It’s nice when things turn out so much better than anticipated – and when you try to view life through a faith-filled lens, you really do see God’s hand in what is happening around you. It’s not easy to do. We get so caught up in the details of our created, secular world, that at times we let our frustration with all of that consume our thoughts. This week was a pleasant surprise for me. It was the week of our summer religious education program at my parish. I had some concerns about changes I wanted to implement and reactions that might not be very favorable. I was anticipating a lot of headaches and irritation. Instead, what I got (despite the rough start on Monday) was positive reinforcement from my volunteers, entertainment from the students, a lot of laughs (with kids and co-workers), and about 75,000 steps logged on my Fitbit. I am stunned at the good time I had almost the entire week and even though I am really looking forward to a weekend of nothingness, I am also feeling the need to give God a great deal of thanks for opening my eyes to what is really important and for the inspirations that he bombarded me with all week long. Faith-filled perspective. Looking through the lens of faith. All the difference in the world.