The Christmas holidays may involve frantic schedules, multiple obligations and stress-filled travel, but they are also often filled with love.

There is a certain excitement and heart-felt joy associated with giving that goes beyond just the gift itself; it is a tangible means by which to say to our loved ones that we truly value them — that they matter to us and enrich our life.

While Christmas is a wonderful time of year to show others we care for them, perhaps we lose sight of the fact that such love is not, at its core, limited to being seen in massive, once-per-year events. It is rather found in small actions lacking in grandiosity and fanfare that reflect an abiding love between two people.

Often couples seeking to marry have come through a whirlwind romance fueled by attraction (“eros” love) and may not appreciate this aspect of deep, abiding Christian (“agape”) love. Other times, couples may struggle because they lose sight of the importance of small acts of affection or displays of love. It may be something as simple as giving the children a bath so their spouse can have some needed alone time. I am no longer surprised by the factors cited as causes for a couple’s bonds unraveling.

Mike Harden was an acclaimed columnist for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch for over 25 years before his death in 2010. Back in 1987, Harden visited a long-time friend, Frank Segner, who was very ill. Harden watched the interactions between Frank and his wife. This is the ending of that column.

“When Frank Segner pushed himself into an upright position in the hospital bed, the heart monitor’s cursive line disintegrated into an erratic scribble. His wife, Mary, returned to the room and drew a chair to his bedside. ‘I’m thirsty,’ Frank said. Mary lifted the straw to his lips as he pulled the oxygen mask aside. The medicine was making him sick. She fetched the basin, wrapped a firm arm around his spasm-racked shoulders and mopped the sweat from his forehead.” “So, in the end, love comes down to this, I thought: Not some Clark Gable appraisal of Vivian Leigh or some sex symbol’s seductive pose, but ‘Help me sit up.’ In the end, love is not a smoldering glance across the dance floor, the clink of crystal, a leisurely picnic spread upon a summer’s clover. It is the squeeze of the hand. I’m here. I’ll be here no matter how long the struggle. Water? You need water? Here, drink. Let me straighten your pillow.’”

I love that. “I’m here.” “I’ll be here no matter how long the struggle.”

I suppose I love that because those words do not only reflect Christian love, they are indeed Christ’s words to us in this world.

In 2016, may we remember to say in words and deeds to those we love, “I love you. You matter to me. And because of that, I am here. And I’ll be here no matter what.”

Imagine what our lives would be like if we did that even once per day.

Just imagine.