Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 20, 2024Season of Preparation Day Eighteen: God's BlessingsAnd Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Luke 1:46-47 After years of disappointment, suddenly finding out I was expecting twins was big news. It was news I wanted to keep to myself for...
Peggi Tustan
And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth,” I said,“For hate is strong, and mocks the songOf peace on earth, good will to men.”[1]It is Christmastime, a season of hope and happiness and...peace. Except this week, our peace was shattered when a school shooting left...
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 18, 2024Season of Preparation Day Seventeen: God's Kingdom“God’s kingdom is an upside down kingdom, where the path to greatness is via humble service.” ~Paul David Tripp God’s kingdom reveals glory in simplicity, greatness in humility, freedom in surrender, and honor in service. But perhaps the most upside down of...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 18, 2024Season of Preparation Day Sixteen: God's BelovedBeloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11 For love to exist on earth, it had to first exist in heaven. What started as a love between the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—spilled over...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 17, 2024Season of Preparation Day Fifteen: God's SovereigntyNew parents dream of what it will be like to welcome a baby into their lives with the birthday parties, Little League games, and graduations to follow. Rarely does the parenting experience go as planned. But with Jesus, everything happened exactly as...
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 16, 2024Season of Preparation Day Fourteen: God's Son“Please wash your hands before you hold the baby.” This is the mantra of every first-time parent when someone asks to hold their newborn baby. And for good reason. We care about keeping them safe. After all, they look so tiny and...
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 15, 2024Season of Preparation Day Thirteen: God's Good Shepherd“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” John 10:14 There is but one Good Shepherd. If we’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that our human shepherds are . . . human. Going into...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 14, 2024Season of Preparation Day Twelve: God's Glory“ . . . and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” Luke 2:9 That holy night two thousand years ago brought the glory of the Lord to earth in a wonderous and powerful way for a band of lowly shepherds....
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 13, 2024Season of Preparation Day Eleven: God's HopeFor those of us old enough to remember, few days will ever compare to the emotional experience of September 11, 2001. The shock numbed us into a state of disbelief while the horror paralyzed us with fear. We were disoriented, humble, and...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 11, 2024Season of Preparation Day Ten: God's CreationJesus is everything that matters and the only thing that matters. If it is not of Jesus, it doesn’t matter. As I look around me, I’m forced to confess. There’s a lot of stuff in my life that doesn’t matter. “For by...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 10, 2024Season of Preparation Day Nine: God's Steadfast LoveOh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34 Steadfast love . . . by definition, this is a love that is firmly fixed in place and not subject to change....
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 09, 2024Season of Preparation Day Eight: God's Gift of LongingWhen the Holy Spirit nudged (i.e. convicted) me to prepare my heart for Christmas differently this year, I couldn’t wait. My soul thirsted for a time of focused, intentional fellowship with God. And it hungered for a reason (as if...
She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. – Luke 2:7 (NLT)The Christmas story begins with darkness--metaphorical and physical. The first sign of Jesus' birth is a great light....
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 08, 2024Season of Preparation Day Seven: God's ValuesAsk just about anyone to describe their ideal Christmas and most of the answers you’ll hear will be about the decorations, the gatherings, the gifts, or the food. But what if the most ideal Christmas that could ever be imagined and planned...
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 07, 2024Season of Preparation Day Six: God's PresenceYesterday I pondered a tiny infant who pushed back darkness for an entire world. A beam of hope that beckoned shepherds from the field and wise men from afar. A baby that brightened the world two thousand years ago and brightens it...
Lori Altebaumer
The Season of Preparation." I like the sound of that.But what exactly am I preparing for? The decorations, the gatherings of friends and family, the gifts, the food? None of these are bad things, unless they become the enemy's distractions for making us miss the most important thing.Do I grasp...
Through the years, many movies and television programs have been made that feature the Nativity story. And in most cases, the story focuses on the birth of Jesus in the unlikeliest of circumstances. In this case, in a stable’s manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in...
Carol McLeod
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to...
Lori Altebaumer
FaithDec. 03, 2024Season of Preparation Day 3: God Is Able“God calls us to represent him in this fallen world not because we are able but because he is.” ~Paul David Tripp Ever wake up to the resounding belief you’ve made a what-was-I-thinking mistake and now you’re committed to continuing on...
Lori Altebaumer
GeneralDec. 02, 2024My Season of Preparation Day 2 God’s promises are sure and true. And in the birth of baby, we have proof that he keeps his promises. Nothing–in this world or out of it–can stop God’s promises or cause him to break even one. He promises that his mercy...