I’ve been super excited, as it’s an upgrade we’ve been waiting to make for a while!

Until I realized that prepping for getting the floors redone in half of your home looks exactly the same as moving half of your home.

Our garage was a hot mess with everything it could hold, and my husband and I were sorting and cleaning through so much stuff. (Luckily he did all the heavy lifting!)

And then it was time for the crew to do the floors!

Which meant… living upstairs. With two kids.

The upstairs hallway was lined with snacks, drinks, toys, my laptop, puzzles, games, garbage bags… anything I could think of.

(Because of course it was also super rainy and cold for those days, so park visits were suddenly out of the question.)

EVERYTHING WAS A MESS.

Upstairs, downstairs, the garage, all of it.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard plenty of times that it’s easier to feel the spirit in clean and orderly places than messy ones.

This was the thought running through my mind one evening as I sat, exhausted, and looked at the chaos.

I just wanted a clean home where I could feel peace!

“Heavenly Father,” I pleaded. “There’s no way I can get this house clean right now.”

Almost immediately, I was filled with this calming peace.

I felt a strong spiritual presence, and I felt like everything was okay.

Here’s what I know:

God doesn’t wait until our house or our room is clean until He speaks to us.

When we see Jacob wandering in a wilderness and making a pillow out of stones, this is where the Lord visits him and blesses him with great power.

And Jacob’s response? “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Genesis 28:16).

The Lord is wherever His righteous people are, whether they are sleeping on stones, or whether their house is covered in dust, crumbs, and toys.

The Lord can be anywhere, as long as we take a moment to look for Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The Lord is in the mess first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

The kids were both in the stroller, and I was catching up on finally responding to some emails, texts, and DMs on my phone as I pushed.

It was nice.

And then my daughter wanted to get out of the stroller.

I stopped and she started walking right next to me.

All of a sudden, she wanted to talk about everything.

Every flower she saw. Every number on every house. Every dog or decoration.

I still had my phone in my hand, but I was no longer able to be “productive” on the walk.

So I put my phone away.

She didn’t want to just go on a walk.

She wanted to walk with her mom.

And that meant communication and connection.

It was a fun little walk before she got tired and wanted to get back in the stroller.

I’ve been trying to think about what it means to really walk with the Lord.

And I think my daughter showed me the perfect example.

We need to be doing the things that He is doing.

We need to be talking with Him. Communicating in prayers, both formal and informal.

We need to be finding connection with the Lord. Asking questions, making observations, learning.

“The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way”. (Genesis 24:40)

So when we make the effort to walk with God, He not only walks with us…

He then also sends angels to accompany us on our walk.

Angels to guide, comfort, communicate, prosper our way.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Walk With the Lord first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This was a question asked during a Q&A held during our 5th Sunday lesson yesterday.

There was a fantastic discussion that followed this question, including the ideas that we have to be acting and using all our resources to get rid of the bad habit, reaching out to others for help, and learning the doctrine behind the change we want to make.

But ultimately, someone shared:

“God could absolutely take away your weakness right now.

“It is entirely up to whether or not that is His will.

“So have you prayed to ask what God’s will is with your bad habit?”

What a tough thing, right?

Doesn’t God want my trials to disappear? My bad habits to slide out of sight? My weaknesses to become strengths?

Because that’s what most of MY prayers are focused on.

“Help me fix this.”

But I can think of scriptural examples of prophets and other good people who did not get everything “fixed”.

Who endured a “thorn in their flesh” their entire lifetime.

Whose weaknesses stayed as weaknesses.

Now of course, sometimes He does help to take these trials and bad habits away.

He could do absolutely anything.

So… have I followed up my pleas of “Please help me overcome this!”

With, “But, what is THY will for this weakness”?

It’s a small but powerful shift.

And I think I’m ready to be led to the answer.

“What is the will of the Lord…?” D&C 125:1

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What is the will of the Lord? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s a question I’ve certainly asked myself.

It basically is another form of the question:

“Am I good enough??”

How am I supposed to know?

I’ve had friends who deal with perfectionism who have wondered about this.

I’ve had friends who deal with great anxiety and depression who have wondered about this.

I think we’ve all been here at some point.

Here’s a comforting answer I’ve encountered again and again, both in personal prayers, through messages in General Conference, and in the scriptures:

Where is my heart?

Because THAT is a question that I actually know the answer to.

One place the Lord reiterates this idea is in D&C 97:8:

“All among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.”

I know the state of my heart.

Do I actually yearn to learn and study from the scriptures? Or am I only waiting to see if my spouse is going to see me studying or not?

Do I actually want to serve others more? Or do I feel like “things are great” and that other people are an inconvenience?

Do I work on becoming more Christlike every single day? Or do I think I’ve got other more pressing issues on my to-do list?

Is my heart sincere?

Is my heart honest?

Is my heart broken and turned to the Lord?

Is my heart yearning to keep my covenants?

And when my heart isn’t… do I quickly try to repent and get back to a soft, moldable, loving heart again?

…and then repent again and again and again every time I fall off the track?

Then I am accepted of the Lord so far.

This doesn’t make me complacent.

In fact, it makes me feel quite the opposite.

But I think it’s important for each of us to take inventory from time to time:

Where is my heart?

And as we do this under the influence of the Spirit, I believe we can get an accurate picture of our standing before the Lord.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Am I good enough? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.