No One Can Take Your Place

No One Can Take Your Place by Sheri Dew is one of my wife's favorite books and she was eager for me to read it. The book was quite enjoyable. Many of the themes and messages of the book are repeated in her other two books that I have read, but each book has a unique way of looking at these messages.

The title of this book actually comes from the last chapter, which is probably my favorite chapter of the book. The author tells the story of her experience at BYU in the 1970's. She wanted to try out for the basketball team, but when the time for tryouts came, she paced up and down the hall until tryouts were over. She was haunted for years by wondering whether or not she would have made the team. Then, 30 years later, she was speaking to a group of BYU athletes and shared this story. To Sheri Dew's shock and dismay, after she told this story the coach of the women's basketball team told her that that same year she had this experience was also the only year in her career at BYU where they were one person short on the team. She couldn't find anyone to join the basketball team. If Sheri had tried out, she would have made it!

The point of this story is that there is a need for each of us, and we each have something to contribute. Nobody can take our place. Sure, somebody else can try to fill in for us, but nobody can replace us. Each of us was born to this earth with a divine and specific mission. The Lord is expecting each of us to fulfill our missions because nobody can take our place. The Lord needs all of us who have been called to carry His work forward.

I really loved this concept, and I strongly believe that it is true. The book is full of many principles that we need to stand for and defend, not leaving the task to someone else. Of the three Sheri Dew books I have read so far, this one is probably my favorite.