ELCA Youth Learn about Life's Purpose

ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- People who are searching for their purpose in life may find answers in those times when their lives are interrupted by unplanned events or challenges, said Paula Sturgeon, Scottsdale, Ariz., in a Bible study at the Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) June 29. It was an unplanned event that helped her find her calling in the church, she said.
The ELCA Youth Gathering is meeting at the America's Center here June 28-July 2 and July 5-9. The two events bring together some 40,000 Lutheran youth of high school age, who are engaging in worship, Bible study, learning, community service and fun.
Sturgeon's comments focused on Luke 5: 1-11 in the Christian Bible -- the story of Jesus' choosing his first disciples and teaching them to "fish for people" instead of fish. She told the 22,000 participants about her life, her struggle with disease and how she found her purpose in the church.
The Bible study session included lively music and a skit. Emcees were April M. Barfield, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Inglewood, Calif.; Becky Gulsvig, Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, Minn.; and David Scherer, Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.
Sturgeon said her young life was interrupted when she was 16 months old by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Her life since has been marked by more than 30 surgeries, numerous hospital stays, crutches and wheelchairs.
"All my life has been about having this disease," she said.
Sturgeon said, when a person is sick as a child, "you wrestle with your sense of faith." Her mother once told her bluntly that the pain caused by the arthritis would never go away, but God would not go away either, she said.
In the fourth grade, Sturgeon moved to a new home and a school where she was the only student with a disability, a time in which she said she felt "isolated." In the seventh grade, Sturgeon remembered a time when she went to her first dance and no one asked her to dance.
"Nobody danced with me," Sturgeon said. "Nobody talked to me. Nobody looked at me. I was devastated." That event affected her considerably, she said. "When somebody isolates you emotionally, you're damaged."
In the 1980s, Sturgeon's father died after a brief illness. He taught her that life must be lived "on purpose," she said.
"If you have a gift use it," Sturgeon said, recalling what her father taught her. "Live life to the fullest. Live every day to the fullest. You'll never know when it will be your last."
Sturgeon, who was raised a Presbyterian, said she was introduced to the Lutheran church by a man she dated and, later, felt called to ordained ministry. But her attempts to attend seminary were dashed when she suffered nerve damage in one of her arms during surgery, leaving it virtually useless.
" I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream," Sturgeon said, adding that she prayed constantly that God "would show her the way."
The pastors in her church eventually asked her to teach confirmation, a call to ministry that re-energized her. God's gift is his son, Jesus Christ, she said, and telling his story became Sturgeon's purpose.
Sturgeon said her life is not about "science and technology" any more but about the gifts God gave to her. "My life isn't about what I can't do, but what I can do," she said.
She offered some reflections on a bumper sticker she saw which read, "Get in, sit down, shut up and hang on."
Sturgeon urged Youth Gathering participants to "get in, jump, leap with complete abandon in this (spiritual) journey." Sit, relax and listen to important voices, she said.
Finally, "hang on for the ride of your life," she said to the participants about each of their spiritual journeys. "I promise you'll be surprised and delighted on the journey God has made for you."
"Be careful when you pray, 'God, show me the way,' because He may set you on a path you may not have a clue about," Sturgeon concluded.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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