Reflection on The Hub 2017

Sarah Morse, a member of ADM's Hub class of 2017, shared this poem at the Hub graduation, written as she reflected on a momentous year.

Sarah Morse reads her poem at The Hub graduation in December 2017.

Day One,
The ADM Hub 2017 has begun.
I follow the sound of laughter and find
A group of women
Waiting,
Anticipating,
Celebrating
This moment in time.

And so, we begin.
We learn to discover God’s purpose,
The story of grace.
Imagine a new future,
Design,
Create.

With identity and context growing from our Creator,
We think different,
Be different,
Create different behaviour.

When we embed our lives in God’s story,
NOT just invite Him into ours,
Our identity is shaped by grace
So that HE might be given the glory.

Week by week
Lives are shared,
Projects compared,
Our souls are bared
As motivations are tested and dreams are dared.

Identity and purpose statements are formed:
Who am I? What is my purpose?
What is the change I want to see in the world?

I AM a compassionate advocate
And my purpose is to fight for justice.
To stand for those who are broken
And to be a voice for the voiceless
When no words can be spoken.
Those projects which started undefined
Bit by bit are being refined.
Elevator pitches are articulated,
Change design canvases are populated.
As we put structure around our dreams,
They suddenly don’t appear as far off as they seemed.

A whole day of financial models?
“Snooze fest”, I imagine.
And yet, I sit riveted to my seat,
Eyes glued, ears open,
Hungry for every word spoken.
For eight hours, my mind expanded,
What could be done with money if only God’s people dared to dream, to plan it.

If I had money, what could I do
To stop the tide of human trafficking,
The wave of women moved across borders.
Someone’s friend,
Someone’s sister,
Someone’s daughter.

This industry is fuelled by billions of dollars,
While millions of people are waiting, waiting, waiting
For God’s people to act smarter, think bigger, plan better.

But, despite my passion,
My project is fragile,
The pieces don’t seem to fit.
I try and I try and I try,
But they just don’t click.
The more I try to dream, to imagine, to create,
The more God says ...
Wait.

The more God says wait,
I don’t meditate,
But push God for a time, a date,
Impatient, in case he’s late.
I don’t contemplate,
Instead I debate.
Eventually, I frustrate.
Dreams decimate.
I have no option left, but to wait.

Anticipate.
The Spirit of my God is never late.
An idea begins to germinate.
One project dies,
Another slowly emerges.
Each week the dream is nurtured.
Growing from a seed,
It reaches up from the earth.
A new life, a new vision,
Has been given birth.
Along with baby Lucy, who now joins us at the Hub,
The new vision grows just like this little bub.

Encouraging words spoken,
Prayers prayed,
Wisdom given
Day by day.
And so both dream and baby are nourished,
Both encouraged to flourish.

The dream is given shape, takes form,
Is moulded by these women who’ve walked this path before.
Not THIS path exactly, this one is my own,
But their own journey of faith,
With shoes well worn.
Shoes that have walked the valleys and mountains,
And the flat bits in between where nothing seems to happen.
But they know that God does his best work in those seasons of waiting.
Divinely
Refining,
Defining,
Mining for lumps of coal he can turn into diamonds.

And so, as the path diverges,
A new imagination for the nations emerges.
The idea for THRIVE takes flight,
A freedom business to fight
Injustice.
Where churches are equipped and trained
To see the Kingdom of God reign
In His Justice.
Where survivors of human trafficking not just survive,
They come alive
And Thrive.

This is my story of what has been
The ADM Hub 2017.

– Sarah Morse
The Hub, Class of 2017

For more information, visit www.deaconessministries.org.au/the-hub