
Oh yes friends, 2009 was a very big year. U2 went on tour, and I got engaged to the man of my dreams. I know the blog has slowed and email updates have been on hiatus for several months, but it has been for the very best of reasons. Things are going well at Harvard and I will be expounding more on the work I’m doing here now that I’ve found my footing…but the biggest news is that Seth and I were married January 9th in Boulder, CO!
I/we are pledging to start the communication back up full force now, desiring to continue the work of encouraging creatives, leaders and communities through creative partnership, friendship and music that encourages people forward in the purposes of God and restoration. We are excited to share the same heart and purpose in a new perspective…as a married couple, as graduate students, and from new cities…Boston/Cambridge.
As always, thank you for staying connected. Stay tuned for songs that were written in the last several months, and reports on some exciting partnership happening in the Boston area and internationally. Before I go to far though, you might be wanting to know just a little more about Seth…
I met Seth nearly 5 years ago while Aaron Strumpel and I were on tour in Austin, Texas. Seth was the regional outreach coordinator for the ONE Campaign/Bread for the World and focusing on anti hunger and poverty education for churches and campus ministry groups. We met at a Restoration Project concert at UT Austin which was being sponsored by a campus ministry group we both worked with. We went out to dinner afterwards and knew we would all be great friends and yes, there was an extra *spark* even then.
Seth continued with his work in Austin which included relationship building, grassroots organizing and speaking. He also joined his best friends in deciding to move to one of the most impoverished areas of Austin, the St John’s neighborhood. He loved Austin, his community, his neighbors, and bringing his black lab “Frodo” with him everywhere. In 2008, he felt pulled to pursue graduate studies, wanting to deepen his own knowledge and step deeper into leadership and ministry and started a Masters of Divinity program at Princeton Seminary.
Seth and I had kept in touch this whole time and saw each other once in awhile on the road, however we really reconnected on my Northeast tour, fall of 2008 which brought me to Princeton University. The *spark* enveloped us enough to start calling each other regularly and as I was given the opportunity to work with New York Faith and Justice and communities on the East Coast in the spring, I decided to relocate to Princeton to be close to Seth as I worked, living with a single mother and commuting to New York City and Philadelphia when I needed to. Throughout the spring Seth came with me nearly everywhere, watching me at work, learning and discovering all that I call Restoration Village, investing in the communities with me and making many new friends. Seth in his own rite is a gifted speaker and teacher with a very pastoral leadership. By the time we went to Minneapolis in June for Source’s Urban Ministry Training School (I have been participating in Source’s summer ministry intensives since 2003), Seth and I were fully functioning together.
Things continued to go very well and I will just highlight quickly our journey to Boston. By the time I knew I would be moving to go to Harvard Divinity school, Seth had been working through a very specific call he felt towards holistic care and ministry. He decided to move to Boston to be near to me, but also found the perfect program at Boston College and was able to transfer to continue his graduate work, now in a dual pastoral care and counseling program. Looking back through the last 14 months, we see where the Holy Spirit was clearly at work and all the grace and favor we had for all of the details to come into place and led us to have so many fruitful adventures and finally land in Boston together. More importantly, though, we see how we both chose each other every single time, even when we knew great sacrifices would have to be made. Seth asked me to marry him on November 7th on a park bench in Boston Commons and I said yes!
We are so excited about life in every direction right now but of course have been very heavy hearted about Haiti. We are working with many leaders in the city to coordinate a worship night and fundraiser at the end of February. We will give the proceeds to Partners in Health and would like to give you a link to donate to them as well HERE.
Peace and Grace, Tracy





(You may recognize the cute black labrador-retriever from previous blog posts as Seth’s dog, “Frodo: The Restoration Project’s East Coast Mascot”)











