By: Karen Estep

The Feast of the Presentation is an example of Mama Mary being obedient to
the Lord. Under Mosaic Law, women who have given birth have to wait a specified
amount of time to return to worship at the temple. In Mary’s case because Jesus was a
male child, she had to wait 40 days. Thus, this is the reason we celebrate the Feast of
the Presentation on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas.

I imagine for a woman that had given her life over to the Lord not getting to
worship in His house may have seemed like a daunting task. It probably required a
good amount of patience and an enormous amount of obedience. I feel like even 2,000
years later, we, just like Mary, are being called to have such faith.

A Journey of Faith Across Denominations

I did not grow up Catholic. I was baptized at 2 months old into the Lutheran faith.
However, for various reasons, my family did not attend a church until I met my best
friend in 2nd grade. She invited me to attend the church where her parents were
pastors, The Salvation Army. I was invited to a VBS that they were running and that is
where I first encountered Jesus for myself.

After getting married, my husband and I decided that we wanted to attend a
Methodist church in our area. While that church was just what we needed as
newlyweds, as we matured in our faith and had our own family, we felt called to
something more. However, that something more would call us to be patient and
obedient due to COVID closing everything down.