I had been called as the Ward Activities Co-Chair in our singles ward at BYU.⁣

For the month of November, my co-chair and I had planned a big Friends-giving Feast for the entire ward in our church building. ⁣

I was in charge of decorations and costumes for the party, and I had planned to make over 100 paper hats for everyone to wear as they arrived. ⁣

As the party day arrived, my committee members were suddenly all too busy to help me cut out, glue, and tape these hats out of construction paper. ⁣

Kyle and I hadn’t been dating for super long at this point, but I thought I’d see if he could help me out. ⁣

I ran over to his apartment with stacks of construction paper, a few samples, and he immediately set aside whatever homework he was doing to help me out. ⁣

I asked him to do whatever he could, and that I’d be back once I took care of a few other things. ⁣

A couple hours later, I got a text that they were all done. ⁣

It was a big enough task that I knew it had taken him quite a bit of sacrifice to do. He wasn’t just casually trying to be nice to me; he really cared. ⁣

The ward party was a smashing success. 

But ever since that day, my husband has shown nothing but kindness and love and respect for me when I rope him into doing whatever random project, party, or huge activity I end up being in charge of. ⁣

When I was reading The Family: A Proclamation to the World, I read a sentence I know I’ve read many times before, but I took off the last 4 words of it and found completely new meaning. ⁣

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other”. ⁣

If you are married, it’s a solemn responsibility that we have to actively love and care for our spouses. ⁣

As life gets even busier and busier than when we were both college students, it gets even easier to let that intentional loving and caring slip by. ⁣

Marriage is so important. And our spouses deserve our best, not our leftovers. ⁣

And so focusing on loving and caring for our spouses, even when life is busy and messy, will show God that we understand the sanctity of marriage.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I knew I’d marry him  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Which means our levels of “forgiveness” and “patience” are probably a little lower than usual. ⁣

So looking at this list about “successful marriages and families” just stressed me out at first.

“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” – The Family: A Proclamation to the World ⁣

But families are the best place to see each other’s weaknesses and strengths, right?⁣

We see our kids’ best qualities and their absolute worst moments. ⁣

We see our spouse at their absolute best and their weakest. ⁣

And we show our most awesome versions of ourselves, and we make our biggest mistakes. ⁣

Which means that together as a family unit, we are gonna have times when we are totally on it, and other times when we have completely fallen off the wagon. ⁣

Like, way off the wagon. ⁣

Here’s what I’m doing this week, and I encourage you to join me. ⁣

When looking at that statement from the Proclamation, what is the ONE thing that stands out the most to you as an area your family is doing pretty well?⁣

Give yourself credit for the good things I know you are doing. ⁣

And what is the ONE thing that stands out to you as the area your family can work on improving right now?⁣

You could even ask your kids what they think, too.

Maybe you want to get back into the habit of praying with your spouse. ⁣

Maybe you want to get your family involved in working together more. ⁣

Maybe you need to stop all the to-do lists and just have more fun together. ⁣

Maybe you need to repent from a bad habit all your family members know about, and so you decide to talk to your family about how you are trying to change and want their support. ⁣

Getting overwhelmed with everything your family is “failing” at is about as helpful as getting overwhelmed with all of your weaknesses at the same time. ⁣

One step at a time is the best way to walk.

“Every effort to change we make—no matter how tiny it seems to us—just might make the biggest difference in our lives.” – Michael A. Dunn

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Too much to fix  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 The verse I needed  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

All 3 kids were excited to get started.

We were reading about Jesus visiting the Nephites and blessing the little children and looking at pictures.

“Why is Jesus crying?”

“No, it’s my turn to read, you just went!”

“There are angels!”

“Did Jesus create all the United States?”

“She’s making me laugh!”

“If we were there, we would have been part of that group of kids too!”

A little all over the place, which is pretty normal for a 2, 4, and 6 year old.

We did our best, and it was all good.

Then it was time for family prayer and all three kids wanted to pray.

So we literally had all 3 kids say the family prayer, one after the other.

It was chaotic but also so sweet.

Young kids are often a lot of work. Frustrating. Impatient. Constantly in need.⁣

But other times, I catch a glimpse of their pure and powerful spirits.

My kids are real people. They’ve got a full mortal life and a spiritual forever ahead of them.

And although they need to mature developmentally…⁣

They have faith now. ⁣

They have pure, simple faith. They believe Jesus really did visit the children of the Nephites with all their heart.

And I think that’s why Christ wept when He was with the little children. ⁣

His joy was full because of their great faith. ⁣

President Henry B. Eyring once shared that he felt frustrated with a son who was jumping on the bed. ⁣

He grabbed his son by his shoulders, and immediately the Spirit spoke to him:⁣

“You are holding a great person.”⁣

Children are not easy to raise. They are not always obedient, kind, and willing to share. They are not perfect in that sense. ⁣At all.

But they are perfect in their faith. ⁣

It is unwavering. It is pure. ⁣

And that is what filled Christ with such joy that He wept. ⁣

I like to reflect on whether or not I’ve lost that Christlike faith. If I’ve become just a touch too cynical or conditional or “realistic”.

I want my faith to become more childlike and pure, so that I can make my Savior’s joy full. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A glimpse into our family study  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Just kidding.

“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” – The Family: A Proclamation to the World

We’ve done a lot of “recreational activities” in our family recently, with it being the holidays.

Which means our levels of “forgiveness” and “patience” are probably a little lower than usual.

Families are the best place to see each other’s weaknesses and strengths, right?

We see our kids’ best qualities and their absolute worst moments.

We see our spouse at their absolute best and their weakest.

And we show our most awesome versions of ourselves, and we make our biggest mistakes.

Which means that together as a family unit, we are gonna have times when we are totally on it, and other times when we have completely fallen off the wagon.

Like, way off the wagon.

Here’s what I’m doing this week, and I encourage you to join me.

When looking at this statement, what is the ONE thing that stands out the most to you as an area your family is doing pretty well?

Give yourself credit for the good things I know you are doing.

(As a note: teaching your family about forgiveness looks a whole lot more like extending forgiveness than teaching a formal lesson on the topic.)

And what is the ONE thing that stands out to you as the area your family can work on improving right now?

If your kids are old enough, you can ask them what they think, too!

Maybe you want to get back into the habit of praying with your spouse.

Maybe you want to get your family involved in working together more.

Maybe you need to stop all the to-do lists and just have more fun together.

Maybe you need to repent from a bad habit all your family members know about, and so you decide to talk to your family about how you are trying to change and want their support.

Getting overwhelmed with everything your family is failing at is about as helpful as getting overwhelmed with all of your weaknesses at the same time.

One step at a time is the best way to walk.

And I think our marriages and families are important enough to spend a little bit of time looking for ways to improve!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The key to a successful family! 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.