I love change! Do you?I love changing my hair color… seriously, I’ve had like every color of hair. I love changing scenery…traveling makes my heart sing! I love changing how rooms are set up…my office now has been a bedroom, nursery, bait room, and now an office! I love changing up my daily routine…but I am learning to love a checklist. I love changing up my clothing style…from hoodie and flip flops to a boho look …with flip flops! I love the changing seasons in Illinois. I love that my family gets to experience spring, summer, fall and winter. With change comes challenges.I don’t necessarily have a favorite season but any day with warm sunshine is a good one for me!! My biggest challenge in the later winter months is dealing with the lack of sunshine. With shorter days and longer spells of darkness, I can find myself getting in a slump — wanting to watch tv, lacking the desire to exercise, getting sleepy really early, and losing my extra “umph”. Believe it or not, having a lamb that needed bottle fed helped me not get into too much of a slump and to get out of bed early everyday - even if it was still dark outside. Making sure RaeRae got her morning bottle around 6:00am gave me an extra sense of purpose…and I love to be needed…so knowing she needed extra nurturing replaced the winter blues for me this year. February was really cold and there was a lot of snow…like a lot A LOT of snow for this part of the state. In true Illinois fashion, it went from below 0 to well above freezing in the matter of just days and all that snow melted. Our little farm looked like we had built moats all around… the chicken coop was surrounded by water and the chickens chose to not come out, the pig’s little mud hole became a giant one, and the sheep huddled together in their little barn because the lot was so muddy…. everywhere was muddy! The challenge in the change of weather became where do we put all of these muddy boots and coats? Five people x 5 pair of boots = we need to figure out a system before our house looks like a pig pen!! On rainy days, we’d rinse boots off in the upstairs bathtub and let them dry out in there. If it wasn’t raining and blowing from the southwest we could put the boots on the front porch. It was one of those things that I had to learn to let go of. Our back steps were going to be sloppy for a season, the dog’s paws were going to have to be wiped multiple times a day, and the laundry wasn’t going to be any less piled up than usual. Now spring has sprung…and it’s still wet…but we have more of a system and Curtis built a little handy dandy boot rack for outside. I try to keep a positive perspective and realize there’s a lot worse things in life than muddy back steps, muddy doors, muddy bathtubs….ha ha…have I said muddy enough??? Another recent change has been RaeRae is no longer being bottle fed! She’s weened and is acting more and more like a sheep as opposed to a puppy. Since I do love to nurture, it was hard hearing her “cry” for her bottle but she was thriving on grass, hay and feed so I knew she was ok. She is still super friendly and runs to the backdoor any chance she gets. I’m thankful for the role she had during the long, cold winter days, so of course, she’ll always hold a special place in our hearts here on the farm. How do you respond to change? Do you embrace things in and out of your control?Is there a season when you typically lose your umph?I encourage you to view all angles of your circumstances. Write down 5 things you are grateful for each morning. Find a way to serve someone else. We can’t control the weather but we can control our attitudes and actions.The different seasons give me appreciation for the next one that’s around the corner. I hope whatever season you are in that you can find JOY & GRATITUDE! Embracing change,Rach Scripture: Matthew 20:28For even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.Quote: “Embrace the seasons and cycles of your life. There is magic in change.” - Bronnie Ware Farm Life