A little boy named Bobby is purported to have said – “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

When I read that quote I wondered about what that little boy would hear. The laughter of his siblings, the chatter of the adults; the snoring of his grandfather asleep in his favourite chair perhaps, or the cooking preparations going on in the kitchen; the whine of a new puppy or the mechanical sounds of electronic gifts already opened?

Or perhaps that young and obviously very discerning little boy was hearing something more ethereal. Perhaps he was hearing angels singing praises to the Christ Child, or the words of the Magi as they presented their gifts. Perhaps he was hearing the booming voice of our heavenly Father announcing the arrival of his Son on this earth. Or the voice of Jesus Himself, saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Those are indeed the sounds of love, a love so deep it is impossible to comprehend it. And that Love is present with us, in the room, because the Child whose birth we celebrate embodies love and gave us the greatest gift of all time, through a sacrifice performed on a cross in a tiny country in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago.

That little boy knew the secret to finding that Love. It’s a matter of shifting our focus from earthly things to things spiritual. In the rush and flurry of the Christmas season it’s easy to forget the fact that it is, in its essence, a spiritual time. It’s a time to reflect on the birth of a Saviour, a time to ponder our relationship with Him, a time to seek His forgiveness and grace.

Perhaps opening a Bible would be a good place to start, if you want to find that Love. The story is told in the very beginning of the New Testament. Matthew 1:18-23 reads: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about … All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.””

God, with us. Love, with us – in a room full of the joy of Christmas or in a homeless shelter; in a school room or an office tower; in a hospital or a grocery store; on a bus travelling across the country or a plane taking people home to their loved ones. He is always with us, everywhere.

So this Christmas, take the time to stop opening the presents. Sit back and just listen. Ponder the Christ Child.

Perhaps you too will discover that Love is, indeed, in the room.

Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness and Caregivers Month Blog Tour

President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in 1983. At the time, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s; today, the number of people with the disease has soared to nearly 5.4 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). The Author Community of Helping Hands Press is getting involved this month, and hopes to help raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.

Staring Nov. 3^rd, with Anne Baxter Campbell’s blog post and Sue Badeau’s appearance on blogtalk radio, and finishing on Nov. 25^th with Mark Venturini’s blog post, many of the authors in the Helping Hands Press Community will be sharing their personal stories.

Who are the authors, their blogs and what days?

Here is the list:

Nov.3^rd-Anne Baxter Campbell- http://pewperspective.blogspot.com/

Nov.4^th –Doris Gaines Rapp- http://dorisgainesrapp.blogspot.com/

Nov.5^th-Marcia Lee Laycock- https://marcialeelaycock.com/thespur/

Nov. 6th –Ruth L. Snyder- http://ruthlsnyder.com/

Nov. 7^th –Sheila Seiler Lagrand- http://sheilalagrand.com/

Nov. 8^th –Giovanni Gelati- http://gelatisscoop.blogspot.com/

Nov. 10^th –Ruth L. Snyder- http://ruthlsnyder.com/

Nov. 10^th –Cindy Noonan- http://www.cindynoonan.com/

Nov. 11^th-Sue Badeau- http://suebadeau.webs.com/apps/blog/

Nov. 12^th-Peggy Blann Phifer- http://www.whispersinpurple.com/

Nov. 13^th-Sandy Sieber- http://pahistorybooks.blogspot.com/

Nov. 13^th– Joy Ross Davis- http://joyrossdavis.com/blog/

Nov.14^th –Karen Gass- http://www.cottonspice.net/

Nov. 17^th –Patti J. Smith- http://gridirongrannyfootballfanatic.blogspot.com/

Nov. 18^th-Tracy Krauss- http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com/

Nov.19^th –Melanie M. Jeschke- http://melaniejeschke.blogspot.com/

Nov.21^st– Andrea J. Graham- http://www.christsglory.com/

Nov.22^nd-Linda Wood Rondeau- http://lindarondeau.blogspot.com/

Nov.24^th-Diane Huff Pitts- http://dianehuffpitts.com/

Nov.25^th –Mark Venturini- http://markventurinijourney.blogspot.com/

Ladyhawk. It’s an old film released in 1985. Matthew Broderick, in one of his first film roles, plays a leading part as a young boy, Philippe Gaston, aka, Mouse. The film is a touching love story of mythic proportions, full of medieval scenery, chivalrous knights and beautiful horses. The cinematography is stunning.

But I still think of Ladyhawk as the movie that taught me how to pray. I was a new Christian and had just come across these verses in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I was especially struck by the phrase, “pray continually.” I was reasonably familiar with the idea of asking God for things. That had been my go-to method on the rare occasions when I thought I needed something from God. But pray continually? I was wondering what that meant exactly, what it would be like to do that, when I watched Ladyhawk and met that boy named Mouse. They called him Mouse because of his ability to get in and out of places through small holes. You see Mouse was a thief. The movie opens with him escaping through the sewer system of a medieval prison. As he is quite literally worming his way through the pipes he prays and bargains with God. He promises that if God gets him out, he’ll never steal again. He ends up in a river – yes, God gets him out – but it isn’t long before he breaks his promise by stealing a man’s money pouch, apologizing to God as he does so. We follow Mouse as he continues to find a way to survive.

And all that time, he is talking to God.

And that’s how I learned what “pray continually,” or “without ceasing,” as the King James version says, really means. God was so real to Mouse that he conversed with him as though He were walking beside him, traveling with him every moment of the day, even as he continued to get into trouble and out again.

I don’t recommend bargaining with God, or apologizing to Him as you disobey Him. But it was Mouse’s faith that impressed me. Even though he was a rather unrepentant thief, his belief in a very real God who could and would help him in spite of all his failings, stirred my heart. And I began to practice what Mouse taught me. I began to talk to Jesus as though he were standing beside me every moment of the day, not just to ask Him for something, but just to talk. Like Mouse, there have even been times when I’ve had to be careful that I wasn’t talking out loud, lest someone think I was a brick or two short of a full load.

That practice, teamed with the other parts of that verse, being thankful and rejoicing always, has brought God close, shown me such stunning answers to prayer that I could barely breath and taught me that Mouse was right. Jesus hears you as clearly as someone who is walking beside you. He will stay with you, even when you fail continually.

For this is God’s will for us all, in Christ Jesus.