I received this recently from the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) (I get weekly
emails from them on various topics). I thought this midrash was relevant for all PIW!
-------------------------
A story about emunah, confidence, trust, is told about the Chasid (Orthodox Jew)
who sought advice from his Rebbe because he and his wife were childless:
The Rebbe counseled the Chasid to go home and pray daily and, within a
year, a baby would be born. The Chasid did so for a year-then two
years, then three, and still no baby. One day the Chasid stopped at an
inn. He and the Jewish innkeeper began chatting and very soon the
innkeeper confided his sorrow that he and his wife had no children. "My
Rebbe assured me that I would have a child," said the Chasid. "Go to
see him." The innkeeper went and received the same advice as the
Chasid. The next morning, he prayed; then he went to buy a crib.
A year later, the Chasid revisited the inn and was delighted to see a
baby lying in the crib. But he was also troubled. He returned to his
Rebbe, complaining: "You gave him the same advice you gave me, yet he
has a child and I have none."
"Ah," replied the Rebbe, "but he went out and bought a crib!"