My Strong Faith and the Typhoon Tisoy

MILA ESTOCADO

I am Mila, and I come from Gubat, Sorsogon, Bicol. I am a midwife, married, and have a daughter. Camille, my daughter, completed college a few years ago and is working on a cruise ship. Camille and I left Bicol so she could pursue her studies in Manila. I was able to support her by working as a live-in caregiver in a home.

The lady of the house I worked for conducted a weekly prayer meeting with members of her household. When I joined this one-hour meeting called APD (Ang Pamilya ng Diyos), I was not happy then with my husband, a farmer, who I felt did not help improve our lives in the province.

When it would be my turn to share my experience with God, my only sharing for a very long time was I was not contented with my husband. I was always complaining, making demands from him, and angry at him.

But something happened later after these meetings. I came to realize that God has been and is with me. I became grateful for all the other blessings in my life. By the grace of God, instead of being mad at my husband, I was able to reverse my thinking. I changed. Even the members of the APD noticed the change in me and said so. I forgave my husband. I love him now more than before. Yet sometimes, the angry feeling still returns. But then I turn to God to help me move on and make me stronger in my faith in him.

Typhoon Tisoy

I have not yet told you about this new blessing I received. My province has always been an area in the Philippines badly hit by typhoons. The recent super typhoon, Tisoy, was no different. It cut down our huge coconut tree twice. The tree fell and ripped apart a large portion of our roof.

But guess what!

Instead of complaining to God that my roof broke, I thanked God because the tree that my husband and I have been wanting to cut down was destroyed “miraculously” by the typhoon. We were afraid it would fall on our neighbors’ houses if we cut it. Now we can rebuild the home we have been dreaming of doing without worrying about our neighbors. I am so thankful for this. I am also grateful that the fallen tree spared our belongings, especially the refrigerator and the motorbike for our tricycle, which I bought with my savings!

I wanted to share my story, so I can say that God has a plan for all. Sometimes we forget. We complain and… complain. Instead, let us adore him, praise him, and especially thank him.