NATHAN MARI
I have experienced many waiting times throughout my relationship with the Lord. I remember the quiet train rides home when “the fun, friendship, freedom, and faith of youth togetherness had subsided and “ordinary” time had set in. When the mind and heart were settled, I came to know the heart of God. The Lord abides in the ordinary, the day-to-day. Waiting is my posture to see God’s hand in my life.
In 1999, I met the girl God destined to become my wife at a youth camp in Brisbane, Queensland. Celeste was a youth leader from Miami, and I was among the service team flying in from Sydney.
Leading worship for the service team then, I found her prostrate with eyes closed in deep prayer before the Lord! That was so inspiring! I never encountered such a show of faith before! I asked myself, ”How can someone so beautiful have so much love for the Lord?”I soon came to my senses, realizing that God had a plan for such a beautiful encounter but that this was not yet time for it. We kept in touch as I returned to Sydney, and she went to Miami. I was 19; she was 17.
Six years later, Celeste and I would cross paths again at a Gawad Kalinga Build in Nueva Ecija. I found great fulfillment in seeing her cuddle the babies and play with the children, even getting her hands soiled with mixing cement and building the walls of the children’s homes.
I poured out my heart to God, asking why he allowed us to meet again during my “fasting.” I was training to be a full-time mission worker, and I promised the Lord, before leaving Sydney, to “keep single-minded, exclusively for Him, and not give in to distractions, for at least two years.” Reuniting with Celeste in this week-long “build” was a challenge, as I needed to focus on service and miss getting to know her deeper.
God was already aligning our steps, keeping us united, but not together, as He focused us on Him.
That opened my heart in a big way to trust the Lord, though I was not sure what the future held. The waiting process will exercise the right muscle to sustain us through tough times ahead—and challenging times we sure did have!
I married Celeste in July 2007 and settled in Miami. I continued mission work full-time, unaware that a little later, organizational redirection and changes, coupled with a financial crisis, would necessitate my looking for new work to support a growing family.
We had two girls then, and no sooner, a third one. Feeling overwhelmed at how, with my meager income, I would provide for my family’s needs, I panicked one night. Extreme fear of what might be forthcoming hit me like a ton of bricks; I passed out on the kitchen floor.
We moved back to Australia in 2018, but it was no longer the Australia of my childhood. The ‘equal marriage’ law had polarized society. While we wanted to shield our children from the world’s harshness, wisdom led us to realize that we needed to teach them to stand up in the darkness and look to the Lord for light and strength.
However, Australia didn’t work out for us. No sooner were we back in Miami—a really tough decision!
Losing no time at making ends meet, I did deliveries, drove Uber, fixed, rented, and sold cars. At one point, I was working 18 hours and sleeping in my car, picking up and dropping off passengers hooked on the Miami nightlife.
This was a tough time, as the stakes were high. I was paying a thousand dollars monthly interest on maxed-out credit cards and loans on unfavorable terms.
But even if I did not have the fill of grace for that time of my life, the Lord fed me with manna and strength each day.
During COVID-19, my car business was classified as ‘essential. ‘ This enabled me to earn money for my family.
When the shutdowns forced us to stay home, we did not complain because that was our life. We had learned to be happy living an ordinary life.
We welcomed our fifth child, a fourth daughter, during COVID-19, which was God’s goodness to us in the madness of that season.
I was 26, and Celeste was 24 when we married 17 years ago.
Today, we have five children: 4 girls and a boy, Samuel.
We work seven days a week but honor God on Sundays by serving as a family in our parish’s religious education program.
We are blessed to be a part of a family renewal community where our kids experience God and share their love for God through service.
Hard work and service are our mantras and give meaning to our days.
I have nothing more to brag about except the Goodness and Wisdom of the Lord in our lives.
My rock is Celeste, my spouse and life partner whom God gave to journey with me through life’s ups and downs, holding my hand and never letting go. Our treasure is our five children. They are the ‘arrows in our quiver’ (Psalm 127), ready to dedicate their lives to knowing, loving, and serving the Lord.
