Mission Stories & Impact to Inspire You — September

The days melted into weeks, then months. Before he knew it, a year had passed as Tracy tried to dull his painful memories with drinking. 

“I’d been drinking every day in a little cabin in the woods in Carnation. I didn’t see people for months on end. I was just drinking until I burned every bridge, ran out of money, and had no options. I’d hit rock bottom.” 

But for Tracy, the blessing of hitting rock bottom was there was nowhere else to go but up.  

That’s when Tracy checked himself into rehab. Toward the end of his time in rehab, Tracy knew he needed more healing and turned to the Men’s Recovery Program at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. 

“I came to the Mission because my addiction had defeated me. I had no other option. It was either death or surrendering to the grace of God. Coming to the Mission was my only hope.” 

Hope was something that had been in short supply during most of Tracy’s life. When he was 16 years old, Tracy’s parents went through a messy divorce, and Tracy couldn’t see a path out of that pain.  

“The first time I ever had alcohol, I was actually trying to kill myself. Instead, I ended up in the hospital.” 

Tracy’s life was saved. But his soul was still desperately lost. “Probably about a year and a half later, I found alcohol again and binged really hard.” 

That became Tracy’s cycle: binge, get clean, then binge again. “Alcohol has always been a way of self-medicating myself through anxiety or depression. But it’s a double-edged sword because it causes anxiety and depression too.” 

Yet, at the Mission, Tracy discovered hope. “Hope is Jesus. And the Mission is all about helping us create a relationship with Christ. And that’s where my hope is.” 

Tracy also found friendships and accountability to walk out his sobriety one day at a time. “I believe we become the people that we surround ourselves with. And I want to be surrounded by men who are walking this path.” 

Through the support he’s found, Tracy’s learning that true strength comes from surrender. 

Tracy lost years to addiction, but thanks to your support, he’s not mourning his loss. He’s looking forward to the future. He believes God’s plans for him are good, and he’s embracing a new life of hope, service, and surrender.