Muddling Along
by Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard

Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you’d stayed in bed? I remember a day like that.

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The dishwasher had malfunctioned, flooding our house all night as we slept. We didn’t know until one of our sleepy-eyed children came into our bedroom early in the morning and said, “Mom and Dad! It’s raining in the basement!”

The room that was hardest hit was the storage room where we’d recently carefully stacked and dated our pride and joy, a two-year supply of food. In a mad dash to save anything we could, every member of our family hauled each bucket and box out into the back yard to dry out. It took hours.

Just when we finished, we heard a clap of thunder, looked up, and felt several drops splash in our eyes. Then the heavens were opened and the few drops immediately became a downpour. We regrouped and quickly hauled our soggy mess into the garage.

When we finally got every box and bucket into the garage, my son came running to me in tears, informing me his pet rabbit was dead. After finally getting the children off to school, my daughter called from campus saying she couldn’t remember where she’d parked the car at BYU. Then my other first-grader had an accident that required a change of clothing. You get the picture.

“I can’t handle any more,” I said to my husband.

“You don’t have to handle it,” my husband replied. “There’s no rule book somewhere that says you have to go through life handling everything. Just muddle, Jan. I’ve been muddling for years and no one can tell the difference.”

Muddle, I thought. I think I can muddle.

Now every time I’m feeling overwhelmed, I remember my husband’s timely advice. Frankly, I’ve been muddling ever since and so far no one can tell the difference, just like he promised.

I remember a day when I walked into the kitchen to find my young son surrounded by the large white buckets where I stored our flour, sugar, and pasta. He was busy scooping— sugar into the flour—rice into the sugar—pasta into the rice. The whole kitchen looked like a white billowing cloud except for my son’s innocent grin and two large blue eyes staring up at me. “Look, Mom. I’m the bread maker!” my young son said as he looked up at me.

Suddenly it dawned on me that whenever I made bread I pulled out all the white buckets and started scooping. He was trying to be like me.

My feelings of frustration melted into love. I was so proud of him for trying. As we got busy cleaning the kitchen, I realized God loves us like that. No matter how big the mess or mistake we’ve made, God provides us with a Savior to help us clean it up. That is the essence of muddling.

Muddling is not mediocrity. Muddling allows us to stop keeping up appearances or worrying that we’ll never measure up. Muddling is accepting our humanness and inadequacies. Muddling is realizing there are some messes only Christ can clean up. And muddling is seeing our worth through God’s eyes and never giving up hope that things will work out.

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Find this and more insightful stories in 15 Secrets to a Happy Home from Spring Creek Book Company.

Spring Creek Book Company

Comments on this article	ADD COMMENT
Doing Our Best Posted by Catherine from Douglas, Georgia I liked this article. It reminds me of what I aways tell everyone, "Just do your best and God will do the rest". This article should be ispiring to each of us because we all have days like that. Thanks for sharing.
Muddle Posted by Mary Beth from North Carolina I loved it. What a great perspective. I only wish I had learned it earlier. What stress I could have saved myself from experiencing.
Muddling Along Posted by SherRon from Utah Thank you for your article on muddling. i've been muddling for years and didn't know it. Knowing that God understands our muddling is a great comfort.
Muddling is a mothers survival technique! Posted by Deborah from Derby, England This article reminded me of an Ensign articles from years ago about "quality time and quantity time" with your children. It talked about how our children learn when they see us do everyday things that we dont realise they are aware of. In the same way our children learn how we feel about the gospel as they see us go about our daily lives. I totally agree that there are some messes only the saviour can clean up and I sometimes wonder how he has time do deal with anyone elses!
We can be enough! Posted by Cynthia from Arcadia, CA I so appreciate this article because it reminds us to see beyond what is happening and to see the bigger picture. This is a reminder we all need. Plus, I was laughing out loud. Thank you!
A Simple Thought Posted by Kalia from Nauvoo, Illinois I really liked the simpleness of your message. It didn't require a great amount of time, or effort to read or understand. Yet it provided just a brief, small "aha" moment for me. Thank you.
Muddling through Posted by colleen from new hampshire I truly enjoyed this article. It helped me with perspective,something that feels a bit foggy to me right now.I know how true it is that there are some messes that only Christ can clean up and yet sometimes I try to do it all myself. And what I've found when I try to "clean it up myself" is that I usually make a bigger mess. Thank you for this sweet reminder of our Savior and his abilities and desire to help me.
I muddle too Posted by Kathy from Thatcher, AZ I loved this article. My philosophy for years has been "fake it 'til you make it" which is the same as muddling, as near as I can tell. Super Mom is a myth. We need to quit being so hard on ourselves. Just do your best and enjoy the journey.
Muddling Along Posted by Doris from Scottsdale, Arizona I loved this article! It is so surprising how often we put ourselves in the position of feeling inadequate just because we can't do everything! Thank you so much for putting the principal of "enduring" into such relatable words.
An answer to a prayer. Posted by Toni from Waterloo, New York My husband and I have had a very long and hard last few years. We have experienced the death of a daughter (my step-daughter), job loss and several surgeries. On top of all of this, my husband and I both decided to go back to school. With two young children, this was not an easy decision. Long story short, I have not always handled the stress well....having lost my patience many times especially with my oldest and "toughest" child. I had been praying to know how I stood with Heavenly Father...Had I really been forgiven? Could I really move forward and let go of the guilt? I had just been pondering these questions after a long walk when I happened to open a bulk email...and read your article. Thank you soooo much. I know I have "muddled" things up pretty good...but I do know that the Savior is there for me to help "clean" things up. May God Bless you and your family.
Amen! Posted by Crystal from AZ Jan, you are so right on! It is more fun to muddle, too! You don't have to worry about being a "perfectionist", just BE. Thanks!