gets tough in the restaurant.” One key moment that stands out to Adams that took prayer and perseverance was happened at a restaurant he worked at in La Jolla. “I was under so much stress and not cooking well for some reason, I walked out of the line and prayed, and when I got back to the line I was myself again and the stress was gone, the sous chef told me whatever I did keep doing it.”
In an industry with high substance abuse and suicide, Christianity plays a factor in understanding food for Adams. He sees parallels in how he cooks and how he is in life. “Everything in a dinner service is intense. The prep that goes into just one night at a restaurant is like life in the everyday grind. But during the dinner service you realize how prepared you really are physically, mentally, and emotionally, you get tested on all levels and your coworkers see how you respond as a Christian and when I get asked how I deal with things, I tell them through Christ.” Which for Adams is one of the things he is thankful for, “What amazes me and what makes me thankful is God makes himself known through me, as an ambassador of reconciliation, to be a light in darkness, have peace in moments of stress, and be able to pray over the family meal at the dinner table, to be able to be used in that way at work and at home is amazing.”
As millions of Americans enter into the holiday season, one thing that is inevitable are family dinners, which could be good or bad depending on your family (no family is perfect). Regardless of how your family dinners are, food unifies people of all walks of life and beliefs in an extremely powerful way. Friend of Edge and cook at the famous West Hollywood restaurant Ink, Jeremy Adams, shares with Edge Blog readers his passion for cooking and how he uses his passion to minister to his coworkers and family. “My passion for cooking was rooted in the unifying quality of food. After walking with Jesus however, I realized that this God-given talent for cooking and desire to unify people was facilitated by food. I found this to be echoed in scriptures, Acts 2:42 showed me that my gifts had purpose because the “breaking of bread” is mentioned among three other pillars of the early church (doctrine, prayer and fellowship). 2 Samuel 9 showed me that food was just a small part, but it was a great way to show hospitality, and thereby displaying grace (because hospitality is rarely merited) and therefore revealing Gods love.”
