It is said that no matter how beautiful a house is, no matter how expensive a house is, and no matter how tall a house is, if the foundation of the house is weak, it will be destroyed by a strong typhoon. 

I am reminded of the houses in America. They are very pretty, with many amenities such as a heater and aircon. However, when a twister comes to town, the houses are gone. It all boils down to the foundation.

My dear friends, the story and imagery of houses and typhoons is the story and imagery of all of our lives. We will never be exempted from the storms of life. It can be very painful while being hit by the storms, and it can be very hard waiting for the storms to stop. We stay strong with three foundations:

1. Prayer. God is just a prayer away. When we are hit by storms of life he seems to be quiet, but he is never asleep. His time, his wisdom, and his plan are different from ours. That is why we pray unceasingly.
   
2. Family and True Friends. It is a sad reality of life that when we get hit with a storm, the many people around us are nowhere to be found. We can count on our fingers the people who are with us in the storms in life – family and true friends. 
   
3. Acts of kindness. There is this story in the bible of Jesus healing the sick servant of a centurion because the centurion was known to help the poor and build the Church. When we reach out to others we realize that while we ourselves are being hit by storms, there are people who are going through even more difficult times. 

May we remember the saying: Not all storms are meant to shake the foundation of your life; some are meant to clear your path in the journey called life.