There’s just some things you can’t explain! Today I went for my regular 6-mile route around greenlake and the woodland park zoo. Nothing particularly interesting to note so far. I got back to the house and Mary was still at Costco. It was a sunny day and so I decided to do something I’d never done before and walk to the field across the street and stretch. About 10 mins into stretching and generally being lazy in the sun, I see a mother and boy walking on the other side of the street. I had to take a second take, but there was no denying it…it was the mother and son Mary and I hosted when they first arrived from Iraq! Well, I didn’t have a shirt on, so didn’t think it would be appropriate to call to them – especially considering she was fully covered. So I waited a few minutes and watched as they headed towards our house. One block before our street they turned off. I raced back to the house, grabbed my shirt from the porch, and went back down the street they had gone done. It turns out the kid was being dropped off at daycare so the mother could go to NSCC for english classes. What a crazy small world! It was fantastic to catch up.
The wildest thing about the whole encounter is that I had just been thinking today about how this whole refugee thing might have been a little unnecessary! We have had our regular day-to-day routine on freeze for so long while in Europe that much of what we returned to seems like we (at least, I) were in too deep. I debated whether this whole thing was worth it. Now, after seeing them, and realizing just how much of a friendship had been created from such a simple act of hospitality reminded me that there really is a serious need for refugee support and that while it’s so easy to ignore, it’s not that much harder to be of real value to those arriving here with nothing.
This running and the whole ninemillion deal has no direct connection, but it is allowing me to refine and define our future role. So I’ll keep on running, keep on thinking, and keep on counting the heartbeats. Thanks to everyone who’s continuing to support!
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beats today: 8,400
my beats to date: 1,212,900
So we finally got back to Seattle late Sunday night. No more running in the greek islands, no more getting lost in the woods in austria, no more summiting random peaks in Salzburg. It’s back to GreenLake, the Burke, Cougar Mountain, Carkeek, and all my other local routes. Bittersweet, I have to admit. 
