Story: Something Better's Comin'

There was a woman that was diagnosed with cancer and had been given 3 months to live. Her doctor told her to start making preparations to die. So she contacted her pastor and had him come to the house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her service, what scriptures she would like to read, and what she wanted to wear. The woman also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with her favorite bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

“There’s one more thing” she said excitedly. “What’s that?” came the pastors’ reply. “This is very important” the woman continued “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at the woman not knowing quite what to say. “That shocks you doesn’t it?” the woman asked. “Well to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request” said the pastor. The woman explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved my favorite was when whoever was cleaning away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say “you can keep your fork”. “It was my favorite part because I knew something better was coming; when they told me to keep my fork I knew something great was about to be given to me. It wasn’t jell-O or pudding. It was cake or pie; something with substance.” “So I just want people to see me in my casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder “What’s with the fork?” Then I want you to tell them “Something better is coming so keep your fork too.” The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the woman’s casket and they saw the pretty dress and her favorite bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over the pastor heard the question. “What’s with the fork?” And over and over he smiled. During his message the pastor told people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork, let it remind you oh so gently that there is something better coming.