Their Journey, My Prayers

I can not fully explain what is happening in my heart. How the journeys of the Cassada and Scwharz families are effecting my emotional and spiritual life. I know my feelings do not compare to theirs. But I am amazed and in awe that God would grant me just an inkling of their joy, anxiety and perseverance as I witnessed their adoption journeys.
I remember specifically what I was doing the night Courtney's first child was born. She was the first friend I knew to have a baby. I was watching "Friends" in the apartment EJ and I lived in as newly weds. When I got the call that she was in labor (2 hrs away) I paced and paced in circles waiting for more news.
It felt a little strange to get so worked up about something I had certainly never experienced myself nor was directly involved in. It wasn't as though I was scared something bad would happen. It was simply that someone I loved was experiencing something so big and so life changing. (I still tend to pace if I know a friend of mine is in labor. That feeling hasn't really gone away. EJ can not comprehend).
Well, now I am realizing that it is God that gives me this love for my friends. By praying for someone, anyone, I am instantly invested. That is why we can pray for people we don't even know and then feel a part of their story.
I have always been struck by the compassion and passion by which the apostle Paul wrote to the first churches. He can't possibly know each person specifically, but it seems that he does. It's b/c they share a story with him. Their Father is the same. They are serving the same God and are therefore bound together forever. Paul's love for them comes from the Father.
"I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
 ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
 ⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." - Phillipians 1:3-11

The Cassadas are leaving tomorrow. I do not think I can pace for 3 weeks. But I know that my heart will not be the same while I wait for word from them. I will be "there" through my praying. God is allowing me the privelege to be with them on their journey. This trip will change their lives forever. By praying for them, I am being changed as well. Certainly not in the same way. But in the way God intends it just for me.
Perhaps what is most amazing for me at this point, is that these 2 families will most likely meet one another during their stay in Africa !?!?!

I do not know what God has in store for me and my family with orphan care. If it is simply following these two families, than I consider it a blessing.
The stories will not end when the boys come home. There are many more pages to these stories. Fortunately, God has written each one. Trusting in the Author of Life, allows us to take such risks.