I asked around to everyone who could possibly help me out.

No solution yet.

The deadline was approaching and I still didn’t have an answer.

I prayed a lot.

I prayed and then followed through on every single action that came to my mind.

And still, no solution.

The deadline day came…

And passed.

Nothing.

I kept praying.

I was doing everything that I could do. And so I really leaned into my faith.

“Heavenly Father, I know that the perfect solution is out there, and I have faith that it will happen whenever it needs to happen best. In the meantime, I will do everything I can on my end.”

It was really peaceful.

When friends would ask me if I had found a solution yet, I got in the habit of responding, “Nope, not yet, but I have faith it will come soon!”

Two weeks.

Two very long weeks after the deadline had passed.

It took hard work to actively choose faith that a solution was on its way every single one of those days.

And then, it came.

A better solution than I could have even imagined.

Now, I could tell quite a few stories where I have NOT used my faith in God to bring me patience while I wait. Plenty of examples.

But this recent experience was really cool for me.

I felt buoyed up. Even as I “stepped into the darkness” for those two weeks, I visualized taking those dark steps, but still landing on something.

I just couldn’t see what it was yet, but I knew I eventually would.

“Waiting patiently on the Lord” (D&C 98:2) is something we are all asked to do at various times.

And I’ve learned through personal experience of this beautiful tie between patience and faith.

Patience, the kind of patience we have to endure when we know we’ve down absolutely as much as we can…

Patience is really just having true faith that God is taking care of things in whatever way He chooses.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post True patience first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had work to do like crazy, my house was a mess, and my kids needed a whole lot of attention.

Add to that the fact that between long work hours and church service, time with my husband was getting sparse, too.

I just felt a lot of concern.

And then I opened my Doctrine and Covenants to start studying section 100 in preparation for writing some posts and podcast episodes.

The very first verse pierced my heart.

“Your families are well; they are in mine hands”. D&C 100:1

That line was meant for me, right there, right then.

Tears filled my eyes and I prayed for a little more understanding.

I felt peace.

I felt comfort.

I felt reassurance that we were doing good things and that this busy season would pass soon.

And then I sat in amazement.

For some reason, I was waiting for a prompting of something to change to make the situation better.

But instead, I just felt like I was being cheered on and comforted.

It was almost like a little tight squeeze. A little “it’s all going to be okay”.

It wasn’t a solution to all my “problems”. Instead it was a comfort and a love that elevated me to handle the load a little bit better.

This verse might be totally insignificant to you right now, and that’s fine.

I’m sure I’ve read it before and never thought twice about it.

And that’s what I will forever love about the scriptures.

He speaks. The Spirit inspires. My God comforts.

In exactly the way I needed it on that day.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Your family is gonna be okay first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Your son has been severely injured in a car accident. We’ve got him and are taking him to the hospital.”

The next few weeks of her family’s lives were overwhelmed with hospital visits, prayers, and uncertainty.

But her community rallied around her family with constant meals, support, random treats, and love.

The young man started to recover.

And then suddenly, the truth came out.

He had caused the accident.

He had been using his cell phone and lost control.

The facts of the situation were still the same.

A mother overwhelmed with grief and fear that she might lose her son; a family dealing with living life partially at home and partially in a hospital bed; a stream of prayers for his recovery.

But her community had to make a decision.

Would knowing that he caused his own problem due to great neglect change how they would support the family?

Luckily, that answer was a resounding NO.

In D&C 101:9, the Lord teaches:

“Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy.”

Notwithstanding their sins.

Their sins were to blame for the situation.

And yet that still didn’t stop the Lord from being filled with compassion for them.

And that’s how I believe God is with us, too.

He isn’t only giving us His compassion and goodness if we have been perfect, not causing any of the issues we have to deal with in life.

He knows that we make decisions all the time that make life harder for ourselves.

We cause so much disconnect, jealousy, pride, anger, contention.

And yet He will still have compassion for us.

He will not leave us comfortless, even if we are to blame for the discomfort in the first place.

Mercy reigns.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Whose fault? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The idea that when things are going generally well, people tend to forget God and become prideful.

So then He sends a variety of difficult things to make life tough enough that people start to call upon God again.

As they call upon God again, the trial is eventually removed, but then, unfortunately, the cycle starts to repeat when life becomes so good that they stop turning to God again.

And let me just reassure you that this pattern did not only occur during the Book of Mormon times.

In D&C 101:8, the Lord chastises the saints:

“In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me.”

I, unfortunately, can relate to this.

When life is throwing everything at me, and I’ve got tough stuff to handle, I find myself constantly turning to the Lord in prayer and finding any little way to bring the spirit into my life so that I can feel guidance and peace.

Pleading. Dependent. Longing.

But when things are going just fine, I tend to lose that sense of gravity and seriousness.

That desperation to connect with God.

So how do we break out of that pride cycle?

How do we avoid only seeking God when things are difficult?

The two answers I’ve found in my life?

Gratitude and humility.

When I keep in perspective what He has done for me, and how much power He has at all times, it becomes that much easier to stay dependent on His counsel.

Is life feeling pretty rough right now?

Plead to the Lord. Ask for help. Lean on Him.

Is life feeling alright right now?

Try leaning into gratitude so that you can remember just how dependent we always are on Him who created everything.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Only in the hard times first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My roommates walked in with a slurpee and a soda for me to cheer me up.

But I wasn’t in the mood.

I was a grump for the next few days.

In my mind, my friends were asking too many questions and being too overwhelming.

I just wanted to be alone and deal with my emotions from the door that had just been shut in my life.

I kept being sad, and I didn’t want to stop.

I realized I didn’t want to be comforted yet.

A few days later, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

NOW I was ready for comfort and support from friends and family.

Now I was ready for treats and parties and talking about it.

Now I was ready to pray for comfort and to turn to the scriptures.

I’ve learned that we have to be ready for comfort from others.

I’m sure that as soon as something heartbreaking and difficult happens in our lives, our Heavenly Father is ready to send His Spirit as a comforter.

Sometimes, we are ready right away and crave that comfort.

And other times, we need some space before we are really ready to accept that comfort.

D&C 98:1 “Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, LET your hearts be comforted”.

We have a part to play in receiving comfort, in allowing our hearts to feel the comfort that God is willing to offer.

It’s okay if we aren’t ready yet.

But when we are, we can let our hearts feel the comfort that our kind Heavenly Father wishes to give to us.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Let your heart feel comfort first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.