Don’t Wait for the Storm: Building Before the Waters Rise

Our 20s and 30s are not merely seasons to find ourselves. They are seasons to build ourselves.

On Saturday (August 29, 2026), a conversation in Lucky Summer (Nairobi) reminded me why we need spaces for reflection, learning, resilience and posterity.

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Don’t wait for the storm to teach you what you should have built in the sunshine.

Some lessons are best taught before you need them.

On this day, Mercy and I spent the afternoon with young men and women from Antioch Fellowship (of GPT Hebron City, Church) in Lucky Summer…

…for a conversation we called “Building Before the Storm.”

We talked about four things that eventually touch all of us:

Faith. Work. Money. Relationships.

But we didn’t begin with a sermon.

We began with a bridge.

The bridge that couldn’t wait

We began with a short video of a bridge in Nepal being overwhelmed and swept by stormy waters.

And if you know me, you probably know where this was going:

A story. Some scripture. A few questions. A little financial provocation. And inevitably, a children’s song.

Apparently, once you’ve spent enough years in children’s ministry (like yours truly), you never really graduate. 😄

The lesson was simple:

Once the waters were raging, it was too late to strengthen the bridge.

Its ability to withstand the storm had largely been determined before the storm arrived.

That became our refrain throughout the afternoon:

Don’t wait for the storm to teach you what you should have built in the sunshine.

It turned out to be a useful metaphor for much more than bridges.

Because storms come in many forms:

• A lost job. A broken relationship. Financial pressure.
• A health or family crisis. A failed business. A season of uncertainty.

We cannot predict every storm. But we can build.

A few days later, I came across the above striking image from flood-hit Nepal. It made the metaphor even more vivid…

When the waters rose and surrounding structures were swept away, one house remained standing.

A powerful reminder that when the storm comes, what we built before it matters.

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What weather are you experiencing?

We started with a simple icebreaker.

Everyone introduced themselves. Shared what keeps them busy, during the week.

Then answered: “If your current season of life were weather, what would it be?”

One by one, they chose their weather: Rainy. Stormy. Unpredictable skies. Partly cloudy…

What struck me was what was missing: Sunny (things are perfect). No one picked it.

It was a small exercise, but it said something about the season many young adults are navigating. Very real transitions.

Many were recent graduates. Job hunting. Starting their first jobs. Exploring business. Or simply trying to figure out adulthood.

And perhaps that is exactly where many young adults find themselves.

You are expected to:

1. Have a career, but may still be looking for your first decent job
2. Understand money, but may only recently have started earning it
3. Think about marriage and family, but may still be figuring out yourself
4. Have purpose, but sometimes your biggest purpose for the week is simply finding work

Which led us to a thought I shared early:

Your 20s and 30s aren’t just seasons to find yourself. They’re seasons to build yourself.

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Build your foundation before you need it

We began with faith and character.

Reflecting on Proverbs 27:12: “The prudent see danger and take refuge…”

What does it mean to build before the storm?

It means:

• Developing convictions before you are pressured to compromise them.
• Building your relationship with God before the crisis comes.

I shared part of my own journey.

Including, the influence of my Sunday school teacher. He became visually impaired, while teaching us.

As a young person, I found myself helping him get to church.

Arranging class seats. Reading Scripture for him and walking him home.

What began as service became formation.

1. I learned responsibility.
2. I learned Scripture.
3. I learned that faith isn’t merely something we reach for when everything else has failed.

You build your relationship with God before you require God to rescue you.

Mercy then shared her own journey of faith.

Including, decisions she made as a young woman.

Walking away from relationships and situations that conflicted with her convictions.

Different stories. Same lesson.

Foundations are built quietly, long before anyone notices them.

They may be tested not by a dramatic crisis, but by a quiet decision nobody else sees.

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Your first job isn’t necessarily your career

The conversation then moved to work, skills and money.

Ecclesiastes 11:2 gave us the frame:

“Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”

Tongue-in-cheek, I asked this question: What are you exceptionally good at? 😄

The answers surprised even people in the room who knew each other.

Someone could plait hair. Someone could edit videos.

Someone understood sound. Someone was good at writing. Someone had business skills.

Someone had other talents that hadn’t yet become part of their professional identity.

So we pushed the question further: What are seven skills you have, or would like to develop?

And then:

• Which one could become useful to someone else?
• Who knows that you have it?
• Who can help you develop it?
• Could it eventually create income?

One of the strongest lessons was that our skills don’t necessarily disappear when our job changes.

Mercy illustrated this beautifully through her own journey.

After high school, she once dreamt of becoming a teacher.

Instead, she worked as a secretary before eventually transitioning into counselling and therapy.

Different jobs. Different seasons.

But, many transferable skills travelled with her: organization, accuracy, listening, working with people.

Her story made the point better than any career-transition slide could:

Your first job does not have to be your final destination.

Sometimes your career isn’t a straight line. Sometimes you only recognize the patter when you look backwards.

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Is your money bread or seed?

Then came the conversation that generated perhaps the most energy:

If KSh 20,000 landed in your MPesa today, what would you do with it?

• Pay bills? Pay rent?
• Treat yourself? Upgrade something?
• Leave it sitting in the account?

All reasonable answers.

Then I changed the question: What if the money wasn’t bread? What if it was seed?

That shifted the conversation.

• Seed can be planted.
• Seed can produce.
• Seed can multiply.

We (briefly) talked about emergency funds.

Investing. Avoiding unnecessary debt. Living below our means. And gradually building multiple sources of income.

I’ve been having versions of this conversation in several spaces recently.

At Bühler Kenya in July, we explored resilience through the question of “Who maintains the engineer?”

We talked about maintaining the person behind the professional role.

Financial resilience emerged strongly from that conversation.

Maintaining Resilience: Lessons from Bühler Kenya

At DICE Ministry, conversations with graduates and staff similarly opened up questions around faith, work, purpose and navigating transition.

Transformative Conversations: Insights from DICE Ministry

And in Nyahururu, a couples’ conversation around “The Egg, the Calculator and the Crisis Cushion” explored another dimension of preparing for lean seasons.

The Egg, the Calculator and the Crisis Cushion

Different audiences. Different circumstances.

But the same underlying question:

What are you building with what is already in your hands?

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Who is in your corner?

Our final conversation was about relationships.

Family. Friends. Mentors. Professional colleagues.

We asked everyone to identify the people in their corner.

Then came the harder question:

If your life went sideways tonight, who would you call, and would they pick up?

It is tempting to build relationships only when we need something.

But crisis is a terrible time to start building a support system.

You build relationships when the sun is shining.

You invest in people before you need them.

You become the kind of person others can trust. Surround yourself with people who can challenge, encourage and support you.

Again, the bridge came back to mind.

Don’t wait for the storm to teach you what you should have built in the sunshine.

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The feedback was telling

After the conversation, we asked participants what had impacted or challenged them most.

The responses were:

• Money and financial resilience, at 50%.
• Another 25% highlighted the activities and conversations themselves,
• While 12.5% identified faith and character, besides purpose and planning.

That doesn’t surprise me.

For young adults navigating employment, business, independence and adulthood, financial resilience isn’t simply about investments.

It is about options.

A cushion gives you breathing room. Skills give you alternatives.

Relationships give you support. Faith gives you an anchor.

And preparation gives you choices when circumstances change.

That, to me, is resilience.

Not knowing exactly which storm is coming.

But building enough capacity to remain standing when it does.

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A growing portfolio of conversations

Something interesting is emerging from these engagements.

In June, Maurice invited me to speak to DICE graduates and later to DICE staff.

In July, I had the opportunity to sit with Bühler colleagues and explore resilience through the lens of preventive maintenance.

Now, in August, Mercy and I found ourselves with young adults in Lucky Summer asking:

What are you building before the storm?

I’m beginning to see these not simply as speaking engagements, but as part of a growing portfolio of Growth Communities conversations.

The audiences are different. The questions evolve.

But the invitation remains remarkably consistent:

Pause. Reflect. Learn. Build.

And, where possible, leave something behind that strengthens the people coming after us.

That’s the posterity part.

Because perhaps the real measure of what we build isn’t only whether it survives our storm.

It is whether it helps someone else survive theirs.

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And then the children’s song appeared…

Of course, no conversation involving me and young people was going to end without a little children’s ministry showing up. 😂

So somewhere between conversations about careers, investments and relationships, we found ourselves singing:

🎵 “Don’t build your house on the sandy land…”

It was funny. But it also captured the whole afternoon rather perfectly.

A children’s song can carry an adult truth:

Foundations matter.

Sometimes a simple song carries a complicated truth, better than a 40-slide presentation.

You don’t build them when the rain starts falling.

You build them while the sun is shining.

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So, what are you building?

Maybe you’re in a storm right now.

Maybe you’re enjoying sunshine.

Maybe you’re somewhere in between. Watching the clouds and wondering what comes next.

Wherever you are, there is probably something you can build today.

Build your faith. Build your skills. Build your financial cushion.

Build your relationships. Build your character. Build your network. People who will stand with you, when life gets rough.

And perhaps most importantly:

Build before you need what you’re building.

Because storms are inevitable.

But being unprepared doesn’t have to be.

Don’t wait for the storm to teach you what you should have built in the sunshine.

What are you building while the sun is still shining?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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Joseph Ngaara is inspired by people’s stories, especially those shaped by faith, resilience, and grace. If you’ve walked through triumph, tragedy, or something beautifully in between and feel ready to share, my inbox is open. 📩 j.mungai@hotmail.co.uk

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