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The Internet, it has a reputation doesn't it? It brings us news and weather, funny jokes and far to often tails of sadness sorry and mans inhumanity to man. There are many days when I wish I didn't have to look at a computer. Today was going to be one of those days.

I noticed my email inbox was already over 50 new messages at one in the morning. This after having been cleared just six hours earlier. That many new messages usually means something has gone woefully wrong.

In my attempts to put out "the fires" of email messages I came across this particular story from Smitty Landry. Here is the email story that Smitty was moved to share, it certainly changed my perspective on the day ahead.

If you don't like to read, you can listen to the story

 The Woman and a Fork

There  was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal  illness and had been given three months to live. So as she  was getting her things 'in order,' she contacted her Pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

'There's one more thing,' she said excitedly..

'What's that?' came the Pastor's reply.

'This is very important,' the young woman continued. 'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.'

The Pastor stood looking at the  young woman, not knowing quite what to say.

That surprises you, doesn't  it?' the young woman asked.

'Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Pastor.

The young woman explained. 'My  grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that  when the dishes of the main course were being cleared,  someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your  fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming ... like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.  Something wonderful, and with substance!'

So, I just want people to see me there in that 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: 'Keep your fork .. the best is yet to come.'

The Pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the young woman had  a better grasp of heaven than he did. She had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice her age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. She KNEW that  something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young woman's casket and   they saw the cloak she was wearing 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 the people of the conversation he had with the young woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. He told the people  how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.

If you think about the universe and what it takes to move that much energy around through the vast expanses of time a simple email might seem like nothing. Today this meant everything. I guess I was sending out a signal that i needed to be reminded that the trials and tribulations I face each day are just that and there is a better tomorrow on down the line.

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