We're proud to have a raft of diverse voices here at Hitchin Nub News.

From our town's MP, to the leader of North Herts District Council, as well as charity directors to name but three, we are here to provide a platform for your community news and views.

We also love sharing your interesting stories, so here's Martha Inch sharing her amazing journey on becoming a priest, after leaving a well-paid job to work for a church in Hitchin.[.B]

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On a damp June afternoon, I found myself standing outside St Paul's church in Letchworth, reflecting on my surprise at what was about to happen.

Some five years earlier I had begun wondering whether I was being called to be a priest.

Having grown up going to church with my parents, this might not seem like such a giant step to some.

Yet, this was nothing I had ever imagined doing.

In my own mind, to be a vicar you had to be an old, with at least some grey hair, man.

You had to enjoy (or at least be able to endure) cold church buildings with uncomfortable seating.

And you had to have the voice of an angel to sing with the choir.

I couldn't tick any of these boxes and therefore had never even given it a thought.

But here I was, five years later, waiting for this important moment that would change my life.

So how did I get here?

In some ways it feels like it all just fell into place, one thing after the other just happened and now here I was.

But I am also very aware that I have had to make big and difficult choices along the way.

From choosing not to go straight from sixth form to university and instead take a gap year working for a church, to leaving a well-paid job to work for a church in Hitchin.

It might not have been the path I would have chosen, but it's the path that I feel was made for me.

Along the way, I have met incredible people who have shown me that being a vicar doesn't have to be like I had imagined.

That grey hair was not a requirement. And maybe that the church has a message of hope that was still relevant for today.

So, now I have the privilege of sharing that message with others and being involved in special and deeply personal moments in people's lives. From christenings to funerals, and everything in between.

Sharing in the highs and lows of people's lives really is an honour that I don't take lightly.

This moment of becoming a priest has been a surprise to me, indeed the whole journey along the way has been.

And I think it's a bit of a shock to others also. Not many expect a (relatively) young woman to be walking around town in a dog collar.

I know from some of the interesting looks that I get (don't worry I feel the same…).

But I wonder if there's a message in there for us all.

What if church or even God wasn't what we thought?

What if there was a surprise for all of us?