My husband will often talk to me about people, maybe from work, maybe from our ward, and I have NO CLUE who he is talking about.

Like, it’s bad. ⁣

BUT I fully believe there is actually a sacred respect around our names. ⁣

They are important. ⁣

In fact, when I was a full-time teacher, I usually had around 90 new students each year.

And I made it a goal to memorize all 90-some kids’ names by the end of the third day of school.

It was hard work.

I would quiz myself with their picture rosters.

I would walk around the room during independent work and call them by name.

And honestly, I would pray for help. ⁣

For some reason, this was a really important goal for me. ⁣

And by the 4th day of school, I had them down! Even all the Kylies, Kayleys, and Kaylas.

But a few weeks into the school year, I would notice some other teachers would still be asking students in their own class what their names were, or calling some students by the wrong name repeatedly. ⁣

Names are important.⁣

There is something different, deep, and personal about calling someone by their name. ⁣

Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, appeared to Mary first. ⁣

And all He said was her name. ⁣

“Jesus saith unto her, Mary.” (John 20:16)

Can you imagine the Savior saying your first name?

Really imagine it?⁣

What a tender experience. ⁣

And she responds with the respectful title, Rabboni. ⁣

Two names were said, but I imagine a flood of meaning and emotion from both ends. ⁣

I’m not sure what the “takeaway” is for this lesson, other than it has come up in my life a lot recently so I felt like I should post. ⁣

Maybe we can do better at putting effort into learning people’s names and using them often.

Especially those who we have stewardship over in callings.

Maybe we can do better at referring to our Savior and Heavenly Father by name or title more in our home.

Maybe we can take more solace in the fact that our Heavenly Father and Savior really do know us BY NAME.⁣

But names are powerful, personal, and meaningful.

What lessons have you learned about the importance of names?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The importance of a name  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

We studied a lot about her at the beginning of the year, and we sang her praises for her faith and humility. ⁣

I imagine Mary was the most amazing and righteous mother to raise up a young Jesus in the truth. ⁣

I imagine her pangs of sadness when He left home. ⁣

I imagine the pride and joy that filled her heart every time rumors of what Jesus was doing got back to her. ⁣

I’m sure Christ came and visited and ministered to her many times. ⁣

Most people agree that her husband Joseph had passed away.

I imagine her unbearable sadness at losing such a righteous man that stayed with her, even when social custom forbid it.

I imagine Jesus comforting her during those times. ⁣

And then, after all she had been through, there He was.

Her perfect, righteous son of divine origin.

Hanging on a cross. ⁣

I can’t even begin to think of the emotions she felt, ranging from faith-filled hope to pure devastation. ⁣

And then I imagine Christ’s emotions while being exhausted and in pain, and seeing His mother. ⁣

Oh man. ⁣

With all the power that He holds, I’m sure it was difficult to hold back and finish His mission in that moment. ⁣

But instead of reaching out and performing a miracle on His own…

He asked His beloved disciple John to take her in. ⁣

“Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:27)

We are told that often, Heavenly Father answers prayers and meets our needs through the people around us. ⁣

This is a beautiful example of Christ wanting to bless and save His mother, but, knowing that He couldn’t physically do that, delegating her well-being and care to a trusted friend. ⁣

Have we been given people to look out for?

Have we been told, “Behold, thy new friend”?⁣

When we serve and care for each other, we are doing literally what the Savior would do if He could intervene in all of our lives and serve us personally. ⁣

It was a sacred calling for John to be asked to look after Mary. ⁣

And we are given sacred callings all of the time (formally or informally) to look after people around us too. ⁣

So let’s take care of Jesus’s loved ones with as much sincere concern and charity as we can.

For Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Behold, thy friend! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Martha welcomed Jesus into her home and was “cumbered about much serving”.

She was doing fantastic acts of service. ⁣

And then there was her sister, Mary.

Mary was just sitting there at the Lord’s feet, listening to Him. ⁣

So Martha got a little frustrated that she was the only one doing any work.

She requested the Savior to dismiss her sister so that she could help with all the things that needed to get done.

“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful.”⁣ (Luke 10:41-42)

Are we “careful and troubled” about the wrong things?⁣

There are so so SO many little things to worry about.

And as a problem-solver, I like to focus on the problems.

Think about the problem, talk about the problem, and try to solve it.

And honestly it’s not bad.

I like being the problem-solver.

But do you know what naturally takes up a lot of my brain when I focus on problems?

The problems, of course.

You know what I’ve tried to do more lately?

NOT trying to solve problems.

Turning off the parenting podcasts and unfollowing that news analysis account. Stopping talking about everything that’s going wrong.

And instead, focusing on Jesus and my blessings.

THAT’S what I want taking up most of my brain space.

THAT’S what I want my mind to ponder about in quiet moments.

Jesus. His goodness. His teachings. And what that means for me.

And trying to do this more has actually been the best problem-solving I’ve ever done.

Because suddenly all those little problems don’t really matter anymore.

And the big ones that are left don’t seem quite so daunting.

I’ve got Jesus to help me. So I’m going to try to stay by His side and trust with all my heart that He is the real answer to every problem.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post So focused on Jesus first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Every time I would think about it, I would get panicky or sad or frustrated.

So I just tried not to think about it.

I kept pushing it down.

But it kept bubbling up and making me frustrated and overwhelmed all over again at very inconvenient times.

I was on edge.

And I didn’t have any time to deal with it.

Then one night, I couldn’t sleep.

I was feeling in a real funk, so I decided to pull up the scriptures on my phone and start reading a bit.

I honestly could not even tell you which book of scripture I pulled up.

Because as my eyes scanned the words and my finger scrolled, my mind wandered.

It wandered back to my big concern.

But this time, it felt different.

I gave myself permission to just think about it.

I thought about my concerns in detail, I cried over what I was sad about, I logically thought through different options and paths forward.

I formally addressed Heavenly Father every once in a while, but my mind just kept going for the most part.

I just… pondered.

And then I fell asleep.

And the next morning, I felt so… calm.

So content. So peaceful. Even, happy.

It didn’t make sense though.

The concern was technically still there.

I didn’t have a clear answer, an obvious path forward, an elimination of every tough part.

But I truly, deep down, felt content.

“Pondering often precedes contentment.” —Neal A. Maxwell

I believe that with all my heart.

It’s something I can’t really explain very well. It probably doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world.

“Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

Pondering.

Without distraction, in communion with God, inviting the Spirit…

It is powerful.

And pondering has changed my life.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

Any new series that comes out, I usually find it and watch it right away. I love them!

It fascinates me that the cooking show contestants are always given challenges that seem impossible!

Cook with those ingredients?

In that time frame?

With that weird twist thrown at them?

I’m always thinking, “There’s no way they can actually do that!”

And yet, they pretty much always accomplish their challenge.

But in my own personal life, I’ve also had plenty of projects to complete or deadlines to hit that seem impossible.

“There’s no way I’m going to get this done in time.”

And yet, when the time runs out, I’ve almost always somehow made it happen.

On a much grander scale, do we actually believe what the angel Gabriel said to Mary?

“With God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Nothing is impossible with God!

Not just cooking competitions or school deadlines, but tasks that really seem impossible:

Forgiving someone for something that seemed unforgivable.

Fulfilling a church calling that seems overwhelming.

Learning how to enjoy motherhood.

Becoming a friend to someone you don’t get along with.

Learning a new skill at any age.

What seems truly impossible to you right now?

When we turn to the Savior, I’ve learned that He can make anything that is righteous and aligned with His will possible.

Nothing is too much to ask for.

For with God, nothing shall be impossible.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I mean, yes, an angel says it each time.

But I think it’s interesting to look at the other context for these three times:

1. Matthew 1:20 “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife”.

Joseph is told to FEAR NOT to do a really hard thing that had been asked of him.

To do something different than what society expected. 

2. Luke 1:13 “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son”. 

Zacharias is told to FEAR NOT because the whole circumstances of his life were going to be changing soon.

To fear not that the Lord hasn’t been hearing his prayers. 

3. Luke 1:30 “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

Mary is told to FEAR NOT after wondering her standing with God.

She doesn’t think she’s the right person, but she is told that she has found favor with Him and to not fear.

Fear creeps into our lives so many shapes and forms.

Fear of change, fear of rejection, fear of being ridiculed, fear of being wrong…

But God sends His messengers to remind us that we don’t need to dwell in fear.

He will provide the miracle.

He will make the worldly mocking seem like nothing.

He will reassure us of our standing before Him.

He will answer our prayers.

He is aware of every single little detail, every little nuance of our specific situation.

And still, He invites us to fear not.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post 3 Fearful circumstances  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And teeeeechnically I was.

I put in my notice and got ready to leave.

But I noticed that my thoughts kept turning to almost “accusing” thoughts toward the Spirit for the (very strong and undeniable) prompting that I was following.

“Okay, fine, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do! I hope there’s something good in the future.”

“I’m not sure how this is going to work out.”

“You told me to do this and I’m just following the prompting.”

I wanted the Lord to answer all of my questions.

I wanted Him to eliminate any sign of doubt or risk.

And if He wouldn’t, then I felt like I had a reason to be frustrated.

Has your life ever gone in a completely different direction than you had hoped or expected?

I LOVE young Mary’s strong example.

When she learned about a future that she very much had not expected for herself, she didn’t turn accusatory.

Instead, she turned curious.

“How shall this be?” (Luke 1:34)

She was humble and faith-filled and curious

I’ve found much more connection with God when I’ve focused on asking my questions with a “curious” mindset instead of an “accusing” mindset.

“Oh, I’m supposed to quit my job? Wow, that is scary, but I’m really interested to see what exciting things You have planned for my life next!”

In fact, I think our questions to the Lord tend to reveal a lot about our hearts!

When we receive an answer from the Lord, do we show distrust and resentment, even if we align our actions?

Or do we show humility and faith in the way we approach the Lord with our questions?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Curious and humble Mary first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.