I like so many other Passion Project contestants exercised our virtue of patience this morning and then felt the sting of defeat, the twinge of sadness and the eventual hope of rebirth. After a rollercoaster morning, I experienced tears – but not the tears of sadness most would expect, but real tears of excitement and hope. My two daughters laughed when I choked back the tears and then immediately joined me in tears of joy.

Around 3:30 pm mountain time, Ty Pennington, the Marshall-Spriers family and the entire Pocatello community yelled, “move that bus!” Wow – Here in my little town – celebrities and fanfare and honest to goodness movie crews were on hand to welcome a family back home. Volunteers, builders, and specialists performed a Makeover Miracle just a mile and half away from where we live.

"Awesome. Great people, great builder, great family, so far good weather, we had a little rain yesterday but yeah it has been awesome, really good," said Ty Pennington, host of Extreme Makeover.

When I think of what the Marshall-Spriers family has gone through - their loss of home to fire, the mother’s two bouts with cancer, the slide to extreme poverty and ultimate separation of the eight children, I truly have no reason to feel sad or defeated. Rather, I am inspired today by the generosity, the love and of course the star quality in my own little place on this planet.

Interested? This edition of Extreme Makeover will air sometime in late October - early November. I am now a big fan of the show and Ty! May the gift of rebirth come to all those who feel defeated today.