A Word in Pictures: Messy

So this last day of February came quickly, that's for sure. My photographer friends and I agreed upon the theme of "messy" for this month of pictures. All of us have children, so messes are not hard to come by, at least in my house anyway :). But I would be lying if I said all the mess revolves around my daughter haha. Truth  be told, I am not a very neat person. I desire for my home to be clean and organized, but drastically fail with the follow through. There are often mountains of laundry around my house, and piles of dishes by the sink. What I need is a system for cleaning, but I severely lack in motivation and often procrastinate my house responsibilities. So that being said, it's hard to share some of my "messy" pictures. But this is real life, for better or for worse :)....Psst. If you have a cleaning strategy that works well for you, share it with me! :)

2 days in a row Eden found her box of wipes, and decided they were better off on the floor.

I would love to have a maid. Even if all she did was my laundry!!

Oh dishes! You never seem to go away...

Proof of a fun morning bath.

Wooden Blocks, legos...and more! Yes, we have a Toddler :).

Head on over to Arlee's blog to see how she captured "Messy" :)....http://www.timandarlee.com/blog/ 

 

Fly by February!

So it's time for an update from Team Worth.We find ourselves about to close the month of February. As a person who could really do without most of winter, that is a great thing! :). Winter is hitting hard here in  West Michigan, and the warmth and colors of spring seem very distant. I cannot wait for that first "open your windows" kind of day.
 Like many of you, sickness has not escaped us this Winter. The last few weeks have been challenging. I started with a cold back in January, and then Eden got a cold and her first round of Croup. That was not fun for any of us. It seemed like we were all on the upswing and that week I started subbing in Michigan. ( It was a TERRIBLE experience. I picked a school that was about 2 blocks from my house. I knew that it could be a rough experience, but I was not ready for what I got! Needless to say I'll be subbing in other districts :)... Following my subbing experience, Eden took a turn for the worst. She starting coughing a lot, she was super congested, and on top of that she would have horrible meltdowns. Hours of crying, that were just unbearable for us. We had never seen Eden in such a state. It was almost discouraging to find out that everything looked good at the doctors, he attributed most of it to teething. He said all teeth come in differently, and that teething pain comes in waves which would explain hour long crying fits. Poor girl! Wow, were those canine teeth terrible!
As Eden finally started to improve, Mark became the next victim. He got hit hard and fast with what we could only guess was the Flu. Mark, the always on the go guy, was on the couch for about 5 days! His sickness came at a rough time, right before our youth retreat. Mark was actually on the couch all the way until we left for the retreat. I am so proud of him, and all that he endured to lead our teens. By all means he should have been on the couch, ALL weekend. However, whenever there was something fun going on with our teens, Mark was right there in the center of it. He put aside his fatigue, tiredness, and sickness to give his heart to ministering to our kids. Although, there were times I would say he didn't make wise decisions being as "active" as he was. I know his heart was in the right place. We had a fantastic weekend with our Youth Inc. kids. Our hearts were challenged by the Word, and we were united by many different games! :). I think it's safe to say we all had fun!
I just wanted to say how impressed we were with Lincoln Lake's program, Lake Effect. Our group was used to doing their own thing. But it was decided this year to branch out a bit, and do something with a bunch of other youth groups. From hockey, tubing, 9 square and more, we had a blast! Lincoln Lake took care of everything so we could just focus on learning, growing, and having fun with our teens :).

So it's been a busy, and sick filled month for us. As we wrap up February, we look forward to a healthier and warmer month ahead!

TEAM WORTH

A Word in Pictures: Winter

For those of you who have been following my "10 on 10" you may have noticed that there was no post on the 10th this month. We decided to changed things up a bit, and pick a theme for our pictures each month. Our new project is called  a "Word in Pictures". Appropriately this month's theme is "Winter". Enjoy!

Modeling in her sled :).

Shouting to a dog across the street :).

Taking a break on our walk. 

A pretty great drink for the winter time if you ask me :).

Enjoying watching  the neighbor's dog.  Sometimes staying inside during the snow is best.

Indoor play places are awesome in the winter!

Daddy and Eden sledding. This is Eden's 1st official sled ride!

I was totally and completely chilled to the bone. However, Eden looks pretty toasty warm :) .

Natural beauty.

Our front porch swing :).

So there ya have it! It took a while, but West Michigan finally got some great snow!  Hope you enjoyed looking at how I captured "Winter". Head on over to Arlee's blog to see her project for this month!

http://www.timandarlee.com/blog/2013/01/31/a-word-in-pictures-winter/

The New 5

This time last year, Team Worth was living out of boxes, making our goodbye rounds, and feeling a great sense of uncertianty as we faced down a brave new chapter in our lives.  Its strange to think that was only a year ago.  We have settled in to life in west Michigan and have become very busy here.  Now, we are taking on another big step in life: joining the staff at Bethel as the Director of Youth.

Last year, instead of setting vague and undefinable "resolutions", we decided to set 5 measurable goals and track them throughout the year.  We so enjoyed and grew from this practice that we are making it a tradition.  The remainder of this post will be spent revealing our 5 goals of 2013:

1. Read 4 Books
1. This goal is shared between Mark and Katie.  Unlike our goal last year, we will be reading separately this year.  We want to have 4 total books read, but that could be two each.  When one person finishes a book they will take time to help the other person understand what they learned and how their perspective was transformed.  In that way, both will gain from the knowledge.  The only other stipulation is that at least one book must be a parenting book and at least one book must be a marital book.
2. Exercise at least 120 minutes a week
1. Exercise will be defined as physical activities outside of our normal routine which sustain a raised heart for 20 minutes or more at a time.  Katie and I each have to get our own 120 minutes in.
3. To have at least 12 paid photo shoots this year for the photography business
1. This is pretty self explanatory, but if you would like to have Katie do a photo session for any occasion, contact us for more information by e-mailing Kaitlyn.Redeker.Photography@gmail.com, calling 609-519-3451, or leaving us a comment.
4. To deny ourselves of something each month of the year
1. Katie and I will each choose something to give up for each month.  We will give a reason each month for what we give up, but we also believe that the discipline of self denial is of profound value.  Self denial helps us to not be mastered by anything and reminds us that we can give up things we consider important when we need to.
2. January Mark: No tv in the morning after a third shift.  Mark has gotten into the bad habit of casually turning on the tv in the morning thinking it will only be on for about 15 minutes and then he will go to bed.  Unfortunately, 15 minutes usually turns into an hour and a half and that has really hurt his sleep pattern and time with family.
3. January Katie:  No turning on the computer in the morning until she is productive for at least 45 minutes.  Productivity can be anything purposeful from house chores to caring for Eden.  Katie enjoys jumping online to keep up with friends and family, but it is easy for this to be the first thing she does in the morning and for it to eat up a lot of time.
5. Do a new family excursion each month
1. This goal is the wonderful suggestion of Laura Ball.  Thanks Laura for helping us out!  At least one time a month we will, as a family, go out and have some brand new experience together.  These experiences should be big new things together (although not necessarily expensive).

These are our five measurable goals.  We will try to update monthly on how we are doing on each.  We would also like to challenge others to set 5 measurable goals and keep us updated on your progress.  To set good goals, define what you want to get better at, come up with a measurable way to grow in that area and then let us know what it is so we can encourage you along the way!

A happy and intentional new year to all of you!

-Team Worth

Team Worth '12 Review

Although it seems impossible, it is already time to recap our year.  2012 began, and ended, with significant changes for Team Worth. 

• We kicked off the year by moving two states away and living with our brother Ben.  No matter how generous and chill a person is, it isn't easy to live with anyone once you are married.  Still, Ben has made this a great experience! 

• We looked for a church and found one; which felt like we never left.  Diving into ministry at Bethel has been one of our greatest pleasures this year.

• Katie held a hand full of photo shoots and got a good start, gaining a lot of knowledge, on the road to starting her own photography business.

• God unexpectedly blessed us with another pregnancy, we loved our son for the short while that we had him.  Then in late November, for reasons beyond our ability to concieve, Noah passed away.  This event was marked deeply with the love of others pouring into our hurting hearts!  We were irreversably changed through Noah's death, but because of God's infinite grace and the love of His family, we have been changed for the better!

• We knew the joy of having our first child birthday party!  Eden's birthday was great enough to overshadow the 18 hour car ride with her first ear infection!  It was most enjoyable to watch Eden's face light up as we sang her happy birthday... she just knew it was all about her (a quality we may regret installing into her years down the road)!

• Finally, we were offered, and accepted, a part time position as the Director of Youth at Bethel Baptist Church in Fruitport MI.  This is a wonderful, part time opportunity for us to minister to the students in Fruitport, as well as gain some experience which should aid him in his desire to do full time ministry.  The position begins January 1st, but Mark will be maintaining his current employment at Hackley Hospital as our family's primary income.
  
  We are excited about this opportunity  but we know that ministry is as stressful as it is rewarding.  We ask that you keep us in prayer as we begin this new journey.  It is unspeakable how much we appreciate the prayers and support of those who care for us.  If God is not on our side, then we will be completely defeated; but if God is for us, who can stand against us?

That serves as a small sampling size of what transpired in Team Worth this year.  The overarching theme is undoubtedly God's faithfulness, for we faced some tough circumstances, but we are entering 2013 stronger and more united than ever!

As we close up this year, we wanted to also give you the final report on our 2012 goals, as depressing as this report will be.  We do consider it a small victory that we can even remember our goals at the end of the year!

1. Run a 5k together
1. This was just flat out a fail.  We almost never jogged together (maybe twice together all year).  We sort of gave up on the goal when we got pregnant...
2. FAIL
2. Read 2 Parenting Books Together
1. This also is a mega fail, but we grew from trying.  We learned that we are too busy and love relaxing when we do get time together too much to actually read any book all the way through out loud together.  Had we allowed ourselves to read separately, we likely would have finished at least one book.  Next year, our reading goal will be carried out separately.
2. FAIL
3. Pray Together 5 Nights a Week
1. If we gave you the stats on how rarely we actually prayed out loud together 5 nights a week, you would easily chalk this up as a fail... and to some degree we do.  But, for the couple of months that we did pray together often, it was one of the best experiences of our marriage!  Praying together brought our united focus back to God, it lowered our selfishness, and it encouraged our personal relationships with Him!  Because of those great benefits, even if only for two months, we call this a partial success.
2. Moderate Success
4. Update Our Family Blog Twice a Month
1. Finally we come to a goal which has been (other than one month) fully successful!  We have thoroughly enjoyed updating our blog with whatever is going on in our lives and we hope you have enjoyed reading it.  We feel as though we have 3 homes and only live in one of them, so we want to continue to blog so that those who love us from afar can keep up with us.
2. SUCCESS
5. Get Actively Involved in a Local Church Ministry
1. As has been previously stated, we (re)joined Bethel Baptist Church and are now very active in the youth, music, and nursery ministries!  Next year Mark will actually be on staff at Bethel and we are thrilled to start that new part of our journey.
2. SUCCESS

So in the end, we completed around 40 to 50 % of our 2012 Team Worth goals.  Stop on by the blog on January 1st and we will reveal our 5 2013 Goals, one of which we will select from suggestions given to us by our friends (so if you have a goal suggestion, let us know by commenting below or hit us up on facebook).

From Team Worth to all of those who read this blog and support us, we thank you from our hearts and we love you!  We would love to hear about your 2012!

December 10 on 10

2012 is coming to a close. I feel that as I get older the years go by faster! December is such an exciting time of year though. There is much to plan for, and look forward too. I wanted to capture getting ready for this holiday season at the Worths. So enjoy these pictures. I must admit they are not ALL taken the same day, so I guess  that's cheating ;). Decorating took more than 1 day around here, so in order to capture these moments they were spread out. Forgive me :).

The Tree!

Eden helping Daddy cut down the Christmas tree!

Family picture at the tree farm!

Eden loved the Christmas lights!

Time to deck the halls! :) Love getting out all the decorations!

This will be filled with candy soon!

Could you imagine if you were there? :)

Eden and Mommy decorating the tree!

Love this ornament :).

Happy Family!

Merry Christmas to all! May you enjoy this time of year as we remind ourselves of the babe born in a manger who came to save us all! 

Head on over to Arlee's blog and see her sweet pictures from Thanksgiving! 

http://www.timandarlee.com/blog/

Ryan Leigh

We have spent most of our recent blogs chronicling our loss of Noah Matthew.  We still hurt from the loss but life has returned to some sense of normality.  Today, however, we remember that we lost another child 2 years ago.  Ryan Leigh passed before 10 weeks old.


We light a candle in memory of Ryan and we cannot believe that it has only been 2 years.  On days like today we remember that life has not been all rainbows and butterflies, but that the sovereign grace of God has been a constant in our lives.  Jesus' love has never failed us yet, and we move forward in life with the confident hope that it never will!