By Chad and Ree Decosta
Special to the Herald
Our names are Chad and Ree Decosta, and we are parishioners at Holy Rosary Church in Pahala. Ree is a cradle Catholic, while Chad, a Hilo native, did not grow up in any particular faith or religion.
Although Chad believed in God, he did not yet have a personal understanding of faith or the church. Still, attending Mass together every Sunday became an important part of our relationship because the Catholic faith was deeply important to our lives and future family.
When we became pregnant with our daughter Alealani, something began to shift in our hearts. We knew she would be raised within the Catholic faith, and as we prepared to welcome her into the world, we also began feeling called to grow together spiritually as a family.
When Alealani was born, we baptized her into the Catholic faith at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Arizona. During the baptism preparation meeting, the deacon spoke about the beauty of bringing children into the church and gently asked those present who were not Catholic but were supporting the baptism to ask themselves why they would not want that same gift of faith for themselves as well.
His words stayed with us long after that meeting ended.
Soon after, Chad began attending RCIA (now called OCIA) — a decision he made on his own. During the Easter Vigil, Chad entered the Catholic faith and received the sacraments of baptism, reconciliation, first holy Communion and confirmation. On Easter Sunday, Chad decided to add another sacrament and proposed to Ree.
That season deeply strengthened our faith, not only in God but also in one another. Through the church, prayer and our marriage preparation classes, we learned the true meaning of sacramental marriage and agape love — a selfless love rooted in faith in God and each other.
In 2022, we moved back home to the Big Island with our daughter Alealani. Shortly after returning, we were blessed to welcome our youngest daughter, Raia, who was baptized at St. Theresa Church in Mountain View.
Not long after Raia was born, our faith was tested in one of the most difficult ways imaginable. Raia nearly lost her life during an emergency C-section; after being resuscitated for what felt like an eternity, she began breathing on her own, but the pressure from the resuscitation caused severe damage to her lungs.
She was rushed to Kapiolani Medical Center and diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a condition caused by a dangerous lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain around the time of birth.
Raia remained in the neonatal intensive care unit while doctors monitored whether her lungs would heal and whether she had suffered any permanent brain damage.
This was one of the most terrifying seasons of our lives. We remember praying harder than we ever had before.
After Raia stopped breathing for a second time, Ree remembered the story of Abraham and Isaac — the story of trusting God completely, even through unimaginable pain and sacrifice. Standing beside Raia alone in the NICU, through tears and fear unlike anything she had ever experienced, Ree told God that only he truly knows what is best for his children. She told him that if his will was to take Raia home to heaven, then she would trust him completely, no matter how painful it would be. But she also prayed that if it was within his will, he might allow her to live.
The next day, Raia’s condition began improving. Eventually the doctors deemed her fully recovered, and the day after Christmas, we were finally able to bring our daughter home.
Today, Raia is 3 years old, healthy, thriving and developing normally. Looking back now, we truly believe that season changed our faith forever.
This year, we experienced that same faith again while preparing Alealani for Flores de Mayo as princess of faith. Living on the Big Island, where resources can sometimes be limited, we ordered her gown, crown and flowers online, but they were delayed.
When the package finally arrived, Ree had to alter the gown herself to fit Alealani. Then, we spent hours building our daughter’s floral arch, working until the last moment.
Every challenge became another opportunity to pray together, encourage one another and continue trusting God.
By his grace, everything came together. Alealani’s gown fit perfectly, and the floral arch turned out more beautiful than we imagined. Flores de Mayo unfolded wonderfully.
Through every blessing and every challenge, God continues to remind us that faith is not the absence of hardship, but the willingness to trust him through it. No matter what storms may come, we place our faith in God’s plan for our marriage, our children, and our family, trusting always in his promise that “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).