An Avreich (man learning Torah full time) recounted the following personal anecdote :

One Friday my wife and I needed to travel to my parents-in-law for Shabbos. We booked a taxi for four o'clock in the afternoon and got ready to go. Just then, a neighbor came around and asked us if she could use our apartment over Shabbos to house one of her guests.

My wife didn’t hesitate for a minute and gladly accepted. However, an obstacle suddenly presented itself; the neighbor came at 3.15, and since my wife is particularly meticulous, she refused to lend our apartment without thoroughly cleaning it.

My dear wife did not pay attention to the fact that only a short time was left, and she started washing and scrubbing every corner of the house. She tidied every room, and she dusted every piece of furniture.

Time passed and there was only twenty minutes left before the taxi was due to come. My wife was still busy cleaning and completely oblivious to the time. I was busy packing the suitcases and I was helping her with all my strength. But to tell you the truth, I was preoccupied by the passing time. Only a few minutes were left before four o'clock…

I didn’t know what to do. Try and understand me: If I had tried to interrupt her, she might have been offended or become angry. So I decided that come what may, I would not say anything to her.

The ordeal came soon enough. It was four o'clock and the taxi was honking outside. Inside, my wife continued, without paying attention to the time. Anger welled up inside me, but Hashem helped me to control myself and to keep my decision not to make a comment. The taxi continued to honk, and I was on the edge…

I went down to tell the driver that we would have to cancel him and I paid him what we owed. He left happy, he had earned money without working and he was free to take other people. The taxi driver was elated and I was even more. Indeed, I felt happy to have been able to overcome my feelings of anger. I had a feeling of having conquered the world! After having paid the driver I returned home to find my wife still hard at work preparing the house. I joyously helped her, and the 'pesach' cleaning finished at about twenty past four. We ordered another taxi and we left to go to my parents-in-law.

This Shabbos was a special one. I felt like it is described in sefarim; 'by mastering oneself, the soul gets purified and we get closer to G-d.'

The story does not finish here. My wife and I did not yet know the joy of having a child. We didn’t know what to do and we were waiting for a miracle. Baruch Hashem, only a short while after this Erev Shabbos where I controlled my anger, my wife became pregnant and our joy was indescribable! I cannot confirm that these two events are linked, but I can only relate the chronological order of these events. First, I overcame my anger, which was extremely difficult for me, and secondly, we had a child after many years of waiting. (Story reported by Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, son-in-law of Rav Eliyashiv zatsal.)