An elderly woman named Edna was in the hospital, approaching her last days. Her doctor told her that she probably had less than 48 hours left. She had no family, and so she contacted her pastor and had him come to the hospital to discuss things she wanted in her funeral service. She told him the songs she wanted sung, the Scriptures she wanted read, and the clothes she wanted to wear. She said she also wanted to be buried with her favorite Bible. Then she said, "There is something else that I want done that is very important to me, and I don’t want you to think I’m just a silly old woman." The pastor smiled. "I won’t, Edna. I never have. What is it?" Edna hesitated for a moment, as if gathering courage, and then said, "I want to be buried with a dinner fork in my right hand." The pastor tried not to look like he thought Edna was the silly old woman he told her he wouldn’t think she was, but he didn’t know what to say. "That shocks you doesn't it?" Edna asked. "Well, to be honest, Edna" said the pastor, "I am puzzled by your request." Edna explained. "In all my years of attending our church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over me and say, ‘Edna, keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork I knew that something really good and tasty was about to be served to me. It wasn’t going to be a pudding or something soft that you would need a spoon to eat, it was going to be cake or pie—something with substance. So, I want people to see me in the casket with a fork in my hand so that they’ll ask, ‘Why does she have a fork?’ When they do, I want you to tell them, ‘Something better is coming for Edna." Then tell them that they should keep their forks, also." The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged Edna. He knew this would probably be one of the last times he would see her before she died. But he also knew that Edna had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming. At the funeral, some of those who stopped at Edna’s casket commented on the pretty dress she had on or said something about her favorite Bible that was so worn, but all of them asked, "Why does she have a fork in her hand?" Each time the pastor heard the question his smile broadened, and he could hardly wait to give the funeral message that Edna had given him. During the message he told the people of the conversation he had with Edna the day before she died. He told them about the fork and what it meant to her. He also told them that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, and that they probably would not be able to either. He was right, none of them could, and it was just what Edna had prayed would happen. So the next time you pick up your dinner fork, let it remind you that if you’re right with God like Edna was, there is something better coming for you, too!
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