Get To Know Adam
IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ADAM...
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Husband to Maddie & father to Kinsley
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Junior High Pastor at Grace Church of Glendora
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Loves star wars, food, and discussing theology
PHOTOS
ADAM'S STORY
By Maddie Keehn
Adam lived his life to spread the gospel in a way that allowed others to be seen, loved, and cared for; just as Jesus does for us.
If someone didn’t know my sweet husband, I would say this...
“Okay, picture you are in a coffee shop and a gentleman walks in. He is by far the most stylish one in there, but his style is like super trendy, hip, cool and totally effortless. He has tattoos everywhere and the biggest smile. You watch him order and he is already smiling, laughing, and conversing with the worker.
Through his conversing with the worker, the gentleman goes “my wife and I love this place; we take our dog here all the time” while showing the person his phone screensaver which is a picture of “his girls”. You can tell how much he loves God, his wife + his soon-to-be-born daughter and dog even by just overhearing the conversation. He orders an iced vanilla latte with oat milk and a warmed-up ham and cheese croissant. He finishes his order by saying “Thanks man, I appreciate it, God Bless you!”
He walks over to a table and takes out a deep theological based book and the Bible with a pen and his black journal. He goes on his phone and later you learn that it was because he was texting his wife notifying her that he made it safely to the coffee shop. He also went on his phone to take a cool picture to post on social media with his coffee and book and to Shazam the song playing in the coffee shop. The gentleman’s name is called, and he goes up and picks up his order, again greeting the worker with the warmest smile saying, “Thanks brother, I appreciate it”. The gentleman’s name is Adam.
Adam sits down and starts reading, journaling, and highlighting like crazy, his book and the Bible, all well saying out loud “mmmm wow that’s so good”. He reads, journals, sips on his coffee, takes bites of his croissant. Repeats. You decide to go up to him and ask what his book is about. He greets you with the sweetest smile and then talks your ear off for the next 2 hours. You see Adam is so passionate about God and all that he is learning. Adam is confident in the man he is and what the scriptures say to be true. You already see that the scripture has penetrated his whole life; it flows out of him.
He will talk to you about the book he is reading well using “big” theological words and helping you understand their meanings, ever so patiently. You notice he actually gets excited at the fact that you don’t know those words, so that he can teach you them. He tells you he is a husband and father-to-be, and how those are his greatest gifts with tears in his eyes. He tells you he is a youth pastor and how he loves junior high students because that’s when he started to take his walk more seriously. Adam actually didn’t fully surrender his Life to Jesus until college; he tells you about the men that have impacted his life to be where he is (Dana, Justin, Steve, his dad, and pastors like John Piper and Matt Chandler).
Adam tells you that he is a pastor’s kid and how he never wanted to be a pastor. He tells you about his stroke when he was 13 and shows you his tattoo on his right arm. He tells you how he is from Dana Point, and everywhere he has got to travel whether because mission trips or family trips, all while giving you recommendations for food places. He tells you about his brother who was adopted from South Africa and his sister who is a nurse, his mom who is Hispanic (tells you he can speak Spanish) and all the hats his dad wears and the redemption story of that relationship with tears in his eyes.
He will tell you he graduated from BIOLA and how he lived in the Corp House with 9 other guys, and about one of his best friend’s name Evan. He tells you about his whole testimony up to that point and how his tattoos play apart in all of that. After that 2-hour conversation where he is the only one talking, he says “one second I need to call my wife and just update her, I would love you guys to meet sometime”.
As he calls you hear and see how much he loves her and how much she loves him, they are each other’s worlds. This girl on this other line name is Maddie. He greets her by saying “Hi my love” and follows by saying “still at the coffee shop, met someone cool and I’m telling them about the book I am reading, I’ll be heading home in 20 mins” he finishes by saying “how is Kinsley girl [his unborn daughter]? I love YOU so much, I’ll see you soon my love. I will call you when I’m leaving. okay bye baby loves you”, while giving kisses through the phone to his daughter, dog Penny and wife.
He hangs up the phone and says “wow I love her…” while smiling. You can see how much he loves/respects his wife. He tells you how Maddie and he met and the man he was before her. You see how much he has changed and the “man he was before” is nowhere close to the man he is now (you will learn later that Maddie too has been completely changed by Adam). He tells you that Maddie and him met while serving in junior high ministry and how they have been serving together for the last 4 years. He says that he can’t do what he does without her, but later you realize Maddie and him are a team. They balance each other out in every way possible. He tells you how Maddie and him want 3 more kids, and their dream is to move down by the beach, serve students and own a coffee shop. He then gathers his thoughts again to finish the conversation.
In the conversation you see what he loves, his passion, his confidence but also his humble heart towards Christ and others, who and what is important to him, Christ in him, his warm smile, his clear blue eyes, his ability to make you feel important, his funny humor, and his interest in deep theology, coffee, tattoos, Star Wars, fashion, outdoors, video games, music, food, photography and soccer. The fact that he loves to teach others but also loves to learn and is constantly looking for ways to grow and deepen his relationship with the Lord and be more Christ like in all his relationships. You see his love for his family. How he loves being a husband and father. How that is his top priority, his focus, his motivation.
Adam - the most down to earth gentleman. He finishes up by saying “alrighty I got to be heading home to the wifey and baby! Would I be able to get your number? My wife and I would love to have you over sometime. Also do you attend church by the way? We would love to invite you to our church as well”
Adam lived his life to spread the gospel in a way that allowed others to be seen, loved, and cared for; just as Jesus does for us
Adam served as the Jr. High Youth Pastor at Grace Church Glendora, CA
Adam was 24 years old when he passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm on June 8, 2022 … 3 weeks before the birth of his daughter, Kinsley Joy.
The Adam Keehn Foundation exists to Encourage and Inspire Young Youth Pastors to Lead Students to the Gospel of Jesus by providing tangible tools to help a new youth pastor share the Gospel of Jesus … Tools that would help another “Adam”!