I am an extremely loyal person and most of my friends I have known for the majority of my life. One of the biggest lessons I learned in college was that sometimes friends are for season that’s okay. I also like to think that I’m an intentional person and I do my best to keep up with my friends no matter how far apart we might be at any given point in time.

That being said, here are some things that you can do to keep up with friends who live in a different place than you do.

Be Intentional: What do I mean by that? When someone comes to mind, text them. if they post something funny comment or respond to them, you know you love having notifications when you get on Facebook or Instagram. Set reminders for yourself to text, call, message, or simply pray for your friends.

Give Grace: Your friends probably have a different schedule than you so don’t get annoyed or frustrated when don’t respond right away or even at all. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you, they just might not have a free minute. You let them know you were thinking about them and I promise it meant more to them than you will ever know.

Pray for them: Okay, if you don’t read anything else in this post, read this: Prayer is the important thing you can do for anyone, especially your friends. I want to be the friend that when something is going on my friends know that even if I don’t have all the details, they can count on me to pray for them. Ask your friends how you can pray for them and actually do it. Right then, if necessary! Just pray for your friends, just me, they will thank you for it.

Write Letters: I’m a big fan of snail mail. It’s one of my favorite ways of keeping up with other people. I don’t know about you but I love getting mail and cards are just so personal. Some of my personal favorites shops for cards are Pen and Paint and Joyful Papery. Make someone’s day and send them a card. I’d love to send you a card just shoot me an email with your name and address.

Set phone/FaceTime dates: Technology is a glorious thing and the internet means we can literally keep up with people all over the world. Schedule a phone or FaceTime date with a friend and keep it. I have one that I need to schedule so I’m going to take my own advice this week. Be thankful for technology that makes the world a little bit smaller.

Send them care packages or “Happys”: Are you ever out and about and see something that makes you think of your friend? Buy it for them and send it to them and don’t tell them, it’s more fun that way.

Watch something together: I love TV and I’m always watching something on Netflix and I loving having people to talk about the shows I’m watching. My best friend and I watch Dancing with the Stars and now the Bachelorette together even though we’re nine hours apart. We text reactions and questions, it’s a lot of fun to hear the things she has to say.

Which of these are going to do this week? How do you to keep up with people who you don’t get to see everyday?