Devil keeps us from Church

I don't have a very good understanding of good and evil, and I certainly don't have a formed opinion on how active the devil is in the world. But I do know that we had a really hard time making it to church on Sunday morning.

We gave up on the two Protestant English-language churches in Shanghai because they both hold services during naptime.

We tried small groups, but bringing the girls made it difficult to participate.

Then we were connected to this "Sunday School," which is not a state-sanctioned church. The government allows it because a large business owner asked to establish it. Rather than lose his business, they allowed him to establish a "Bible Study" near his office. But don't call it a church.

The first week, we hopped in a taxi and called our connection for directions. Our connection had turned off his phone. We went out for brunch instead.

The second week, we contacted someone else for directions. She emailed them. We couldn't print them until Monday.

The third week, the store delivered our Christmas Tree between 10:00 and noon on Sunday morning. When you don't speak the language, you have very little room for negotiation on things such as these.

This week, S-- was up for over an hour in the middle of the night. I was feeling sick. L-- slept late, usually a sign that she's coming down with something, too.

But we forged ahead, and made it. The building was rather small, and the sanctuary was full. There was a baby room in the back with about 4 other 2-year-olds very close to L--'s age. The parents were friendly, and the service was piped into the room over a loud speaker. The preaching was a bit conservative for my tastes - but I figure its not fair to judge a preacher on his interpretation of the verse telling women to submit to their husbands.

We really enjoyed it, and plan to return. The drawback is that it starts at 10:00am and its a 45 minute taxi ride away. Our girls usually sleep until 9:00, so that makes it a rough morning. But worth it, we hope.