I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. I had a very long day of preaching, visiting, counselling, talking and praying for people - essentially pouring everything I had into other people’s lives. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was lie on my bed, read a favorite book and veg. Three chapters in and 9:30 at night, much to my surprise, my cell phone rang. It happened to be a good friend of mine who was on a layover at the Calgary airport. It was short conversation, we didn’t answer life’s pressing questions – we just talked.
What was the lesson I learned? Sometimes a phone call or a face to face visit is exactly what we need. My friend Mike didn’t rely on an e-mail or text to let me know he was around; he thought of me and he phoned. What he didn’t know is that his phone call encouraged me immensly. It encouraged me that he took the time to phone and that’s exactly what I needed.
There are times that texting, facebook, twitter or e-mail are sufficient. But sometimes what is needed is a phone call or a face to face meeting. In our day and age of technology – don’t forget that personal contact is still appreciated.