Mine recently has been this theme of LACK vs ABUNDANCE.

On a personal level, when I think that I don’t have enough time to get something done, I act panicky.

Or when I think I’m running out of time to help my children grow into good people, I am not happy.

Or even simple things, like trying to ration bananas because I think we are going to run out… but then they all grow brown before we eat them all.

But on a spiritual level, LACK shows up everywhere, too.

Feeling like I don’t have enough energy to get the things done that I need to in order to feed my spiritual connection with God.

Feeling like I don’t have enough time to fulfill my calling.

Feeling like I can’t ever find time to go to the temple.

And this week is the perfect week to explore that LACK vs ABUNDANCE tension because so many of these Old Testament prophets used these same exact concepts to show the contrast between people who made and kept covenants with pure intent with God, and those who forgot everything spiritual.

In fact, Ezekiel had a famous vision that dove into this idea more.

Dry bones are one of the best representations of LACK that I can think of.

No water. No life. No beauty. No joy.

And what did the Lord ask Ezekiel to say to these dry bones?

“O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:4)

That is where we find abundance.

In the word of the Lord.

The law of the Lord.

The commandments.

The scriptures.

The covenants we make in the temple.

Slowly but surely, as we stick to the word of the Lord, He turns our lack into abundance.

Service becomes a joy that we certainly have time for.

There will always be more great opportunities to teach your children.

Attending the temple becomes a top priority.

The scriptures become your lifeline to heaven.

You feel generous with sharing everything that you have, no matter how small it may seem to the world.

So rise up, dry bones!

It’s time to take life, drink some everlasting water, and hear the word of the Lord to live in true abundance!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Camp Ritchie is right by a lake, and surrounded by a majestic forest.

But its most defining features are the large granite boulders.

They are everywhere!

They serve as seats, steps, pathways, foundations, and places to repel down.

Each of my six years attending camp there, I could count on the granite boulders to be there.

They didn’t change.

I remember a leader of mine telling our group on a warm, starry night that she was grateful Christ was the immovable, unchanging foundation of her testimony, just like the rocks that were always waiting in the same place, year after year, at Camp Ritchie.

But I was never the same girl up at camp.

I think of 12-year-old Cali running into camp looking for a good time.

I think of 14-year-old Cali walking into camp with some big questions about whether God was real or not.

I think of 16-year old Cali hoping camp would give her some direction and peace, expecting answers with a sure testimony.

I changed so much at and between girls’ camps.

And the boulders stayed the same.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart… and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

We don’t want stony, stagnant hearts.

Hearts that stay the same over the years.

Hearts that “are just the way that they are”.

We want moldable hearts of real flesh, that grow and change and feel and love and hurt and heal.

But all this change is only possible because of the steadfast, unchanging rock of our redeemer.

He is the rock we can depend on to remove the stony places from our heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

“I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me”. (Ezekiel 33:7)

Prophets have weighty calls.

But… I’m not totally off the hook.

I do have responsibility for teaching some people.

Who do I have stewardship over?

My family members should always be my top priority.

I want to do my absolute best to make sure they know how to make and keep covenants and why I think it’s the best decision that they can make.

But I also have the opportunity to fulfill my calling.

Formal callings like teaching and duties like ministering assignments.

I want to also make sure I speak openly about Jesus and help them to come closer to Him by interacting with me.

And then even in casual settings.

When I speak with friends, when I interact with someone at the store, when I post on social media.

I can find opportunities to bear simple or unspoken testimonies of what I believe and how that affects who I am.

Even though we don’t have the same weight that prophets do…

Even though I don’t have to declare everything I know to the whole world…

I can still do my part to make sure I am sharing God’s words, teachings, and love with everyone I come in contact with!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Watchmen for my own people first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had this question come to my mind recently, and it has completely reframed how I, an already devoted Christian, have seen some issues in my life.

Do I really, really believe that following commandments, keeping covenants, and living by certain principles will make me a better person?

Or do I sometimes think that I know better?

We talk a lot about this idea of having the law “written upon our hearts”.

Really believing Jesus with our whole heart.

Jeremiah taught the same idea:

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

But what does it really mean to have the law, the commandments, our covenants, written in our hearts?

I think it means being able to wholeheartedly answer that first question with a resounding YES.

Believing that 5 more minutes of being in the scriptures and communing with God is better for my life than 5 more minutes of sleep.

Trusting that taking that first awkward step toward reconciliation is better than sitting in contention.

Knowing that turning off that TV show will be better for my soul than the few fleeting moments of entertainment.

Hoping that attending the temple will far outweigh anything else I could be doing during that time.

I would bet that the majority of people “know” with our minds that it’s good to keep the commandments.

It’s good to follow God’s law and keep our covenants.

But Jeremiah is encouraging us to think…

Do we REALLY, deep down, in our hearts, believe that life is better with Jesus?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Better with Jesus? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Which somehow immediately signaled to my children that this was now a toy to play with.

I looked over from my prep work and saw them jumping on the foot pedal and slamming the lid up and down.

“Hey, please stop playing with the trash can like that! You’re going to break the trash can or one of you is going to get hurt.”

Within 5 seconds of me saying that, the howl of pain came.

My daughter’s toe got a nice little cut on it from the foot pedal on the trash can that started bleeding all over the floor.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and helped her get comfortable, cleaned up the mess, and cuddled with her after the bandaid had been put on.

My heart was filled with compassion for this cute little girl who just wanted to have fun, ignored mom’s warnings, and was now having to deal with the painful consequences.

It’s tough being 4 years old and figuring out how the world works.

And I have to imagine that our Heavenly Father feels that to an even greater degree.

He sees us downplaying commandments, skipping the small but important things, and placing our value in things that don’t last.

And yet what does He do?

“But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.” (Lamentations 3:32)

He has compassion on us in our own self-inflicted suffering.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Self-inflicted struggles first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

My two year old proudly (and loudly) said that after taking his piece of bread for the sacrament recently.

I quietly whispered that we needed to wait for them to finish passing the bread and then bless the water.

“I am thirsty!”

My little boy was thinking very practically— he was thirsty, and so he wanted the water.

When our bodies are thirsty, this natural sort of longing occurs.

I weirdly wake up super thirsty every single morning and immediately chug my water bottle that I leave right by my bed.

And when I’ve been outside in the hot desert summer, I get desperate for a cold drink to cool me down.

This is similar to what I feel when I’m going through a different kind of struggle or trial— I just want that relief.

I want the struggle to be gone.

I want to relax and feel all better.

But I’ve realized that the Lord often doesn’t just take away our struggles.

He doesn’t usually take us out of the Sun permanently, shielding us from any discomfort forever and ever.

He instead gives us that nourishment, that replenishment that we need in order to make it just another day.

“For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” (Jeremiah 31:25)

He gives us that living water.

That everlasting drink that helps our souls hold on just a little bit longer.

That push of energy to grow a little bit more.

That source of life.

Every week. Every day. 

We need that water.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I’ve been part of large events that get cancelled or dramatically changed just days beforehand.

I’ve forgotten a really important grocery item at the store.

I’ve asked someone else to do something and they’ve done it completely differently than what I was intending.

I’ve had someone get sick and not be able to do something we had been looking forward to for a long time.

Mortal life is filled with all sorts of things that “go wrong”, from small but still obnoxious errors, to big dramatic changes that are stressful and sometimes even heartbreaking.

Things weren’t supposed to happen like this!

When Jeremiah was a prophet, he was asked by the Lord to have his scribe record some important prophecies.

But then the king took the scroll with Jeremiah’s revelations and burned it, piece by piece!

What?!

The Lord ASKED for these to be written down, and now they were quite literally gone in flames.

But God knew what was going to happen.

“Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll”. (Jeremiah 36:28)

And then the Lord gave Jeremiah even MORE new revelation to include!

Isn’t it comforting to know that nothing comes as a surprise to God?

He knew what the king would do, and He had a plan in place to keep these important prophecies preserved.

People still have their agency.

I’m sure the Lord hoped the king wouldn’t burn Jeremiah’s writings.

And maybe He hoped that the people around you would have made better choices, too.

But He still isn’t even surprised.

In fact, it seems to be these kind of moments when God works His greatest miracles. He rains down blessings even more. He softens our hearts at just the right moment.

Nothing is a surprise for the Lord.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post No surprises first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“How do you do that all alone? You are superwoman!”

We praise people for doing things all on their own, from toddlers to busy moms to leaders and everyone in between.

Of course, basic independence is great.

But we aren’t supposed to do it all alone.

We aren’t here on earth to glorify ourselves.

We are here to glorify Him.

“No matter how capable, educated, brilliant, or strong we are, we cannot cleanse ourselves from our sins, change our bodies to an immortal state, or exalt ourselves. It is only possible through the Savior Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement.” —Elder Paul V. Johnson

Being educated, brilliant, and strong are great qualities.

But they aren’t the ultimate goal.

Jeremiah, in his weakness, cried:

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved”. (Jeremiah 17:14)

We can’t heal ourselves.

We can’t save ourselves.

We can’t perfect ourselves.

We need Jesus.

We need His atoning sacrifice and we need covenants with Him.

We need His Spirit and we need His grace and mercy.

And I think we need to help each other a bit more in the process, too.

Life isn’t meant to be “figured out” alone.

Life is meant to turn us to Jesus time and time again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post All by yourself first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’d read professional development books.

I totally got into podcasts.

I studied the scriptures a lot and read supplemental materials.

I love learning, I had the time and the mental capacity to do it, and so I did.

Fast forward a few years and three little kids later, and it blows my mind how little time I have for that anymore.

I started a podcast episode that I was super excited to listen to last week, and it took literally all week, listening to 5 or 10 minute portions here and there, to finally finish it.

My scripture study has become much more focused on the essential basics.

I can only read articles on my phone for as long as I have before my baby slaps my phone out of my hands with her newly discovered fingers.

My speed of personal improvement has slowed down so much.

So much to the point that it’s tempting to think, “What’s the point! I’m failing at it all.”

“Your direction is more important than your speed.” -Richard L. Evans

Why were the people in Jerusalem in spiritual trouble?

It wasn’t because they had slowed down the speed of their spiritual progression.

“They hearkened not… and went backward, and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:24)

They were going in completely the wrong direction.

A step in the right direction, no matter how small, is still a step.

Three verses of scripture read on my phone before zonking out in bed knowing I’ll only have a few hours before a kid wakes me up is a step in the right direction.

Listening to half of a conference talk because I only have 5 minutes in the car is a step in the right direction.

Sending a text to someone when I’ve been meaning to do so much more to serve them is a step in the right direction.

Forward. Not backward.

(Or when I go backward, repenting and taking that little step forward as fast as I can again.)

Always trying to move a little bit closer to the Lord, inch by inch.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Forward and backward first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Have you been in a lesson like that or heard a talk like that before?

The entire lesson was on a gospel topic that I have been lacking in.

All of the comments that people shared were new perspectives that I needed to hear.

I loved it, and I’ve already started to do better at it.

But the thing is… it wasn’t some new gospel principle.

It’s not like I’ve never known about it or that I wasn’t painfully aware that I needed to improve that area.

But the Lord is so good.

He always invites me to improve, no matter how many times I’ve ignored that invitation before.

“Return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” (Jeremiah 18:11)

Even if I’m not doing evil, I find myself not doing good quite often.

And I am so grateful for a loving God who invites me over and over to repent, to change, and to be a little bit better.

No matter where you are at, no matter how many times you’ve ignored that call, no matter how many times you’ve tried to answer but fallen short…

Jesus always invites us to return.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Return to Christ again first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.