The past few weeks have been full of storms–Hurricane Harvey in Houston and Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, making its way to Florida.  One of our former ESL students asked us to specifically pray for Puerto Rico, which sustained damage in the storm, and reminding us that our ESL ministry connects us to neighbors near and far.  Farther afield, Niger and India suffered major flooding events, and Mexico had a large earthquake.

Sometimes it seems like there is a torrential downpour of bad news whether it is real storms ruining homes and livelihoods or whether it is personal storms that challenge our faith in times when we feel lonely, angry, stressed, or sad.  Whatever storm is facing you, God is there.  You are not alone.  It is fitting that this week’s scripture is the story Jesus told about the wise and foolish builders.  As the children’s song reminds us, the wise man built his house upon the rock, and it stood firm.  But the foolish man built on sand, and things did not turn out so well.

As we pray this week for those affected by storms and other calamities (both in the news and not), let us be reminded to build our spiritual houses on the Rock for a firm foundation no matter what the storm.