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Love & Roses

Olivia Bahoora Asfar -


Many people have been asking how I met my husband Nour. It’s a funny story, actually.


In September, 2013, I walked into Mar Addai Chaldean Catholic Church in Oak Park, MI for the first time. Nour was attending the college bible study program, while I was teaching the high school bible study program. My first impressions of Nour was that he was so loud and maybe a little too outgoing. As a quiet person, myself, it was overwhelming.


I saw him every Thursday for a year, and I’m not going to lie. I tried to avoid him. In September 2014, Nour joined the high school program as a co-teacher with me. I was so angry and annoyed that he was part of it, and I wondered how I would deal with him for a year of teaching.


I never thought I would ever end up with him.


It didn’t take much time at all for me to see that Nour brought something really amazing to our team. He was really positive and funny. My impressions of him changed, and I began to think of him as a good friend.


Only a month later, we had a mutual friend’s wedding where we danced to “Everything” by Michael Bublé . Later that week, he asked me out on a date for the first time, and I denied him. I know, I sound terrible. Stay with me.


A few days later, he was going to adoration to pray for his grandma, and he asked me to join him. Slick move, I know, but how could I say no to that? We prayed together in adoration on two different occasions, and I began to really enjoy spending time with him. He asked me out again, and I responded, "Maybe. I will let you know."


At this point, I was a little torn. We had become such good friends, but I was worried about ruining the dynamics of our youth group if it didn’t work out.


As I was contemplating things, I decided to pray the St. Thérèse of Lisieux novena, which is a nine-day prayer. My Novena ended on a Friday. The following morning, after I had just left teaching a communion class, I noticed a plastic bag on my car. I almost threw away the bag, thinking someone left garbage on my car. When I opened the bag, I saw that there was a beautiful, large pink rose and a card from Nour.


Nour was unaware that I was praying the novena. I took it as a sign that I should give it a chance, and I finally said “yes” to a date with him. We had such a great time on our first date and many more dates after that.


Many people envision who they are going to marry until they end up falling in love with an unexpected person. I wanted to tell my love story to encourage people to open their minds and hearts to new possibilities. You never know what God has planned for your future.


“Let us love, since that is what our hearts were made for.” ~St. Thérèse of Lisieux

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