Paris

Paris and his counselor

Last Friday I picked Paris Adams up from Agape Camp week at Pioneer Camp and Retreat Center in Angola, NY.  People from First Trinity donated the money that helped Paris go to Camp. Jim Passage gave Paris a ride to Camp. Leo and Kathy Figini drove his medication down there when there was a mix-up. All of this effort was so worth it for the time that Paris had at Camp.

Paris is a member of First Trinity. I have written about him once or twice before. This past Lent he gave his testimony and was baptized.  Paris goes to FACES which is a group for people with disabilities that meets at First Trinity on Saturday afternoons quarterly. He also attends JUST us on Sunday mornings at First Trinity (he wanted his teacher, Karen Leone, to be with him up front when he was baptized). It was a total joy to see Paris at Camp on Friday! Here are some of the things he said to me:

  • “We had three days of rain (out of five), but so what? I had a blast!”
  • “My counselor was just awesome.”
  • “Sue, meet Temmy (the nurse). Temmy took great great care of me and my meds this whole week.”
  • “Please tell Kathy and Leo I said thank you for bringing my meds down here” (he said that four times…on the fifth time I said, “Let’s call Kathy and you can thank her yourself.”)
  • “We had three campfires and on the last one we had smores. I LOVE smores.”
  • “The food was great. One night we had turkey and stuffing.”
  • (When asked how he slept at Camp) “Oh, I slept great. I had no worries at all. God was watching over me and I was with my friends. Why wouldn’t I sleep great?”

Here’s some more things about Paris:

  • He gave me permission to share some of his journal pages from the week of Camp with you. His penmanship is very close to perfect.  On June 17th he wrote: “We did a Variety Show, which I spoke about what happened during Lent Season where I had been baptized last Spring…tomorrow we will be talking about the book of Samuel.”
  • On June 19th, he wrote, “Now that I finally returned home at Kenmore Apts, with the memories that I will keep for a lifetime…THE END.”
  • He is an usher at First Trinity. When he gave his testimony he said, “I believe that God has chosen me for this work.” I agree. If you have not yet experienced Paris inviting people to the Lord’s Table, you are missing out!
  • Paris goes to work every day on Public Transportation, downtown to the Statler Building where he works in a law office.
  • Paris does his own grocery shopping and meal preparation.
  • Paris tracks his blood sugar and medications on a daily basis.
  • He knows FOR SURE that Jesus loves him.
  • He gets true joy out of almost every day.
  • He is appreciative and grateful most of the time.
  • He asks for help when he needs it.
  • He is so passionate about being at First Trinity that he sometimes walks (as he did just this last Sunday) if there’s no one to give him a ride. 5.2 miles.

Somehow, I just don’t feel that in any of the ways that really matter, Paris has disabilities. I mean really: he works hard, he finds joy, he knows Jesus, he lives gratefully, he is intentional about worshiping and serving the Lord. Disabled? I’m not so sure.