Please join me in prayer:

I’m not defeated. I am an overcomer. I want to live to give glory to You, God.

All creation resounds with Your praise and longs to be finally reconciled.

I am part of Your purposes.

You cause my heart to soar like an eagle,

You teach my feet to conquer like a deer,

All I survey shall echo with Your praise,

And Lord,

I know that I must know you here

Bob cheerfully lends a hand on an Alaska mission trip project.

You place a reservoir within my heart, Lord

That all my tears

 Would come from a different place:

That all my ways would minister Your grace

 To those who long

 To see your face

Teach us, Lord, to cry with Your tears, as well as our own

Amen

     Ref: Psalm 18:30-36, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Luke 19:37-41

Recent events in my life have caused me to reflect on the why God allowed bad things to happen and how did God make something good out of the event.

This all started with a contact by a person in Luxembourg who invited our family to attend the memorial dedication for Lt Robert Harry Sovern on May 13, 2006 in the town of Eschette, Luxembourg. I knew that my Dad's older brother had been killed during WWII but knew nothing of the circumstances or for that matter much about my Uncle Bob. Lt. Sovern was shot down and killed while flying his P-47 on January 26, 1945.

For those who don’t know me well my name is Robert Harry Sovern. I did not know until years later that I was named after by Dad's older brother that was killed during WWII. I remember Dad reminding me when we visited the grave site who I was named after and that if I was ever called to defend our country that I should answer that call just as he and his brother had during WWII.

In October of 1957 my world came apart. My mother died and I was devastated. I remember vividly the day she was taken to the hospital and just three days later she was dead. Not being able to have that last hug or kiss, not being able to say that I loved her has haunted me ever since. Joy and happiness were gone from my life.

But God was there. I didn’t realize it but he was there.

On November 29, 1959 joy returned. My dad and new mom, the one and only Miss Carol (my beloved 2nd grade teacher) became husband and wife. Thank you, thank you, thank you. While my other brothers and sisters struggled with our step mother I had already made a connection that has grown over the years to a deep and lasting love, respect, and admiration.

God did provide. I didn’t realize it but I know now that he made something good out of something bad. Not only did God provide us with a new mom, we also got another set of grandparents. More Christmas presents, birthday presents. But I lost my mother's parents. They distanced themselves from our new family and we never really got connected again.

I was fortunate because I did bond with my new grandparents, especially my new grandfather. We called him Pop King. He was a very successful banker and later I followed his footsteps and became, at 37 years old, one of the youngest CEO's of a financial institution in Washington State. But a lot happened between 1959 and 1985.

My teenage years were filled with good academic achievement but lacking in the athletic and social successes of my brothers. I entered my senior year of high school desperately seeking acceptance and success.

God was there but I didn't respond to him.

Having had several uncles serve in the military and my Dad also a decorated WWII veteran, I applied and received an appointment to the US Air Force Academy. I wanted to fly but even though I passed the exams I failed the physical because my vision was not good enough - even to be a navigator.

Another disappointment. Where was God in this. Why did I feel so empty?

So after graduating from high school the deal was made that I would go to a junior college for two years and then go to the University of Michigan School of Banking. Then work in Pop King's bank in rural Iowa. I loved the challenge and enjoyed my time on vacations and holidays working in his bank. Even though I was attending college I was denied a 2-S deferment so that meant in the spring of 1967 I was at the top of the draft list. This meant Vietnam here I come.

Come on God. I’m just starting to get my wheels on track and this happens.

No big deal. After all my dad had said to remember who I was named after and if I was called to answer that call. So I took charge and started to talk to recruiters. Maybe I could still become an officer and maybe I could still fly. The Air Force said no again, the Navy said yes if I had two years of college completed but that wasn’t possible. I was going to be drafted by the Army and that was not good. So I talked to the Marine Corps recruiter. I enlisted for four years so I would be eligible for Officers Candidate School if I passed the tests while in boot camp.

I thought I was in control now. And wouldn't everyone turn their heads now. This 106 pound weakling was going to prove them all wrong. My parents were mad and tried everything they could to keep me from going into the Marine Corps even after I had signed my papers. I wasn’t fearing the war in Vietnam because I had been called and I wanted to serve.

I never went to Officers Candidate School because I wasn't old enough, had to be 20. I did put on the weight I needed to graduate from boot camp - minimum of 126 lbs.; but instead of receiving orders for Officers Candidate School I got orders for "over the choppy seas." I completed my grunt training, spent a short three weeks in radio operator school, and was in Vietnam by Feb 1968.

I won't bore you with all the misses but I was lucky to survive. Came home in April 1969 to a country that didn’t want me, didn't accept what I had done and flat out accused me of dishonorable deeds. My dad was heartbroken. I planned to volunteer to be sent back for another tour in Vietnam. At least I knew what was going on in the Marine Corps and what I was supposed to do. The heck with these unpatriotic people. Semper Fi!!!!!.

Fortunately my dad talked me out of it and within six weeks of returning from Nam I was stationed at MB Bangor, Washington. Spit and polish, guard duty where people weren't trying to kill you and in a unit that was tight - all but one of the 126 Marines were Nam Vets.

God was still there but I didn't see him.

In October 1969 I met Barbara Wright - a shy, bright ,1st year 3rd grade teacher and did I ever fall head over heels. It took me three years to convince her that she was head over heels about me but we finally got married on June 17, 1972.

While we got to know each other she helped me through my nightmares of war and I spent the final two years in the Marine Corps as Assistant Game Warden at Bangor, took Catholic instruction three times but didn't commit because my family was Protestant and we shouldn't go there.

I finished college but because of a lot of reasons I never went to U of M and never worked at the family bank. We moved back to Washington State and we went about building careers and making a marriage - without kids. I didn't need God. Life was good. My career advanced and then I met Dale Harrison.

Dale and I worked together at the same S&L and I remember Dale telling me one day that his wife had gone off the deep end and was a "born-again" Christian. Wasn't long before my new friend fell off the deep end too and became one of them.

Sometime in 1982 Dale and Judy invited us over for dinner to talk about investing in a new S&L that Dale was to be the new CEO. No problem - then they pulled the Amway trick.

What they really wanted us to do was come to their small group they had formed. Sing songs, share with each other, and study the Bible. Yuck. Being polite we said OK but only with the intention of going once and really letting them know how crazy they all were. Six months later we were hooked. How did they catch us? With love, patience and God's Word.

Now I can see God in my life. The stuff from prior years wasn’t there and on we went.

Then both Barb and I got run over by a truck and we did something we said we would never do - have kids. In the fall of 1984 we adopted Jon. Our lives were turned upside down. We gained a new perspective on life, family, and God. For those of you that don’t know Jon - too bad. A very special kid with lots of energy and lots of……………………challenge. But we love him unconditionally.

We moved to Olympia. My career was skyrocketing. I got my dream job as CEO of Heritage Fed. We also found a small group to join. And God was very visible to us.

Then without warning I was fired from my CEO job over a disagreement over a loan. Come on God, what do you want from me? What are you doing?

I had lunch the next day with Mark Meredith, a wonderful man, a member of our church and a successful business man. I told him what had happened. We prayed and then things got awkward. I told him we wanted to stay in Olympia because Jon needed the stability. I just couldn't see why God had allowed this.

Mark was uneasy because he was feeling the call to become a pastor and go thru seminary but with his Hallmark and office products business he wasn't sure how or when. But Mark didn't want that to influence my decision. Three months later we bought the business and while our lifestyle was downsized big time we felt truly this must be God's plan - we were helping God get Mark thru the seminary. He is now Senior Pastor of Eagle River Covenant Church in Alaska.

Our businesses didn't do well but we managed. We lived on much less and while my ego took a major hit we trusted God to get us through.

But once again my world crashed. The stress of the failing stores, disagreements with our partners, unresolved grief of the loss of my mother, the terror of Vietnam, and the loss of my bank job pushed me to the brink of suicide. I didn't do it, it's obvious, but I have had over ten years of struggle with depression, nightmares, anxiety, and emptiness.

God was still there. With our faith, Barb's love, and the love of family and friends we made it. God's wonderful grace. I’m much better now.

I now have a great job, and Jon graduated from high school and is employed by Anthony's Restaurant. Our marriage has been strengthened, and we have a wonderful small group and church to attend, to serve, and to grow in.

So to the end, or is it back to the beginning. My parents called in March to ask Barb and I to go to this memorial dedication in Luxembourg because Dad didn't think he could do it physically. I started looking into the event and the people involved and found out that it was genuine and that Dad needed to go. His family had not told him about the event because when Dad returned from the war and Uncle Bob did not, they wished and said that it would have been better if Elmer had been killed and not Bob. My dad had been carrying inside him all these years. While other WWII veterans were welcomed home he wasn't - just like me.

On May 13, 2006 not only was my dead uncle honored but also my Dad. The Air Force General and other officers, people of Luxembourg, and the families of men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq honored my father as a representative of all the Americans who liberated Luxembourg. A couple of days after the ceremony my dad tugged on my shirt sleeve and said "Now we can put this all at rest".

Bang. There it was. God in all his grace and glory had brought us both to the same point. I can and my dad can look forward now knowing that no matter what happens God will be there.

Thank you all for listening and may God continue to bless this great country and the men and women and their families that make it possible for us to worship here today.

Ho Ho Ho sana, Ha, Ha, le he lu ia, He, He saved me, I have the joy of the Lord.

Amen.