Hello from Madagascar! It has been a busy, but fun few weeks here. I am so thankful for this journey and I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate the prayers, notes of encouragement, and love that I have felt from across the world! I have amazing friends and family.

One of the things that I’m doing here is teaching 3 days a week at an English Christian School. I teach the reading classes and also the devotion times for 1st-4th grade. And then on Fridays, I will do chapel for pre-k, 1st-4th grade, and 5th-8th grade.

But this week, I taught on Noah. It’s a story that we’ve all heard a million times. God tells Noah to build a big boat. The animals come in. It starts to rain. Everyone else drowns. Noah’s family is saved. God puts a rainbow in the sky. (That’s the cliff note version!)

But there is one verse that sticks out to me every time: Genesis 6:22 “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”

Everything!

First off, building a huge ark in his backyard was a huge step of faith. And then, God had given him precise measurements and the type of wood to use. And to stay that long in a boat with that many stinky animals? That’s some crazy obedience right there.

And sometimes, what God calls people to do does sound crazy. In fact, we see it time and time again in the Bible.

Hey Noah, build a boat. I’m about to flood the earth. I know…it’s never rained, but just trust me!

Joshua, I want you to walk around the walls. They will fall. Don’t worry!

Abraham, You know that son of yours? The only one that you have? Go up to a mountain to sacrifice him to me.

Hey Peter! Come on out and walk on the water. I know that there is a storm. Just keep your eyes on me.

Story after story of “crazy” obedience. In fact, “crazy” just seems like “normal” in the Bible.

And yet, we want to live our kind of “normal” lives. We stick to our comfort zones and sometimes obey God, but only if it makes sense.

But what about if “normal” for us isn’t the “normal” that God wants?

What if “normal” would be stepping out in obedience to pray for someone and seeing them healed? What if “normal” would be obeying God when He asks us to leave our comfortable life and step out into the unknown? What if “normal” was really our “crazy”?

I’m praying that God redefines “normal” in our lives. I’m praying that as we step out in obedience, we will see the goodness of God in such an amazing way. We will see lives transformed, people healed, and souls brought into a relationship with Him!

And just like Noah, we can do everything that God commands of us!