I think Sons of Thunder means they were full of passion. John, however, didn’t always have control over his passion. For instance, when the time was approaching for Jesus to ascend to heaven, the disciples went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for Jesus, but the people did not welcome him, and at this point, John and his brother James each blew a gasket and wanted to call fire down from heaven to destroy them. Jesus rebuked James and John and then they went on to another village.

The disciples learned a great deal as they walked with Jesus. John saw that Jesus was for all peoples and that he must let go of any prejudices. The funny thing about John wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans is that later he was sent there to serve them. When Jesus chose these twelve ordinary men to come follow him, we can see that little can become much in in the hands of Jesus.

Eventually in his latter years, John was exiled to the island of Patmos as a prisoner of Rome.  I bet as he was working on the rock pile, swinging a hammer with the other  prisoners, he reminisced and spoke passionately about Jesus, his friend and Savior.

I said, “I haven’t told you but my mom died right before I came to school and I miss her.”

She said, “What if you would have lost a limb?”

I said, “I would give all my limbs to have my mother back.”

She opened the door without any response and walked out.

It took a long time for me to open up to someone again, but eventually, I found people I could trust, and then as I shared with them, healing began. I made some amazing friends who respected God and knew Jesus in a very real way. Thus my journey in trying to follow in the steps of Jesus began.

So now, here I am back in the dorm on the campus where I once lived and I wondered how everything would work out for Anna. The first night we had a big dinner with all of the international students, along with some faculty and the university president and his wife. This is the amazing part. An adorable, dark wavy-haired girl sat down right next to Anna and we asked where she was from and she said Palestine. She looks so much like many of Anna’s friends back in Lebanon. Then she went on to describe her family and it ends up we work with her father and second cousin closely in Bethlehem! She and Anna had an instant connection. Then to my right the president and his wife started telling me that they have been to Lebanon several times and they were good friends with Lucien Accad, the president of the Bible Society. I went on to tell them that we were good friends with him and his whole family. Sadly, Lucien just passed away. He truly was a man who loved God and challenged people to get to know Jesus. Later I found out that the Palestinian girl had lost her mom ten years ago. I told her I was so sorry and my heart felt her pain. She asked if she could call me “auntie.” I was honored. I say all this because God is a God of redemption. He takes pain and turns it around for good. God never said life would be easy. He just said it would be worth it. These moments on the campus helped me to see a big dose of God’s kindness. It was difficult to leave Anna behind but I know she is in the right place and I am excited for her.