We've chatted about friendship on YLIN before so I thought it was time for more girl talk on the matter. With most of my closet friends from college living all over the county (literally - Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, Boston, Nashville and Atlanta to name a few) it takes a lot more work to stay close and feel close. Because let's be honest, much of friendship is about how you feel... or maybe that's just much of being a woman...anyways.
Here are my top 4 simple tips for keepin' the friendship alive!
1. Send snail mail. Who doesn't love mail?! After sending out Christmas cards and Valentine's I am on a mail kick and am making it a goal to continue to send sweet surprises out to those I love every month.
2. Schedule time to chat. With a hectic schedule, some friends appreciate (and need) a specific time to talk so set it up a few days in advance and make it happen! Instagram likes to give a false sense of knowing what's going on in someone's life so set aside 20 minutes to really catch up.
3. Don't schedule time to chat. I spend many hours in my car traveling to Atlanta for meetings so I love to use that time productively by making calls spontaneously, even if it's just to leave a message so someone knows I am thinking of them.
4. Ask what you can pray for them. The most hard-fought and refreshing friendships are those centered on working towards the same purpose and encouragement. Knowing one of my sisters is taking my fears or worries to God in prayer is such a blessing and I want others to feel that blessing too!
What are some of your suggestions for maintaining long-distance friendships?
// Image by Vivian Maier via Imogene + Willie //
Um, we must be best friends because we wrote on the SAME topic today! Go us! :)
ReplyDeleteWoah! Well we are soul mates. Yay us!
DeleteLiving in South Africa, this is an ongoing process for me. Sometimes I feel it's going better than others. Since snail mail doesn't work from this far away and times to chat have to be scheduled (which can be difficult), I often just have to trust my friends love and friendship and have grace (on myself and them). And keep building friendship were I'm at...sometimes I honestly don't want to because it can just be hard. I look forward to when I do live in the same country and can use those random, long drives for spontaneous calls. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth - wow I didn't even think about maintaining international friendships! I really only experienced this for a short time when a friend was living out of the country and I know it was really hard for her. I think it's really wise to build friendships where you are too. I'm always amazed how God provides friendships in unexpected ways, from unexpected people!
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