Oh, Facebook! Gotta love it!

"Please copy and paste this as your status if you know someone, or have heard of someone who knows someone that may know someone who knows anyone. If you don't know anyone, or even if you've heard of anyone who doesn't know anyone that doesn't know someone, then still copy this. It's important to spread the message. Oh, and the hearts. ♥ ♥ ♥ For crap's sake, don't forget the hearts. ♥ ♥ ♥"

My friend, Russ, from college posted the above as his Facebook status yesterday. He has always been able to make me laugh!

Jason, Russ, and Yo
(Like Em's photo skills? She cut her own daddy out of the picture! Oops!)

This morning while I was holding Ryan, I was skimming through Facebook and came upon Russ' status. I started laughing, and then crying, and then cracking up so hard that Ryan started laughing at me. I told him that my friend Russ is hilarious, but that I was super mad at him because his post made me laugh...and I have strep throat from hell and it feels like I'm swallowing swords, so laughing with a sore throat isn't funny!

But laughing is great! It feels good, aside from the swords, it feels good in my body, in my heart, in my mind. I could sure use a good laugh a little more often. I usually laugh at most of life, more sarcastically, but I laugh nonetheless. And my sense of humor, well, it's likely inappropriate for the next guy, but if I can't laugh at little things, I won't be able to laugh at the big things, the things that are hard, the ones that make me grow...the ironic things...

I think I've gotten too serious.

I mean, it's easy to get serious. There is a lot in this world that is scary and wrong and downright frightening!

But I think that when we stop to laugh, especially at life, at ourselves, at each other, we open a place in our heart for hope.

And maybe, just maybe, there is a silver lining in every cloud...