My coworkers (who I loved absolutely dearly and who I know loved me too) were suddenly constantly joking around and saying things like:

“Oh I bet you are planning to quit soon! All the good teachers end up quitting as soon as they have a baby!”

I had many coworkers who were amazing mothers who worked full time as teachers, but still I could feel the judgment.

Everyone expected me, the new young mom, to now quit, because they had seen it plenty of times before.

And I did not want to prove them right.

But what they didn’t know is that I had already received super personal revelation that I needed to quit my job.

They didn’t realize how much I had wrestled with the Lord over the revelation, but couldn’t deny it.

And so here I was, about to resign from my job, with coworkers who were constantly joking about how I would probably quit soon.

Have I mentioned I don’t like being a stereotype?!

I honestly felt a little insecure and embarrassed about quitting.

I didn’t want to be labeled and judged.

As I prayed a lot about this though, my thoughts started to change.

The Lord quietly taught me that I can have confidence when I remember who I am and when I act with His power on His revelation.

I am a child of God.

He has a path for me.

And I can feel confidence and peace with that.

If other people want to judge me for following my personal revelation?

I can’t control that.

Jesus Himself experienced people doubting and trying to incorrectly label Him.

“Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22)

“If thou be the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3)

But Jesus wasn’t swayed by others mislabeling Him or doubting His worth.

And I don’t need to be either.

When I remember that I am a Child of God, I gain confidence to act on my personal revelation, with true authority, no matter what others may think.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Remembering who I am  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had a Sunday School teacher ask that question one time.

And I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

My prayers up to that point mainly had been listing off a bunch of things I’m grateful for, followed by a bunch of stuff I want.

Which is fine!

But I also knew deep down that I was missing out on something more with prayers.

The idea of having an actual conversation with God during my prayers sounded interesting!

It’s what it really means to “commune”.

Talking with God in an intimate and personal way.

And so when the teacher suggested it, I decided to try it that night.

Instead of just talking, I also tried listening and responding.

It was an incredible experience.

Absolutely life-changing.

And it’s become something I’ve continued to try to include in my prayers ever since.

And I’ve improved so much, but I still have more work to do.

Jesus communed with God, too!

“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and had communed with God, he was afterwards an hungered, and was left to be tempted of the devil.” (Matthew 4:2, including JST)

Christ, our perfect example, left the crowds and His friends to be alone and commune with God. ⁣

What could we do better to make time to commune with God regularly?

Get up a little earlier? Stay up later? Set a specific time? Be more flexible? ⁣

Even when other people need and want our help…

I know that we can follow the Savior’s example to make it a priority to be alone and to commune with God.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“They forsook all, and followed him.” (Luke 5:11)

I believe Peter walked away from comfort.

From a predictable life.

From being focused on himself.

From being worried about what others thought.

“I am learning that Heavenly Father is more interested in my growth as a disciple of Jesus Christ than He is with my comfort.” — Michelle D. Craig

Sometimes I get stuck thinking “My goal is to be able to get all this stuff done so that I can relax!”

And I keep getting taught the lesson that this isn’t how life works.

I mean, relaxing is great and totally 100% necessary along the way.

But God isn’t hoping that I’ll finally finish my to-do list so that I can have more free time to catch up on shows.

He wants me to become better!

He wants me more refined. He wants me serving. He wants me loving. He wants me mourning and comforting and overcoming.

And those emotions… feel like a lot of work sometimes.

But the Lord loves effort, right?

So what will we be willing to forsake?

Are we willing to be uncomfortable? To step outside our comfort zones? To truly love? To develop our gifts?

In a gradual process, we can start to “forsake” having the ultimate goal of COMFORT.

And instead, we can allow Jesus to lead us to His ideal goal: GROWTH.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Forsaking comfort first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was super committed.

I deleted apps that sucked my time.

I set time limits.

I was ready.

But then I noticed that even though I had made the goal…

Whenever I had a spare moment, I’d still pull my phone out of my pocket and find something to still distract me!

Something had to change in order for it to work.

I realized that the only way I was going to improve was if I got rid of the temptation.

I started plugging my phone into the charger in a different room.

And funny enough, my success rate suddenly improved!

It’s not a sin to be tempted.

Jesus, the perfect person, was tempted in three different ways as He finished communing with God through fasting.

But we can always control how we react to those temptations, right?

And, as usual, our Savior gives us the perfect example.

He responded with:

“Get thee hence, Satan.”⁣ (Matthew 4:10)

He got rid of the temptation.

He asked it to leave.

He made it so that He wouldn’t have to endure the temptation for too long.

I can attest to this being true.

It is so hard to have to constantly resist temptation.

When I’ve used my creativity and agency to get rid of the temptation (as reasonably as possible), I am much more likely to be able to cast out my distractions and refocus on what matters most.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Get thee hence first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.