So, I remember growing up, my cousins and my siblings and I would go up north to my grandparents' cottage up in Krivitz. I remember we would pull out the little drawer with all the VHS tapes—Disney movies or the old Christmas movies—that we would all watch. And I always think about the themes that were in those Disney movies and everything, like following your dreams. I remember Tangled and how she wanted to see the lanterns and everything like that.

And so, my first question for you guys that I would like you to discuss among your tables is: What Disney movie is your favorite, and what was the theme of it? And that's the question. So, you can take, yep, five minutes to conversate about that.

And this is something that, you know, it's kind of hard for us. It's almost like a paradox, where in order for us to gain more, we must lose. In order for us to receive, we must give. And I know a lot of times, like, I remember going through college and everything, we have, like, study abroad. And, you know, it costs a pretty, I think it's $5,000 for just like a month to go somewhere in the country and learn and everything. Or, I'll hear, like, coming out of high school, like, go travel, go do this, and go, you know, go many places. Or, you know, it can be that way for, like, materialistic kinds of things—clothing, cars, or jewelry and things like that.

And I think of how the more freedom we have, we are able to have that by the obedience and by us giving our will to God. You know, it says in the Lord's Prayer, "Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When we focus on what we ought to do and not so much on what we want to do, life can become a lot more clear and it can be a lot more fruitful. You know, C.S. Lewis wrote beautifully: Who is more free to play piano, the child who bangs on it to its heart's whim and desire, or the student disciplined in its practice, obedient to his teacher and master of the law of music theory? It's in our obedience to God, letting Him take the reins of our lives. When we choose to give up our own will and let Him guide us.

You know, there's a reason why they have an instruction manual when we're putting stuff together from Ikea. Sometimes we can't understand the words, but the drawings do a pretty good job sometimes. Sometimes when we don't use the instructions, we get something that we didn't pay for. So we have to take it all apart and then actually look at the instructions. And, you know, it looks like a chair that we actually bought, not some coffee table. It's life is going to be a lot clearer. Life is going to be a lot more fruitful when we listen to the person who created us, who created everything. And He has a plan for us. Sometimes we just got to listen.

You know, I heard on the mission trip, a lot, we plan, God laughs. And it's almost ironic because I'm one, I'm a person myself who loves planning. I love preparing for the future. I don't like getting into situations where I don't know what I'm supposed to do because I don't like twiddling my thumbs. And I know some of you were on the mission trip. I was always looking for the next thing to do, and I didn't like waiting. But sometimes that's what we're called to do. We're called to take a moment for pause. We're called to have a moment for waiting. And that can be uncomfortable. It can be very uncomfortable in those times where we don't know where the heck we're going.

You know, we walk by faith. We don't walk by sight. And that can be hard. But I promise you, I can wholeheartedly promise you: when we give up our own will, when we let God direct us, we might not get the things we want, but we'll get the things we need, and we'll get to where we're supposed to be, not where we want to be.

And so, in all, I pray that you may give God the opportunity to be your freedom by surrendering your will. And instead of doing your own thing, doing God's will. I can promise that in the process, you will find peace, you will find joy, and you will find fulfillment.

So, in my final question, I ask: What do you need to surrender to Jesus? And what does it mean to live a life surrendering to Christ? That’s what we talked about in our tables and everything like that. So, like Disney movies, we hear a lot of times from society to follow your heart and chase your desires. But how many times do we feel stuck or longing for a little more or not feeling fully fulfilled after those things? Like, seriously, think of times where maybe you bought a new vehicle or you finally hit a milestone in your life, and you're like, "This is it. This is where we're finally going to figure something out." And the key word here is I. I’m figuring something out. I’m finding my way in everything. There’s no surrenderance or obedience.

And sometimes, with the burdens that we carry, it’s common for us to look into the creation for something that may break these chains or lighten the load. I remember when I reached a point in my life where I was searching for something to liberate me from the things I was carrying—struggles, anxiety, and just wanting something a little more in my life, feeling like there’s something missing, almost like a hole in my heart.

And for me, this was my desire when I was seeking fulfillment. I started doing sports when I was probably in first grade. I did a lot of different sports—track, wrestling, football, soccer. I tried out basketball, and after my first game, I realized that was probably not the best sport for me. So I didn’t take athletics super seriously until high school. I wasn’t the most talented or gifted, but I had a hard work ethic. During COVID, I remember the whole summer I had an internship in Kekana at an electrical company. I would work there for eight hours, then lift for two hours, and on Mondays and Wednesdays, I’d run for another hour. I kept working and trying to improve my physical capabilities in sports.

Finally, in my senior year, I was harvesting the results of all that effort. I remember in football, I was all-conference on defense and offense, and all-region on defense and offense. In wrestling, I had a pretty good career—four-time conference champ, and I was at the peak of my season after the Freedom Invite, where I faced competitors from Appleton North, committed to a D1 football team, and the previous year’s state champ. I won that tournament. Afterward, I looked at the rankings—ranked number one in our division and number two in the state at 195 pounds.

Yet, there was still something missing. You know, a lot of times people say, “It gets lonely at the top.” It gets lonely when you’re finally doing all the things you can, and you keep going. I kept going with my season, made it to state, and was highly ranked. But I remember the night before competition, I got the worst stomach bug I’ve ever had. I lost 11 pounds overnight—probably the sickest I’ve ever been. I was able to make the weight class below, which was a 13-pound difference. I remember finishing my first match and just getting throttled—I’d never been beaten like that in years. I was left wondering, “Why? What? I put all this time and effort in, and I thought I was doing something to glorify God, but I was actually glorifying myself.”

That was a dead end. I was chasing my desires, pursuing accolades, feeling good about winning, but it wasn’t what God wanted for me. I realized I had lost my purpose. That changed when I went to college. I started a Bible study group on the wrestling team, and we began incorporating prayer. In that moment, my senior year, I was going down a path of chasing my desires—chasing after the wins, the recognition. It felt good to win, but that’s not what God wanted me to do. I thank God now for humbling me and redirecting me in another way.

So, the question I’d like you to discuss for the next five minutes is: What has led your heart astray? What desire have you chased down? What rabbit hole have you gone down that ended up being a dead end? That can be many different things, and I want you to discuss that for a little bit.

Subject: Finding True Fulfillment Through Surrender to God

Dear Suamico United Methodist Church,

I hope this email finds you reflecting on what it truly means to surrender your will to God and find freedom in His guidance.

Last Sunday, we talked about how life often feels like a paradox—how gaining more sometimes means giving up, and how true freedom comes through obedience to God rather than chasing our own desires. I shared from my own journey, especially in sports, where I realized that pursuing success and recognition wasn’t fulfilling because I was glorifying myself, not God. We explored how surrendering our plans and desires to God’s will brings clarity, peace, and a deeper joy that the world’s promises can’t offer.

I want to encourage you to honestly ask yourself: What desires or plans have led your heart astray? What are you holding onto that might be keeping you from fully surrendering to Jesus? It’s not easy to let go of control or to wait when we don’t know what’s next, but when we do, God will lead us to exactly where we need to be—not where we think we want to be.

Blessings,
Suamico United Methodist Church Team