I love aha moments when I get to discover a new connection or all the pieces of the puzzle fall together. The feeling I get leaves me with joy that wants to bust out like Julie Andrews singing the hills are alive, on top of a mountain. I usually make everyone around me listen to my connection hoping they will get as excited as I am. I am annoying that way.

Yesterday I got that little thrill of making a new connection. I was in the Texas State Capitol building with my husband. He was there to visit with a state representative about school safety. He gave his business card to the representative’s aide. The aide commented that his school had the same mascot as ours and we quickly connected the dots and realized this aide was from my hometown in New Mexico. It put me in a happy place for the entire evening and I wanted to share it with anyone who would listen.

Another example of an aha moment has happened when I finally understood a difficult concept that I had been struggling with for a while. Or another was that wonderful moment when, as a teacher, I saw the lightbulb come on in a student and the student quickly began explaining to other students what they figured out.

Jesus disciples were clearly C+ students. They were witnesses to unspeakable greatness but just couldn’t put it all together. That is, not until the last moments in the presence of Jesus on this earth. After Jesus had risen from death, when he was beside the lake where he cooked, ate and talked with his disciples came the greatest aha moment in history. It can be found in Luke 24:44-48.

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms .” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

I can just hear the disciples’ collective, “Ooooh”! All the pieces finally fit together perfectly in their minds. And they had a front row seat the whole time. We can guess what their reaction was since we know what began there spread and continues more than 2000 years later. Thankfully, gratefully, we know they finally understood and became A+ students.