Yolanda Adams: translating God's message into music

Jet, Dec 12, 2005 by Melody K. Hoffman

"Before I am a singer, before I am a mom, before I am woman, I am a Christian because I love Jesus with all my heart."

This is gospel music superstar Yolanda Adams' testament of who she is and what her journey in life has been. And with this unwavering faith, she has enjoyed the success of a thriving music career that has brought her numerous awards, including two Grammys and several Stellar Gospel Music Awards.

Adams, 43, has been blessed with the gift to speak to so many hearts through her soul-stirring music. She says God's Word is already powerful, so she feels her "job" is to simply spread it.

"The blessing for me is being able to translate that message into music, where it's not only getting to people who are in church, it gets to the people who have not had a relationship with God in a long time and makes them realize, 'Hey, God is cool, why did I leave?'"

The platinum-selling star is currently celebrating the success of her latest album Day By Day. Due to events surrounding the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Adams was forced to cancel her tour. She used her talent and met needs of hurricane victims by organizing the "Day of Healing" concert, she said, "to respond to the spiritual needs of hurricane survivors and evacuees." Adams and other star gospel artists joined to focus on repairing the emotional suffering of the tens of thousands who attended the free concert in Baton Rouge.

These days, Adams, who appeared in the feature film The Gospel, is singing praises about being a single mom after she divorced her second husband Timothy Crawford Jr. this year. They married in 1997.

The two have a 4-year-old daughter, Taylor, who travels and tours with Adams. Taylor has brought more joy to Adams' life than words can explain, she says.

"It's so much fun watching her develop into the young person she is. She's very humorous; she has so many things on her little mind that she thinks about and that she expresses. She's just a kid. She loves to have fun. She makes me laugh; she's hilarious."

Adams admits she too faces the obstacles of being a single morn, but with the help of her loving family and friends and with her feet firm in the spirit of Christ, she gets through it.

"Dad is not there every day, but of course he's a very integral part of her growing and of her life. He's there to encourage her. We let her know although we're not together, we love her and that she has double love, two houses, that kind of thing," Adams explains.

The gospel sensation, who recorded her first album in 1987, says she's being a steadfast student of God and that she is learning from all that He is teaching her through the changes in her life.

"There are things that are for seasons, and some people might not agree with me, but that (marriage) was for a season," Adams points out. "He's a great person, but the marriage was just for a season; he's doing his best, and I'm doing my best to make sure that we raise a healthy daughter who loves Jesus."

As a former schoolteacher from Houston and the oldest of six children, through all the seasons of her life, Adams has remained a beautiful, rare soul with a radiant smile and wry sense of humor. A high note in her career was when she gained a wider audience that began to appreciate her music with the crossover smash hit Open My Heart from her 1999 album Mountain High ... Valley Low, which was played on R&B, pop and gospel radio stations across the country. Her mix of traditional and modern music has been her trademark sound that fans adore.

Adams shares her journey of faith and inspiration with fans and admits it is an incredible feeling when fans tell her that they have been touched by her music.

"It's amazing because you know where you were at the time you wrote that particular song, what emotions you were feeling, why you wrote down those particular words and, only as a result of what you were going through, you find out that millions of people are going through the same kind of process-and you can tell them how to get out-that is absolutely amazing. It's only a testimony of what happens when you express to people that God was there no matter what obstacle you were dealing with. Then you see a year later or six months later that that had to happen in your life in order to get you where you are today."

Adams' heartwarming lyrics reflect some of her personal challenges. She wants to erase the notion that just because she is a Christian, she doesn't encounter problems.

"The only difference between a Christian and non-Christian is that we believe and trust in the fact that God exists and that He is active and always working with us on a day-to-day basis. For the person who feels that Christians don't do anything wrong, they don't say anything wrong, they don't act wrong, that's not it-Christians are just forgiven."

Fans shouldn't worry about this songbird retiring anytime soon. She assures us that she wants to continue her singing ministry for decades.

"At least another 20 years. See, I want to be like Nancy Wilson and Patti LaBelle. You know, sing when I want to and record when I want to. If I want to go to my farm or to the South of France like Tina Turner does, I can do that for a year and come back and then do another album; that's what I want."