I’m grateful for people.

I’m grateful for things.

I’m grateful for experiences and relationships.

I’m grateful for God and my Savior.

But… do I feel gratitude for what I’ve sacrificed?

Do I feel thanksgiving in my heart for what I’ve had to give up?

At first thought, no.

I’m actually really good at feeling self-pity when I am asked to sacrifice.

“Life is so hard for me!”

“No one else is asked to endure this!”

“This is the worst!”

Wo is me.

And I don’t say that lightly— I mean, sometimes I complain about things that aren’t a big deal.

“Cali, it’s just the laundry. Put it away and you’ll survive.”

But sometimes, things ARE a big deal.

A big, difficult deal.

“I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving”. (Jonah 2:9)

But what if we sacrifice with thanksgiving in our hearts?

Gratitude for the opportunity to learn? Gratitude for the chance to serve the Lord? Gratitude for the opportunity to show our love and devotion?

Sacrificing willingly and gratefully instead of selfishly and dramatically.

It’s tough.

But I can already see my mortal hindsight proving this right a little bit.

I can see how sacrifices I made years ago have blossomed into beautiful growth experiences.

I notice how everything I’ve been asked to give up or endure has given me the chance to also take a huge leap forward in my spiritual progression.

I recognize how much easier it has been when I forget myself and get to work loving and serving others.

So today, I am grateful for the things that I sacrifice in the name of serving the Lord and becoming Christlike.

I sacrifice with thanksgiving in my heart.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

And Jonah needed both of them.

He needed the storm to humble him.

And he needed the great fish to save him.

“The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” (Jonah 1:17)

And God provides both.

He provides everything that we need to become good, godly, Christlike people.

The calls to go and do good things.

The humbling moments when our pride has gotten in the way.

The mercy to save us in our own self-inflicted trials.

The opportunity to reflect and repent.

The call to again, go and do good things.

The teaching.

The love.

The safety.

He does it all.

He is so good.

Because I need it all, just like Jonah.

That all-encompassing divine teacher who changes my curriculum to be exactly what I need in exactly that moment.

I am grateful for a God who does it all.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The storm and the whale first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But for a long time, I was stuck there.

In fact, I still am often stuck there.

I recently was having a tough time with a kid who was behaving in a way that made it really difficult for me to know how to respond.

I was getting frustrated. My tactics weren’t working. The kid was getting more and more frustrated, too.

I thought, “How am I supposed to know what to do?!”

And then I thought, “Duh.”

I said a small, silent prayer, right in that moment.

I said something to my kid. I did something else. Everything was deescalated.

Jonah, in the belly of that great fish, said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord”. (Jonah 2:7)

It’s good to remember the Lord at the beginning and the end of the day.

But it’s also so good to remember Him in the heat of the moment.

When our soul faints. When our temper rises. When our embarrassment takes over. When our anxiety starts running. When our sadness rolls.

We can find strength when we remember the Lord in that very moment that we need Him.

And not just regular strength.

COVENANTAL strength.

When we “always remember Him”…

We get access to very real, priesthood, covenantal strength and power.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Remember in the moment first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.