I have several good friends whom I don't see often, one whom I have never even met in person. Three live in other states, one another country. Some I have know since my first day of school, one I met in college and one I met just recently through online classes.
Sometimes it seems we live in completely different worlds as I listen to the details of their lives: world travel; teaching in an economically-depressed school in the south; going through a divorce with two young children; taking Paul's advice to remain single and serve the Lord - these are all situations which I have never personally had to deal with, yet I can give them encouraging words and offer my love and prayers to them.
One thing we all share, amidst our fast-paced and diverse lifestyles, is a love for the Lord. I have been blessed by knowing that friends are praying for me. Because we are all one in Christ we can live vastly different lives and even see each other infrequently, yet still feel the bond of love over all the miles and all our differences.
My friends' encouragement of me through phone calls, emails and quick visits often arrive a providential moments and despite their own struggles, they support me in my writing, my parenting, my marriage and my walk with the Lord. As we encourage each other in our "worlds" today, we have the assurance that in the next world we will have even more in common as we praise God for eternity.
"My kingdom is not of this world . . . my kingdom is from another place." - John 8:36