Warming spring days bring a myriad of changes on our farm every year.

Rising temperatures warm the soil.

Last season’s garlic planting sprouts through a generous layer of mulch.

Our chickens resume their vigorous egg production with a move outside of the winter quarters in the high tunnel greenhouse.

Mild days mean the children can venture outdoors more frequently to conduct the usual fort-building, puddle-jumping, mud-caking activities all kids love, made even more appealing by the inactivity of long winter days so recently passed.

Yet, while the lovely spring weather becons and stirs us to activity on the homestead, a part of me is hesitant to leave the cozy, peaceful days of wintertime behind. Maybe I’m the minority as one who loves the cold season of Northeast Ohio, but it is a welcome respite from the busy, albeit joyful, season of planting, harvesting, and general buzz of projects that accompany a homestead.

On a recent walk to the barn for the kids to tend their pigs, I started making mental calculations of the projects that’ve accumulated after harvest season last year.

The rusty equipment awaiting repairs. Animal fencing in need of repairs. Barn roofing in need of repairs.

The list grew long and daunting in mere minutes. Overwhelm started to settle in.

But then I looked up and noticed our two youngest kids wading through a mudpuddle together, oblivious to all the to-do’s and unfinished projects.

A simple, yet poignant reminder to slow down and appreciate the moments in the here and now. Perhaps it’s easier said than done for some of us on most days, but one that’s well worth the effort.

Maybe all the projects won’t be completed when we’d like. Maybe we won’t accomplish all of the farming goals we have for this year. But remembering to appreciate the small moments of joy and progress makes the bigger challenges seem within our reach.

Whatever springtime looks like at your home, whether starting seedlings, taking the kids to sports activities, or simply wandering outdoors on an adventure, I hope that you take time to enjoy the simple beauties around us and the small improvements that can pass by unnoticed.

One thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. Psalms 27:4