Holy Week Devotional

Wednesday, April 16

A Testimony of Victory from Daniel Castellani

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.” I read these verses from 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 twelve years ago while going through a divorce. I had randomly opened my Bible, asking God specifically for some words of solace. I went through the Eastern Hills Church DivorceCare program one month after my divorce was finalized. Now I am serving on the DivorceCare team. Here is my story.

I met my ex-wife, a nurse, in the summer between my first and second year of medical school. We were married before I finished medical school and had two sons before I finished my residency. This was too much too soon. Our marriage never had a firm foundation. She busied herself raising our sons and also got a BA in social work. Meanwhile, I became overextended in my practice and with hospital commitments. At home I spent most of my time with my sons. Life was chaotic. Around the time my sons were going off to college, she started working in my office. She saw firsthand how much time and emotional energy I gave to other people, which caused a great deal of distress and mistrust. Although we were both raised Catholic, we weren’t committed to Christ. However, in her distress she started reading the Bible. A Baptist minister started renting in the same building as my office. He noticed her carrying a Bible and invited her to meet with him. We then relocated our office and thought we would not see the pastor again. Six months after we moved my office, his family doctor referred him to me. He had developed a complication from surgery which was in my area of specialty. At this point, my ex felt obligated to meet with him. This led to her profession of faith in Christ. She shared the Gospel with me, and I vividly recall my thoughts and where I was standing after I read chapter 3 of the Gospel of John. So, then I joined her in meeting with the pastor and committed my life to Christ. We received discipleship and started attending his church. A few months later we were baptized. A year later we went on a medical mission trip supporting seminary students in Africa.

I wish I could say we lived happily ever after, but that was not the case. Despite sessions with multiple marriage counselors over the years, the currents of hurt and mistrust were never fully stilled. She decided to separate and got her own apartment. She then asked to mediate a divorce. This was started but put on hold so she could be treated with radiation and chemotherapy therapy for head and neck cancer. After her recovery she returned to managing my practice and we negotiated an amicable divorce agreement. She has remained my office manager, and I am helping her with her multiple progressive long-term complications from radiation treatments. Mutual forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Augustine was right when he wrote: “we are restless until we find our rest in thee.”