She sings....."Jesus"

Today is one of the ones a Mom remembers and ponders in her heart. The last two days I have been able to sleep in. I walk past the girls' room and see Cori all curled up. Like her mom, she treasures sleep. Only a few minutes later she walks in and crawls into my lap. Later, as she eats a traditional Chinese breakfast of Fruit Loops......tongue in cheek.......I have hooked up my speakers to the computer as I listen to a glorious praise song. It is called "Your Great Name". As I listen again I notice Cori is singing, so I turn the volume down.

Over and over and over she is singing "Jesus". Over and over. Then she walks over to me, lays her head on my arm, takes my hand and sings , "Jesus".

Would this child have ever heard this name in China? We know that God is bigger than countries. We know that He is sovereign and that her destiny was determined before the foundation of the world. We know that Esther was asked if she was born for such a time as this.

No matter the complexities, we praise God for a child who sings Jesus.

PS...this is NOT the tree that fell down three times.

Three month follow up visit

We believe we have a well trained pediatric specialist. He referred to his days at the Mayo Clinic many times today. He is concerned but " not worried" that she is still incontinent. He did an ultrasound on bladder and kidneys and all looked well. Cori is now on a new antibiotic to rule our urinary tract infection for the incontinence. He will re check in 3 months but will do nothing until the 6 month mark. At that point he wants another sedated scope to see if there are any closing muscles below the bladder. If not, he says some do another couple of surgeries that most likely fail. So, they close up the bladder and teach the child to self cath. Vaginal openings are assumed to be only for menstruation.

On this day, this child was all the way up to her best brain, language, and emotional level I have ever seen her. Not one human in the clinic could take their eyes off of her. Not one member of the staff could keep from remarking on her. She pointed to babies and said, " Baby". She pointed to sleeping babies and said, "Night Night. " She pointed to a picture of a pregnant actress in an inane magazine and said, "Belly". She pointed out my keys and pointed outside to the car! At least three times! This is a small portion of what she has done in the last three days.

I am unable to put words to this subject. Yet I know that this story is repeated more times than we can imagine. Little children who have been abandoned.........but all with God given reasons to be here!

I have a vain request. If you are reading this....if you would want to do something about this........would you email me? We have so many hits.....no way to track who, how many. But it seems to have struck a chord. There are so many others this precious.

anniewright@bellsouth.net. The care of widows, strangers, and orphans has many shapes and forms. Really going beyond the Wright family comfort zone here. Ignore if this is improper.

First winter for Cori. She hates cold.

But she cannot help but catch the excitement of her sisters over the snow.

Her medical condition is unchanged. We see the urologist on Thursday if the weather is not as bad as predicted. We are looking forward to asking some questions! Still having some sleep deprived nights and we are never quite sure why.

So, we are biased, but she continues to show how bright she is. Today I complained about by tired bottom to Jena. I stood up and pointed to it. Within 20 seconds she was bringing me the doughnut pillow we put her on after her surgery. Whoa! She has seen me sit on a pillow in the van, but somehow she put two and two together!

She does almost 80% of anything we ask, seeming to understand it perfectly. She has no problem humphing if she does not want to do it, but she clearly understands the request.

We are richly blessed!

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

Gay happy greetings when friends come to call. If you come to call, I will find a weapon.

So, we bought the tree Monday night in 19 degree snowy weather. The "guy" with the tree really wants us to consider the one that has a bad spot in the back, because normally this would be a $150 tree. Well over 11 feet, full, but with one bad spot. Wes, who loves a bargain, takes it. The tree is too big for the netting so I should drive home slow. No problem. It is a blizzard on I 40 that night.

We get it in. Wes puts it in the stand. It falls. Another effort. It falls. We discover that the trunk has split. Wes takes off in the snow to get a bigger stand.

That is when the real fun started. Cori begins to projectile vomit. In the basement. In the diningroom. In the hall. In the bedroom....that took two towels. In the tub. After the tub. Dad gets back with the miracle stand. She is still going. She finally falls asleep in my arms around 11:30. I get ready for bed and bring her into ours. Next morning......diaper and bed have the evidence of her diarrhea. Lovely. Today, 8 year old sister Jena has the vomiting.

Wes comes home and we decorate the tree. We make sure that every limb and spot is perfect. We are, after all, a marriage of a first born and an only child.

It surely cannot matter that the back is barren because we will slide that into the corner.

Looking great. Time to slide it into the corner. Fully decorated with 30 years of ornaments.

Of course, you know the rest of the story. Wes is on the floor when it begins to fall so I run to grab it. Lily looks as if she just saw the Twin Towers fall. Jena goes to bed. Grace climbs her bunk. Wes utters some non-printable oaths and tells me to get out of the tree, which I cannot accomplish because I am caught in the beading. Re-group. Sweep up the shattered ornaments. Bravely Katherine and I push the tree back up as Wes manages the new, huge stand. Effort. Small attempts to back away. Finally the three brave ones, Wes, Stephanie, Katherine all stand back.....and it falls again. I ask Wes to go outdoors for a few minutes.

Cori begins to scream from her diaper rash. Grace is still hiding. Lily is upset that her angel lost its head. Jena suddenly feels better.

Folks have asked me today if the tree is now firewood. These folks do not know my husband. He did not quit on the tree when he bashed his head on the door frame, and he will not quit on it now. It is secured with a bungy cord attached to a 25 pound weight. He plans to add another tonight.

Cori went threw a bath, another towel, three more middle of the night diaper changes, and then Wes went to get more diapers and a better rash cream.

The volume of her urine is massive and it smells old even as it first fills the diaper. We need God's wisdom about what this means.

And when you read this, pray that God continues to grant us good humor, even if it takes a couple of days.