Hello all :)

My name is Tracey Jackson. I am currently and always have lived in Michigan. I live in a town called Lowell, which is about 30 min from downtown Grand Rapids. I am 20 years old and the youngest of three kids. I am super close to my family and wouldn't be who I am today without their guidance and influence all throughout my life.

I was home schooled till 8th grade, in which I then went to a christian middle school and then a private christian high school. I honestly loved school, but more so for the social part of it. While in high school I played on the tennis team for 3 years, was involved in a couple plays, thrived in art classes and started a weekly bible study with some friends.

I also spent two summers working at a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which was awesome! While there I did everything from counseling, kitchen work, cleaning and high ropes course instructor and such. Ya just gotta love camp :)

 After I graduated high school in 09’ I took a year off and worked full time for 10 months at a medical factory (bc I was broke and needed money for college). Through this experience I have learned so much and have been stretched in ways I am so grateful for. Its one of those things that I wouldn't have chosen, but looking back I wouldn't change it if I could. I quickly realized that you dont have to go far to be a missionary to those in need. 

So I am currently done with my first full year of community college (in which I absolutely LOVED pottery and sculpting)

Now the likes and dislikes. I love people and love being with them :) I love to laugh and in return make others laugh. I can get pretty crazy at times and can be quite the goof ball. I am also a cluts and an extreme optimist. I love art (in any shape and size, but am currently obsessed with ceramics and such). Nature in general is great. I have always had the dream of living in a village as a missionary in the jungles of South America. Some people think im crazy for purposely wanting that, but I get so geeked out about talking about it lol :) I love adventure and often day dream about it.

Along with that I love music and musicals. Music is a constant rolling thing in my brain and I always have some sort of song in my head at all times. I play the piano and guitar, and love to sing and dance (the crazy kind lol) :) I currently love the show “parenthood” and “glee” (however glee has been getting more sketchy as time goes on, which I am not a fan of. But I just love the music in it)

Things I am not so fond of are things related to nasty mouth noises. Such as bad table manors, chewing loudly and or with your mouth open, and snoring. Im kinda the manners police at my home lol. It also bothers me when there are distracting noises during a movie or random irritants such as clicking a pen, loud computer typing or tapping your foot. I cant the taste of chocolate, however love the smell of it. I also dont like any wrinkled fabric by my feet (such as loose socks and or bunched up bed sheets). Its kinda weird I know, but I can be a little OCD about some things right? Lol 

Alrighty. Enough with the random facts. I am sooooo exited for this trip and it is about 90% of what I talk about with people. I have been on several missions trips starting when I was in middle school. I went to a couple in the states such as the New York side of Niagara falls twice, North Carolina twice, and to Mexico my senior year of high school. Missions is definitely my passion and I intend to pursue long term missions. I have a strong compassion for the people in central and south america and would be trilled if God lead me to serving them. At the moment I intend to have a double major in Bible and TESL (teaching english as a second language) with a minor in applied linguistics. I love languages and am so exited to practice with my spanish and become more fluent in that area.

My heart brakes for extreme poverty and orphaned children. So I am extreme eager and willing to do whatever it takes to help them. To give them comfort and share the good news :)

I had always planned on doing my 4 years of college and then do the missions after that. But God has been showing me the power and supremacy of His timing and plans over mine and therefore has lead me to take this fall semester off to travel to guatemala. I am so exited and anxious to see how God plans to teach me and stretch me as I strive to be his hands and feet in an area in need of his love and saving. Things that I am praying for is for me to be completely calm and at ease in God’s plan. I like structure and having a tangible plan. And for me to throw that safety net out the window and go head first into what ever God has in store for me is nerve racking as well as exiting at the same time. I know that God has everything under control, better than I ever could, but I just have to make a habit of reminding myself of that.

Im exited to get to know you all!