My name is Mary Rathbone, I am a Lay Reader (Licensed Minister) in the Church of England’s Diocese of St Albans.
As a younger woman, I developed a rewarding career in IT and was employed in sales and marketing by IBM for a significant part of this time.
Then, with the Internet’s arrival, I established an independent internet marketing consultancy that flourished for over ten years.
However, throughout my life and alongside my business career, I have always taken time to explore and nurture my faith and hope in Jesus.
After I retired from the business world, I was offered the opportunity to train for ministry at the Diocese theological college. After three years of study, the Bishop licensed me to preach, teach and lead worship.
This eventually resulted in the creation of this blog which is a personal expression of my faith which developed throughout the personal joys and tragedies of my life.
I was able to develop the blog by using skills acquired during my working life and later theological studies, but mostly through my enduring faith in Jesus and the hope he offers to all who believe in him.
Being in nature fills me with peace and awe, and I deliberately select the best images, video clips and hymns I can find of all aspects of the beauty of God’s creation to illustrate my views.
However, my life has still had its fair share of ups, downs, and complete mess-ups even. But I have consistently (eventually) grown through the challenges the world has thrown me.
Because in my experience, even the worst times have something unique to teach us when viewed through a spiritual lens.
In this blog, I would like to teach that we all have a beautiful and enduring eternal hope in Jesus.
An eternal hope that can help us overcome anything, no matter what challenges we face in life today.
