"There will never be another..."

"Every day when our feet hit the floor, we should look upon that day as one which adds to our story. We may not know what our story is, but God does. We are all part of His master plan."

John and Phil met at the funeral parlor. They both agreed there was probably 100,000 places they would rather be. But they owed this to Steve - their good friend. The three of them had known each other for decades. Since before high school. There was some kind of chemistry which bonded them together. Funny thing - they were as different from each other as one could imagine. One married, kids and grand-kids. One divorced, kids and one grand-kid. And the other never married. One worked for the government, one in private industry, and the other self employed.

Despite their life differences, they stuck together like glue. Year after year, their friendship never waned. Then out of the blue, Steve was playing golf with his usual Wednesday foursome. On the eighth green, Steve stopped in the middle of a put, grabbed his left wrist, then collapsed. First responders were on the scene in less than ten minutes, but the heart attack Steve had was the dreaded "widow maker". And just like that, Steve was gone.

As John and Phil went up to the urn at before the service, and looked around at all the pictures and memorabilia, they paused. With wet eyes, Phil turned to John. "Why did God have to take him so young? He was only 62 for Pete's sake. Why? Why?" John, who was also trying to hold back tears, just shook his head in silence. Phil went on, "He did so much in his life. He was the most accomplished of the three of us. He had a sense of humor like I have never heard before. He was kind, he was smart, he was just plain good." John nodded to his friend to his friend and said, "No, there will never be another just like him."

Bingo! John hit the nail on the head. No, there will never be another person like their friend, Steve. Nor will there be another person like John. Nor Phil. Why? When God created us, He created us all to be unique. To have unique gifts. To have a unique story. By the way - some of the stories do not end well. Others do. But in this brief moment in time, when we are on this Earth, we have our stories to tell. Good, bad or otherwise - they are our stories. And here is the kicker - all are unique. Never to be repeated. 

Why tell this story when there is so very much going on in the world? Because we know our beginning. We celebrate our birthdays every year. But we have no clue on the ending. Like Steve, we might be on the eighth green just lining up a put. And then have it all end. Our stories are our stories. Never to be repeated. Ever. 

Every day when our feet hit the floor, we should look upon that day as one which adds to our story. We may not know what our story is, but God does. We are all part of His master plan. Our stories are all part of the fabric. Live life, love life, the way Steve did. Why? Because there will never be another just like you.