As to be expected at 1:00 am, I was a little dazed at first. My immediate instinct was to soothe him in any way possible. I put my hand on his chest. I fished around for his pacifier and tried to put that in his mouth.

After a minute, I realized he wasn’t going back to sleep, and was ready to eat.

I pulled my body up from the comfy sheets, propped up my pillows, pulled him from his bassinet, and fed him for a half hour in the dark.  

Motherhood is a sacrifice. A sacrifice of my body. My comfort. My sleep. My time. My mental resources. 

But this sacrifice refines me into a more selfless, more kind, more fulfilled, and hopefully more Christlike person. 

Could I ever ignore or forget my son’s cries in the middle of the night? It’s hard to even imagine. 

And yet, our Savior will forget us even less than a mother and her newborn son.

When we cry out in pain, his immediate instinct is to comfort. Except he knows exactly how we need to be comforted each time. 

He has given us a greater sacrifice than even a mother who has birthed a child. His body was broken for us. His emotional energy was depleted for us. His mortal life was ended for us. 

He has sacrificed so much for us, that he could never forget us. 

He has graven us upon the palms of his hands. 

Do we remember that we can cry out to him? Do we trust that he really will respond every time in exactly the way that we need? Do we know that his sacrifice for us forges a connection that can never be lost?

Or do we think we can just figure this out alone. That no one would help us even if we asked. That no one really cares about our well-being.

The Lord will not forget us. He has never. And he will never. 

He is aware of our every action and thought and move. He knows when we are in pain. He knows when we are confused. He knows when we just need a break. 

All we need to do is trust that he really is there. At 1:00 am, or whenever we need him, he is there.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Can a woman forget? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I knew immediately what my topic would be, because there had been a subject that had been weighing on my mind for a while.

But here was the catch – we could ONLY use scriptures or quotes from General Conference talks as the “research” for our paper. No outside thinking. No other books. No commentaries. No blog posts. 

Our professor wanted us to get very clear on what the DOCTRINE was behind whatever topic we had chosen. 

Just the scriptures and General Conference talks (which are our most modern scriptures). Pure doctrine. 

This was LIFE CHANGING as I pushed all of the internet’s random well-intentioned thoughts and speculations aside on my topic, and I really dove into what the doctrine was. 

And it was quite a bit different than what I had previously thought. 

It lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. I could see the pure truths.

The “philosophies of men, mingled with scripture” are not always from ill-intentioned people trying to lead us astray. Most of the time, they look like honest conversations with friends where no one is quite clear on the doctrine and it turns into speculation. Or a social media post from an acquaintance who is putting their opinion out there, and you think, “yeah, that sounds right!”. 

But when we turn to the PURE doctrine and what the SCRIPTURES say (which includes modern revelation), we discover that they are the best source of LEARNING and for our PROFIT. 

It was a long process to gather relevant quotes and scriptures and connect them all together – but I honestly can not overstate the clarity that came from stepping back from “things I had heard” and jumping into the source of learning and profit. 

Likening the scriptures, both ancient and modern, unto ourselves is not just a nice thing to do to make our scripture study more exciting. 

It is ESSENTIAL if we are going to comb through the cacophony of voices and find true clarity.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weeding out the philosophies of men first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I think most of us intellectually understand that progress in these areas is made through many small, consistent actions.

Practicing the same measure over and over. Getting up early every day and trying to push ourselves a little harder.

But why do so many people quit piano lessons or stop working out?

Because it’s really hard to not see immediate results.

It takes a lot of maturity to understand that practicing that measure over and over or doing that one lift over and over will actually help us improve in the long run.

So what about our spiritual growth?

Does it really matter if we go to church EVERY week? Read our scriptures and pray EVERY day? Fulfill EVERY calling we receive? Volunteer to serve EVERY chance we can?

It takes SPIRITUAL MATURITY to know that yes, every single time we flex our spiritual muscles, we are building our faith even stronger.

It takes SPIRITUAL MATURITY to know that immediate results are almost never expected.

It takes SPIRITUAL MATURITY to know that these habits will become easier and a part of our nature the more that we practice them.

It’s the small things. It’s the Sunday School answers. It’s the little habits that we try to build.

But it’s also that spiritual maturity to know that God will take our minuscule daily offerings and use them to transform us into more willing and humble individuals.

We turn our heart over to the Lord little by little, and eventually the sacrifices add up to the greatest change in our desires.

We just have to trust that the small things really will make a difference.

And then great things will happen.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Spiritual maturity first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Think of Lehi and Sariah’s entire family, wandering in the wilderness. They read the records of Moses and the children of Israel.

Nephi pointed out to his brothers all of the miracles that the children of Israel experienced.

• Manna in the wilderness
• A pillar of light at night
• Red Sea parted

And his brothers seem to agree with this. It’s easy to see the crazy miracles from the past in the scriptures.

Buuuuuut what did Nephi say about THEIR travel through the wilderness in 1 Nephi 17:12-13?!

• food is made sweet without cooking
• light in the wilderness
• led towards the promised land

And his brothers could not see the hand of God in their own journey. They were SURE that they were being led around by delusional people.

This sounds ridiculous from our perspective, right?!

Nephi’s brothers could see the miracles from the past in the scriptures, as bright as day.

And we can see the miracles from the book of Nephi, as bright as day.

So… what are we missing in our own lives?

What amazing, obvious miracles do we experience so constantly that we stop seeing them as blessings straight from heaven?

• constant companionship and guiding voice of the Spirit
• powerful temple covenants and promises
• priesthood power and blessings

How did Nephi keep the right perspective DURING the miracles? How do WE not lose track of the mighty miracles in our life?

By communing with the Lord often. By living a life of gratitude.

By allowing the Lord to show us His hand.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Do we ignore the miracles in our life? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And guess who said each one 

Enduring a pregnancy, delivering a baby, and breastfeeding an infant in the wilderness?!

Undeniably difficult. Do not sign me up for that.

Both Nephi and his brothers talked about the great affliction that this was for their wives.

But what is the difference you see in their two different perceptions of the same difficult experience?

Nephi, and I would assume the righteous wives of the group, found the Lord’s blessings of strength and comfort all around them during their immense trial.

They lived on raw meat, yet they could still breastfeed! Their physical strength was boosted! They were able to bear their burdens without constantly complaining!

HUGE blessings of comfort and strength from a loving Heavenly Father who knew how hard this task was that they had been asked to endure.

And what about Laman and Lemuel and their wives?

Everything that these pregnant and then new mothers had to endure? It would have been better if they had died.

EVERYONE is asked to endure hard things. Very hard things.

I think it really is important to note that Nephi did NOT brush this aside and say, “There were a bunch of blessings! It really was easy when we adjusted our attitude!”

Everyone agreed that this was a HUGE affliction.

BUT the affliction was made easier to bear when they looked for the blessings within the trial.

The Lord was there blessing them the whole time. But would they take the time to look for his hand?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Blessings in affliction first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.