I’m sitting on a plane in Denver beside my favorite person and come midnight tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed at Serenity, which is my favorite place on the planet. I’m a blessed girl. The serendipity of being in here is that the flight that was delayed for two hours actually reclaimed its original time of departure, so we will be reclaiming Serenity two hours earlier than the schedule board in the airport heralds even now. Life’s good.
But that’s not the best part of my day. The best part of my day was when I stepped off the jet bridge in Denver and a United Airlines representative met Glenn and me. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Cooley,” he said, quickly approaching us. (Everyone says our name that way) “We are Mr. and Mrs. Colley, “ Glenn replied, a little startled. “Is there a problem?”
“I found her Bible, “ this man said to my husband, with a little twinkle in his eye.
“You have my Bible!? I am sooo happy! I have called every hotel and every airport and checked with the lost and found at every stop…And YOU have my Bible!” I fairly screamed as I hugged this friendly stranger. “But I called the lost and found here in Denver, just hoping…”
“Well, it never got to lost and found. The minute I perused it, I knew that this marked-up book was really special to somebody and I wanted you to have it back.”
I’m sure I had a searching look in my face because next he said “Oh, I don’t have it with me. I already mailed it to Huntsville.”
“Was my address in the Bible somewhere?” I asked.
“No, but your church bulletin was in there. I’ve read all about you on your website now and I just knew you would probably want this back. See,” he said with a tear in his eye, “…it was my ‘pastor’s’ wife who helped me find the Lord and when I saw you were the preacher’s wife, I knew I had to get this to you. So I mailed it to your church address. Then I did a little research and found that you would be coming back through here today to catch your flight back to Huntsville, so I came to meet your flight to let you know it’s safe. If it had been my Bible that was lost, I would want to know.”
As I spoke with this man further, I learned that today was his off day. He came to the airport expressly for the purpose of meeting our flight and letting me know that the Bible had been recovered.
My husband and I offered this kind man a little money for the postage and for his trouble. But accepting the money was clearly out of the question for him.
“Let me at least get your name off those tags before you go,” I said, fingering the United security ID tags around his neck.
“Oh, I put a letter in your Bible with my name and address on it.Y ou will know who I am when you get the Bible,” he said.
“What is your religion?” I asked.
His simple reply?…“I am a Christian.”
The chances of my ever seeing this man again in this lifetime are extremely remote. But he will surely hear from me. I will have to send him a token of appreciation, but more importantly, I want to send him information about what I have learned from that precious book he found. I want to make sure I explain to him why that Bible was so marked up and why I love it so much. I want to be sure that he knows the reason of the hope that lies within me and that he has a chance to fully obey the sweet, sweet gospel of Christ if he has not already done so in his lifetime.
It was an irreplaceable Dickson Bible. Those editions are out of print and certainly there’s not another one with the personal markings he saw in that one. I’m very happy to be reunited with it. But even better, is being united with this person of faith, who cared enough to make sure I got it back. He went the second and third mile. His heart is good. That’s just the kind of person who responds well to the gospel. I pray that he will. Would you join me in that prayer?
As we walked away, Glenn said, “That is amazing! I thought he just recognized us from a seminar or a meeting somewhere. I never dreamed he had your Bible.”
“I was not surprised he had my Bible,” I replied. “After all, I did pray a lot about it.”
God is good. I’m glad I was studying “Digging Deep” in the Denver airport eight days ago. I’m glad he was working a shift that day. I’m very thankful for his kind heart of service. I’m glad there was a bulletin in the Bible. I’m thankful for the internet and for the really informative West Huntsville website. I’m glad our flight was right on time when he came to meet us. I’m thankful for my Dickson Bible and, most of all, I’m thankful for its message. May I never underestimate the Providence of God and the power of a single opportunity, even if created by an accident or a loss. A Bible saved by a lost man is a good thing. A man saved because of a lost Bible would be a far better thing. I’m glad that, by chance, I was flying United and I’m glad that by His mercy I always fly united with my Father. He is just so good!
