u/cracked_eggshell1999

The church I'm going to has a cry room but it's always packed with energetic kids playing games and knocking over chairs with their parents chatting on the couch... so packed that it's hard to even walk a few feet in. I've been to liturgy twice so far and my baby has ended up tired and crying/fussy and needing a calm space to chill and fall asleep so I can get us back in the main area and I just can't do that. It's really overstimulating for her (and for me too to be quite honest) and I don't understand how/why the room ended up being used for this purpose. Is this normal in most church cry rooms? Once my baby falls asleep she stays asleep and I can leave, but it's just really hard to even get her even a little bit there in this room.

If everyone on the off chance leaves the room and I get lucky I can turn off the lights and if someone goes to step in they whisper sorry to me and to tell their kids to go back to x and chill out with so and so you can't play there's a baby in there. The first time this happened another woman with an infant having the same issue took the opportunity to join me too. I was just really frustrated because having a baby is hard enough, I don't want anything making it harder. I'm just an inquirer and I'm heavily considering asking to be a catechumen so I need (and want) to continue going to liturgy services, but nap time always happens to be dead in the middle of the service

I'm currently a Shia Muslim and my boyfriend is a non-muslim. We live together with family right now and have a baby together. I'm feeling an extreme pull to the Orthodox church and I just feel like I need to learn more about it and consider it but he is against Christianity, especially Orthodox and Roman Catholicism due to saint veneration. He says they are idols. Traditionally, I would be anti-christian and he is perfectly accepting of me being Muslim and we met under those circumstances.

I do have things that I struggle with when it comes to Orthodox teachings that I want to explore more too, but I feel like I'm only limited to the Internet. I think talking to a real person who hopefully has experience in talking with Muslim inquiriers would be the most helpful. I also heard that the Orthodox perspective of things is to see the church as a hospital almost? That really resonates with me. My family situation is non-traditional and I wouldn't be accepted into my local Muslim community. I am hopeful that the Orthodox church could give me more grace in that area. I just want to find the truth and make myself feel whole regardless of my current circumstances. I read about the concept of pastoral mercy and it's very appealing to me.

How do you guys suggest I move forward with my desire to learn more? I am concerned about how my boyfriend would react to me trying to attend liturgy. I'm attempting to warm him up to the idea by telling him how much I love to view church architecture and art. He asked me when I could go and was under the assumption that churches were open daily. I told him my best bet to "view" would be on a Sunday. I do want to also mention that I didn't grow up Muslim and I had been baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church many years ago so I'm not unfamiliar with Christianity as a whole. Another question is how could a conversion possibly happen for someone in my situation if I did end up choosing this path? I couldn't openly be Orthodox with him or family (at least not right away). I just care for mine and my baby's soul and I want her to be alright. I want to be close to our Creator in the path that he created for us

I know that there's a lot going on in this post and I'm kind of scatterbrained, but I'm hoping that someone might be able to give some input or advice on what to do. I miss having a community to turn to for spiritual support and I'm grateful that this space exists