I’m a house flipper. That means I search for the ugliest homes in the best neighborhoods and turn them into something beautiful. Where others see mess, money, and stress, I see possibilities… and I see crazy correlations between renovating a home and renovating a soul.

Is misery ever necessary? Could God be protecting us from something we cannot yet see?

For some, leaving Christmas decorations up into January (or after!) is a way to hold on to the joyous scenes of the season. For me, I prefer to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's slowly but surely taking down the last trace of tinsel. My household celebrates and decorates Christmas big—down to each room getting a makeover, from our vintage Christmas cottage comforter to the ice-skating Mickey & Minnie shower curtain in our daughter's bathroom. Simplifying and cle