This is where we keep any shoes that are used often enough to stay downstairs.

It’s a good-sized basket, which means that sometimes shoes fall to the bottom, making them difficult to find.

When it’s time to leave the house and put shoes on, sometimes I’ll notice that one of my 2 year old’s shoes has fallen to the bottom of the basket.

So I’ll dig his shoe out and place it on top.

And THEN I’ll ask him to go find his shoes and put them on.

He goes and finds his shoes and puts them on by himself, and I cheer him on like crazy! He loves putting shoes on.

He might think the task is still difficult.

He still gets frustrated sometimes when he can’t find a shoe that seems to be obviously placed on top of the pile.

But he has no idea that I made his task much easier and much more appropriate for his abilities.

This is similar to the spiritual foresight that the mighty prophetess and judge Deborah had.

Barak was terrified to go against the powerful Canaanite army.

It seemed like a difficult task.

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t see the path forward that would end in success.

But Deborah wisely said:

“Is not the Lord gone out before thee?” (Judges 4:14)

She knew that if the Lord was asking them to accomplish a task, then He had made it doable.

She knew He had prepared the way, removing obstacles that they might not ever be aware of.

She knew He knew exactly what their abilities were, and what they needed in order to be successful.

It’s fun to see the obvious hand of the Lord preparing our paths— when the house suddenly becomes available, or that person returns your call, or that teacher has a change of mind.

But other times we just have to trust that the Lord is preparing our paths in ways that we aren’t aware of.

He is before us, and He will prepare a way to help us accomplish anything we are asked to do.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Deborah’s foresight first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

A holy place, to me, is a place where I feel closer to God.

It is different than the ordinary. It is special.

Unique.

And when I think of holy places, there usually is something different that I do with my outward appearance in order to reflect the holiness that I feel.

One of my favorite parts of learning about Moses seeing the burning bush is one of the first things that the Lord says to him:

“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

Moses was asked to make a change, a symbolic change, to reflect how his heart felt about entering a holy place.

My church building is a holy place to me, a place where I partake of the sacrament and renew powerful covenants.

And so I dress a little nicer than I do the rest of the week.

When I attend the temple, I also dress nicer as I enter, and I prepare for more opportunities to make my outward appearance reflect the uniqueness of the temple spirit.

I know that God is with me in the casual moments, in the messy house and the undone hair and the random sprinkles of shredded cheese that somehow always make it on the floor. (Anyone else?!)

But I also love being able to take opportunities to show God that I am willing to make an effort to show my gratitude for the holy grounds that I am able to walk on.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Holy places first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.