Martha welcomed Jesus into her home and was “cumbered about much serving”.

She was doing fantastic acts of service. ⁣

And then there was her sister, Mary.

Mary was just sitting there at the Lord’s feet, listening to Him. ⁣

So Martha got a little frustrated that she was the only one doing any work.

She requested the Savior to dismiss her sister so that she could help with all the things that needed to get done.

“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful.”⁣ (Luke 10:41-42)

Are we “careful and troubled” about the wrong things?⁣

There are so so SO many little things to worry about.

And as a problem-solver, I like to focus on the problems.

Think about the problem, talk about the problem, and try to solve it.

And honestly it’s not bad.

I like being the problem-solver.

But do you know what naturally takes up a lot of my brain when I focus on problems?

The problems, of course.

You know what I’ve tried to do more lately?

NOT trying to solve problems.

Turning off the parenting podcasts and unfollowing that news analysis account. Stopping talking about everything that’s going wrong.

And instead, focusing on Jesus and my blessings.

THAT’S what I want taking up most of my brain space.

THAT’S what I want my mind to ponder about in quiet moments.

Jesus. His goodness. His teachings. And what that means for me.

And trying to do this more has actually been the best problem-solving I’ve ever done.

Because suddenly all those little problems don’t really matter anymore.

And the big ones that are left don’t seem quite so daunting.

I’ve got Jesus to help me. So I’m going to try to stay by His side and trust with all my heart that He is the real answer to every problem.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post So focused on Jesus first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

COMPASSION.

Have you noticed it in the parable of the Good Samaritan?

First, a priest and a Levite pass this “half-dead” man on the side of the road.

Probably pretty good people.

Probably with legitimate excuses to be somewhere.

Probably knew this guy didn’t really have a chance, or maybe even deserved the trouble he was in. ⁣

But then…

“A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him”. (Luke 10:33)

The Samaritan passes the man and is filled with COMPASSION.

How are we doing with feeling compassion towards other people?

When we see a homeless individual on the side of the road, do we make fun of them and make some snide remark?

Or are we filled with COMPASSION?

When someone tells us they are going to do something and then they don’t, do we think negative thoughts about them or even “tell the story” to someone else?

Or are we filled with COMPASSION?

When a family member disappoints you, do you take it personally and add drama to it?

Or are you filled with COMPASSION?

But this Good Samaritan didn’t even stop at compassion!

After he was filled with COMPASSION, he acted.

He got right to work to solve the problem. ⁣

I love that. ⁣

When other people aren’t acting the way we think they should, let’s be filled with COMPASSION and then GET TO WORK. ⁣

When bad things happen to people we know, let’s be filled with COMPASSION and then GET TO WORK. ⁣

When we see people in need, let’s be filled with COMPASSION and then GET TO WORK.

COMPASSION and then GET TO WORK.

It’s a beautiful duo.

A divine duo.

The perfect combination to make this famous Samaritan “good”.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Compassion in the Good Samaritan first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I recently got her a new purple leotard that she was so excited to wear to her next dance class.

It came in the mail, and she tried it on right away.

But when it was time to leave for dance class, we suddenly couldn’t find this leotard!

We tore apart the house looking.

Quin was devastated when we had to leave for class without it.

Guess what we did as soon as we got home?

We looked for it again!

We still couldn’t find it.

Each morning for the next few days, she would ask about the leotard, and we would keep looking everywhere.

No leotard.

Six days later, we discovered the purple leotard scrunched up inside a swimsuit at the bottom of a laundry basket.

Of course.

But she was so happy that we had found it, and the search was over!

That purple leotard was important to my daughter, and she was not going to stop looking for it.

I think of other times when we’ve lost a little plastic toy.

The amount of effort spent searching for that lost toy has been minimal.

And when I’ve lost car keys, I’ve put all my efforts into finding them immediately!

How much we look for something when it is lost seems to indicate how important it is to us.

It is not our Father’s will that ANYONE should perish or be lost.

⁣”For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matthew 18:11)

He’s not shrugging His shoulders saying we shouldn’t have wandered off.

He’s not casually remembering to look for us every once in a while.

He’s not forgetting about us because it’s been so long.

No, He is here to save everyone who is lost!

He won’t stop on His end. We are just too important.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The purple leotard first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Jesus asked us to become as little children.

“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

And after being around kids for a while, you start to wonder: “Yeah, but not ALL the time, right?!”

Yes, kids can be humble, patient, and full of love.

Those are great qualities to try to emulate!

But there’s also a whole lot of immaturity and defiance and unawareness.

One thing I’ve noticed though is that kids have to learn how to listen to their parents, even when it doesn’t make sense to them.

In the last couple weeks, I’ve had a kid upset because they had to get strapped into their car seat for a long drive, another kid was upset because I wouldn’t give them a lollipop for breakfast, and another was upset because a block wasn’t fitting into the hole she thought it should go in.

From a parent’s perspective, this all makes sense.

My kids need to learn how to be safe.

They need to learn proper nutrition.

And they need to learn that some things just won’t work, no matter how hard they try.

But kids have a limited perspective which makes this frustrating sometimes for them!

I’ve realized that this is actually an essential part of becoming “like a child”!

Learning that we don’t know the bigger picture and trusting that SOMEDAY, we will see why what we had to deal with was necessary.

My kids may grumble about seatbelt requirements, breakfast foods, and toys, but they actually do a great job at also recognizing that there are adults who know more than they do, who are ready to guide and protect and assist.

While there are so many great ways to become childlike, this is one that might be a little less obvious but still so important:

We can be children who trust our Father in Heaven to know what lessons we need to learn when our wills aren’t aligned.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A new childlike way  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.