This post about the power of friendship has been sponsored by Friendship Dairies. All opinions are my own.

At the beginning of each year, I set goals for myself. These are almost always intentional personal development goals…things like create a home that is a soft space for my family to land and encourage my family to linger around the table (this was a bit trickier… my kids are 4 and 8. No one lingers for long).

Two years ago, I put a goal on my list that seemed easy and hard all at the same time. That goal?

To be a 3:00 a.m. kind of friend.

I wanted to be the friend that someone thought of when they really needed someone. When they needed companionship, were in crisis or at an ugly point in their life.

In order to be that friend, I had to stop letting friendship happen to me and start driving deep into pursuing friendship. I had to make a choice, do I cast my net wide or do I cast my net deep?

A 3:00 a.m. kind of friend casts her net deep. Instead of trying to be friends with everyone, I started diving deep with as many people as I could love well. As it turns out, I couldn’t dive deep into life with 100 people. But I could certainly remain friendly to them.

One of those people I took a deep dive with is my friend Jen. We’re at a similar life stage, live near each other and because we’re bloggers, we “get” each other. No one gets me like Jen gets me, have you ever tried to explain your job to someone who isn’t in your industry? Yeah, me too. Now try being a blogger and explaining to your doctor what you do for a living and why you were backstage at that concert….

Jen and I have had quite a few adventures together, some of which has included travel. One of the things I love about Jen is that she pushes me to think outside of myself. Our point of views on a lot of issues are different. We’ve gotten into quite a few healthy debates about issues we care about and don’t see eye to eye on.

She’s a recovering rebel and I’m a recovering “good girl.” Together, we fit. Even though sometimes she’s got to remind me to stop being so uptight.

One of the best things about our friendship is that it’s gone deep. She’s shared pieces of her story with me about how being a teen mom has influenced how she’s parenting her teen. I’ve shared with her about how jealous I am of my kid’s relationship with each other as siblings, because I’m an only child.

We’ve talked about miscarriages, family dynamics, step parents and loving parents that are getting older.

We have walked life together, her kids call me NJ and not Mrs. Rongner. My kids know that they’ve got a safe spot to land at her house. Our friendship is so deep that we were invited to spend Christmas with her family.

This didn’t happen overnight and without pieces of drama along the way. But little by little by little, we’ve entered best friend status.  I have learned the power of “I’m sorry” and the intense gratitude of forgiveness.  I know that she’s got my back and she knows that despite her ability to drive faster than a NASCAR driver (which seriously makes me close my eyes and PRAY),  I’ve got hers.

And I’ve got no doubt that if she needs me at 3:00 a.m. she’ll call me. And that I’ll come running to her as fast as I can.

This blog post was inspired by this video from the Friendship Dairies.