");document.writeln(""); document.writeln("

Therefore encourage one another and build"); document.writeln("one another up, just as you are doing.¹

"); document.writeln("

When"); document.writeln("I was in elementary school, as part of a school assignment, we were given pen-pals.This was a child from another classroom to whom we would write a weekly"); document.writeln("letter to share the simple things that went on in our week. The teacher would"); document.writeln("gather our letters and deliver them to the corresponding students while we"); document.writeln("anxiously awaited a return letter of our own. I enjoyed this activity so much"); document.writeln("that as I got older, I made having pen-pals a common practice. Summer camps"); document.writeln("were great ways to meet new friends who lived in other parts of the state or"); document.writeln("country and that made our letter exchange even more exciting. As we grew older"); document.writeln("and technology began to evolve, we traded, the now old-fashioned, pen and"); document.writeln("paper for typing our letters and sending them electronically via the internet."); document.writeln("Receiving personal emails became equally exciting! Soon those full-length"); document.writeln("letters were replaced by short paragraphs. Those became even shorter text"); document.writeln("messages, until finally letter writing became a thing of the past. Did I forget"); document.writeln("about those friends? Of course not! They friended me on social media and now"); document.writeln("we can see what is happening in each others lives via their posts and pictures"); document.writeln("where I can reply with a heart-felt reaction in the form of a thumb or heart, or"); document.writeln("if I have the time, I can leave a nice comment!

"); document.writeln("

Those"); document.writeln("friendships once built on deep conversations full of feelings have waned. The"); document.writeln("meaning of friendship has changed and many of us have been left feeling lonely"); document.writeln("and isolated. Though we enjoy the benefits of the internet that keeps us"); document.writeln("loosely connected, we have come to miss the interaction.

"); document.writeln("

God"); document.writeln("created us for relationships, both with Himself and others. The words of"); document.writeln("encouragement and affirmation have power and bring joy. While sitting in a jail"); document.writeln("cell, the apostle Paul wrote to his friends that he thanked God every time he"); document.writeln("remembered them (Phil. 1:3), which I am sure was often in his solitude! His"); document.writeln("constant words of encouragement garnered Paul many friends.

"); document.writeln("

The"); document.writeln("days of pen-pals may be behind us, but technology can still aid us in sending"); document.writeln("out messages of affirmation. Text a friend how great it was to see them last"); document.writeln("week. Comment on how much you have missed spending time with them. Tell them how"); document.writeln("much Jesus loves them too!

"); document.writeln("

Suggested"); document.writeln("prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of friendship! Help me be a good"); document.writeln("friend whose words and actions reflect your love and grace. In the name of Jesus I pray,"); document.writeln("Amen.

"); document.writeln("

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)."); document.writeln("

"); document.writeln("

Today\'��s"); document.writeln("Encounter was written by: Veronica B.

"); document.writeln("