When my dad met my mom, he was smitten.  However, my Gran didn't approve of him.  Poverty stricken, friend of outlaws, wild--no father, uneducated.  Nothing going for him but good looks, black hair, kind heart and love for my mom.

But my Pops, my grandfather, gave his approval for my dad to marry his daughter.  Pops saw my dad's tender heart, and saw how he had supported his mother when his father had been murdered.  And saw how he loved his brother Harvey--enough to lose a year, go back and help Harvey catch up in school (when Harvey got sick).  I don't remember which grade my dad repeated to help Harvey, but Dad and Harvey graduated together.

But fifty years later, after Pops was gone and Gran was alone, my dad took care of her every need.  And Gran told him, "Elmer, you are a better son than either of my boys.  You've been so good to me."

It was good that Pops looked on my dad's heart.  It was made of gold.   I was blessed to have him for my father.  My Gran was blessed to have him for a son-in-law.

And it's a good thing God looks on our hearts.  He sees our real self.  Not what we are, but what we want to be--even though we sometimes fail.

You may not have had a kind father like I did, but there is a Father who wants to adopt you.  Come on in to the family.  The people aren't perfect, but they have good hearts.

1 Samuel 16:7 "... the Lord said unto Samuel, Don't look on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."