Fifth Disease

David is excelling in sign language and communicated to us that he was sick yesterday. After taking his temperature, I realized he was right. Bad that he is sick. Great that he could tell us! :)
Since we last posted, 3 out of our 6 family members has come down with Fifth Disease. David currently has a fever and we are wondering if he will come down with it too. Ahh, illnesses, the results of sin and one more thing we will be glad to be free from in heaven!

Interestingly, we had a very good lesson come from our appearing in the local newspaper (The LA Times). After being interviewed about our interest in growing fruit trees in our backyard, it turns out we are depending upon their harvest to feed our needy family of 6! Something like "Tim and Wendy Petta painstakingly researched what trees to choose for their backyard, which has 40 fruit trees crammed onto a 8000 sq ft lot, to help feed their four children" !!!! Can you believe it! So what was the lesson? That the media severely twists information and cannot be trusted! We never implied that we were poor, dependent upon our fruit trees for food, or even that we "painstakingly" did anything! Actually the only reason the author even knew we had 4 kids was because they answered the phone when she called and she was impressed with their phone manners and casually asked us how many kids we have. I explained to my children that I was glad they twisted the truth so that they could learn how the media cannot be trusted. If the media twists information on this small level so severely, know it cannot be trusted on any level.

Wendy the immorality vigilante strikes again at the local Valley Foods Market. After seeing a completely naked woman (contorted as to not show the vital areas) on the front of a magazine stashed exactly at the eye level of an average 3 to 5 year old at the checkout aisle, I proceeded to pick it up stash it under my arm and ask for the manager. When she approached I held the magazine for her to see and she immediately lowered her head and downcast her eyes. She was ashamed. I said "Can you tell me why this magazine is being displayed at children's eye level? This is unacceptable and I would appreciate it if you would tell the manager we do not want to shop here if they continue to display things like this for my children to see. This is just wrong!" She said she would and when I came the next day the magazine was gone! Thank God!


Speaking of the immorality of society at large, please, if you have time listen to these two messages found at http://www.oneplace.com/ . A Nation Abandoned by God 1 and A Nation Abandoned by God 2 . These are essential important messages for every Christian to hear. In Romans 1 the bible teaches that when people continue to sin against God, He abandons them to their own evil desires. Immorality is rampant and exponentially increases day by day.

I am rereading The Duties of Parents by J C Ryle. It is so excellent. I picked it up again after reading a friend's blog who shared that she reads this booklet yearly. That is a fantastic suggestion as this book is short, to the point, extremely convicting and useful in focusing one efforts in parenting!

I am also reading Staying in Love for a Lifetime by Dr. Ed Wheat. I wish I had this book many years ago. This should be required reading for every pre-marriage young adult. Just fantastic, and not afraid to touch on every subject that is relevant in the Christian marriage.

Well, that's all for now. May the Lord bless and keep all His children until that day....

Wendy