We had a very wonderful experience this evening with our neighbors.
A bit of background. I think I have written about our Indian neighbors. They are a fantastic young couple, in their early 30s, engineers for software companies, DINKs. We both moved in the same month and have come to know each other and spend time together. They are incredibly kind to us and love our children. They pop by with homemade Indian food....curry, dessert, lassis, etc. We have taken them to the stake production of Savior of the World (they loved it), Priesthood session last year, Women's Conference, and several Enrichment nights. Each time they express much interest in learning more about our beliefs...not really with the intent of joing the Church, but because they care about us, they care about our beliefs.
Anyhow, the one tough spot for this couple is that they are unable to have children. Both sets of families back home are putting major pressure on them to have children and do not believe that it is a biological issue. Independent of this, our neighbors desperately want to have children, which explains somewhat their projected love for our children. The couple has tried various methods of fertility treatment, all of them unsuccessfully. They finally decided to try IVF. They have been saving for months to afford it and are in the middle of the process. She finds out on Thurs or Fri whether it was successful. She spent the last 10 days on strict bedrest at home just to increase her chances of success.
So tonight, after dinner, we are sitting around the table talking to the kids. A knock at our door. It is the wife from next door. She comes in and we beging to chat. She starts to break down, sobbing, but trying to not become too emotional because she doesn't want to create any complications for the IVF. She tells us that she and her husband have watched our family. We go to Church every Sunday. We spend time with our kids. We spend time with each other. And they have seen the kindness of the people in our ward. She had come to our house to ask if we would "find it in our hearts" to pray for her and her husband, that they "could know the joy of parenthood." She also apologized for not being a member of our Church, but hoped that we would be willing to still pray for her and invoke the "blessings of [our] God" on her so that she and her husband could have "their greatest wish fulfilled."
It was a tearful, emotional visit, I can tell you that much. This is a great woman, a kind woman, who will make an excellent mother. Her husband is equally choice and kind. For them to come to us in their time of need and ask us to pray for them was something that was incredibly moving. As lDS folks, imagine being so spiritually humbled and desperate that you are going to people of other faiths and asking for any help you can get. This is clearly something that they desire greatly. It made me grateful for my wife and what she does as a mother. It also made me grateful for the blessings we get by extending/receiving a hand of fellowship to/from others. And it was humbling to know that people truly do watch us and take note of that which we do.
We explained to her that we would be more than happy to pray for them and that there was no need to apologize. We also expressed our love for both of them.
While she is certainly not expecting our prayers to solve her problems, my wife and I now feel somewhat vested in this process. Not literally, of course, but there is a spiritual bond that has been made that is hard to describe. I am nervous for this Friday to roll around. I will be very sad for these people if the IVF doesn't take. And I think I will cry tears of joy if they receive good news.
Anyway, not really sure if this is a "religion" category thread, but it was a religious experience for us tonight. What a wonderful thing it is to have good neighbors.
A bit of background. I think I have written about our Indian neighbors. They are a fantastic young couple, in their early 30s, engineers for software companies, DINKs. We both moved in the same month and have come to know each other and spend time together. They are incredibly kind to us and love our children. They pop by with homemade Indian food....curry, dessert, lassis, etc. We have taken them to the stake production of Savior of the World (they loved it), Priesthood session last year, Women's Conference, and several Enrichment nights. Each time they express much interest in learning more about our beliefs...not really with the intent of joing the Church, but because they care about us, they care about our beliefs.
Anyhow, the one tough spot for this couple is that they are unable to have children. Both sets of families back home are putting major pressure on them to have children and do not believe that it is a biological issue. Independent of this, our neighbors desperately want to have children, which explains somewhat their projected love for our children. The couple has tried various methods of fertility treatment, all of them unsuccessfully. They finally decided to try IVF. They have been saving for months to afford it and are in the middle of the process. She finds out on Thurs or Fri whether it was successful. She spent the last 10 days on strict bedrest at home just to increase her chances of success.
So tonight, after dinner, we are sitting around the table talking to the kids. A knock at our door. It is the wife from next door. She comes in and we beging to chat. She starts to break down, sobbing, but trying to not become too emotional because she doesn't want to create any complications for the IVF. She tells us that she and her husband have watched our family. We go to Church every Sunday. We spend time with our kids. We spend time with each other. And they have seen the kindness of the people in our ward. She had come to our house to ask if we would "find it in our hearts" to pray for her and her husband, that they "could know the joy of parenthood." She also apologized for not being a member of our Church, but hoped that we would be willing to still pray for her and invoke the "blessings of [our] God" on her so that she and her husband could have "their greatest wish fulfilled."
It was a tearful, emotional visit, I can tell you that much. This is a great woman, a kind woman, who will make an excellent mother. Her husband is equally choice and kind. For them to come to us in their time of need and ask us to pray for them was something that was incredibly moving. As lDS folks, imagine being so spiritually humbled and desperate that you are going to people of other faiths and asking for any help you can get. This is clearly something that they desire greatly. It made me grateful for my wife and what she does as a mother. It also made me grateful for the blessings we get by extending/receiving a hand of fellowship to/from others. And it was humbling to know that people truly do watch us and take note of that which we do.
We explained to her that we would be more than happy to pray for them and that there was no need to apologize. We also expressed our love for both of them.
While she is certainly not expecting our prayers to solve her problems, my wife and I now feel somewhat vested in this process. Not literally, of course, but there is a spiritual bond that has been made that is hard to describe. I am nervous for this Friday to roll around. I will be very sad for these people if the IVF doesn't take. And I think I will cry tears of joy if they receive good news.
Anyway, not really sure if this is a "religion" category thread, but it was a religious experience for us tonight. What a wonderful thing it is to have good neighbors.
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