Edwin "Fast Eddie" Keel passed away this week. 94 and half years lived unto the Lord. He told me that he would have liked to have been a preacher, but a speech impediment prevented him from pursuing it. God knew what he was doing with Eddie. As a lay-leader, he was instrumental in the planting of three area churches (Meadowbrook, Elizabeth Lake and Tri-County). He also served as an elder for many years, but the main role for which I will remember him is as deal closer. When Cindie and I were trying to decipher whether or not this was where God was leading, the then 89 and half year old man came over and talked to us 22 year-olds. We had plenty of doubts. However, his words of encouragement, tender and true, clamped down on us like a steel trap. We knew there was no getting out of this. His steady and persistant encouragement over the last five years at the church together with his constant prayer on my behalf have given my weak knees strength to stand. I am so glad to have known him, and I will miss him.