How to avoid regret the day after Christmas

I predict the day after Christmas will be full of regret for lots of people. Some eat too much, or drink too much, or both. Some won't get the hoped-for present. Many realize they spent way more than they should have, and most of it on a credit card.

Some will regret that this Christmas wasn't different in a way they hoped it would be different. They hoped this would have been the year Christmas was more meaningful and special, and not because of food or gifts. But it came and went again and wasn't different in the better way, and there's regret about that.

Here we are on the weekend when Advent begins, and I'm encouraging us to plan for a better Christmas and to prevent post-Christmas regret. If we don't plan to make Christmas different and better, we'll just do the same old stuff, and there will be the same old regret. But if we plan and prepare, then this might just be the best Christmas ever.

Here are some things that may help us get to Dec. 26 and think, "Now, that was great!"

•Use an Advent devotional every day. There's a terrific one available online from John Piper and Desiring God. It's called "The Dawning of Indestructible Joy" and it's a free download at www.desiringgod.org/books/the-dawning-of-indestructible-joy. You can also get it for your Kindle or order the actual book. (But it's a free download at that site.)

•Ring the bell at a Salvation Army Red Kettle. Call our area's Red Kettle Campaign coordinator, Nancy Kexel-Calabresa, and sign up. Her number is (920) 883-7886 or email her at nakc@dcwis.com.

•Visit someone in a nursing home or who is all alone at home and doesn't get out much. Offer to take them somewhere for coffee or lunch or shopping or church.

•Limit spending on gifts. Make a budget and be ruthless in sticking to it. Be creative. Resist impulse buying. Don't use your credit card. Use cash. Thank me in January.

•Go to church. Make it a point to be in worship on the four Sundays of Advent. Don't skip on Christmas Eve. Build church services in to your family schedule and calendar.

And remember that Christmas is not all about you. And it's not really about others. It's really about Jesus Christ and his birth in Bethlehem in the land of Judah. It's about the greatest gift ever given, a gift promised by God and prophesied by Isaiah: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

We celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. He was named Jesus — in Aramaic, Yeshua, which means "salvation" — because he came to save us from our sins. He would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." His birth is a great reason to celebrate, and to prepare well for the celebration.

Before we know it, Christmas will be here. Don't let it sneak up on you again. Plan, prepare, participate, celebrate. And the day after Christmas might not be a day of regret at all.

Cory Dahl is pastor of First Baptist Church of Sturgeon Bay. His email is cdahl@sturgeon-bay.com. Bible verses are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV).