It once was lost, but now it’s found.
That’s the story surrounding a Georgia man’s beloved Bible, which had gone missing for months before the persistence of a good Samaritan changed everything.
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William Bailey lost his Bible in January, when it fell off his car before he went to church one Wednesday. Bailey told The Courier Herald he had prepared a message to share at church that night and had it tucked inside his Bible before he set the book on his car for a moment.
“We were getting ready to leave, and I sat [the Bible] on top of my car, and my granddaughter called and wanted me to come back inside the house for something,” he told the outlet, explaining he forgot to grab the Bible and put it in the car before driving off. “We got to church, got out, and I thought I had forgotten my Bible.”
That’s when he realized the book was gone. He and his wife, Dot, prayed for it to be found, but months went by, according to The Courier Herald.
Bailey said he was “sick” over the loss and felt he would simply never find it again. Still, being selfless at his core, Bailey told his wife he hoped “whoever found it got some good out of it.”
Little did he know, someone did find the Bible. A man named Barron Howard, Jr. discovered it in the family’s driveway. And when his grandma, Barbara James, heard about the surprising find, she set out on a mission to locate its rightful owner.
“If I lost my Bible, I would really want it back,” she told The Courier Herald. “I would hope that whoever found it would go the extra steps to find it and get it back to me. I just couldn’t rest.”
James truly didn’t stop trying, but she wasn’t getting anywhere; she couldn’t find any information in the Bible that would lead her back to the mystery owner. James reportedly did find a number inside the Bible and phoned it twice a day — but no one answered.
That misfortune changed, though, when she noticed a zipper she had previously overlooked. Inside, she discovered a pamphlet for Faith Baptist Church. It was just the lead James had been desperately looking for. She called the pastor and found out about Bailey’s search for the Bible.
Then, the preacher told Bailey about James, and the two connected — a blessed miracle for Bailey, who was convinced his beloved Bible had been long obliterated by a lawn mower.
James recently brought the Bible to Dot, who works at a nursing home, and the families connected. Bailey is ecstatic, realizing not everyone would have gone to such lengths to get it back to its owner.
“That’s sentimental stuff to me,” Bailey said of sermon notes and personal commentary inside the Bible. “I thank the Lord that I got it back.”
James is simply overjoyed she was able to help. Bailey gave her a financial gift for returning his beloved Bible.
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