They hadn't been married long when our son brought his new wife for a visit. One afternoon as she looked through some of our old family photos, her pleasant facial expression changed quickly to an expression of complete shock! There in the middle of all the other photos was one she had not expected to see. I truly understand her initial surprise for none of us had prepared her for this.

As we joined her side we discovered the reason for her gasps. And as we looked at the photo, our son's face began to turn to a nice shade of red and we all began to laugh. Well, everyone except our daughter-in-law who was waiting for some kind of explanation. Was there something a little twisted about her new husband that she didn't know or did he have a secret twin sister?

Nope, it was him. He was decked out in a dress, wig, heels and full make-up. Man, did he look sweet? But even though he was a quite good-looking young man, his feminine beauty did not come so easily.

First we had to find a dress that would fit him. It seemed almost impossible until I realized the dress size wasn't the problem. It was the lack of curvature to fill the dress. We addressed this dilemma with a small towel stuffed into the back of a pair of shorts underneath the dress to fill out the rear and stuffing took care of the top front. We found a cute little wig that looked absolutely adorable on him. That and a little make-up application did the trick. (For a moment it almost made me wish I had a girl.) However, the shoes were another story. We looked long and hard before we finally found a woman who had a pair of heels wide and long enough to fit him. But at last he looked the part...well, almost.

He had this walk...kind of like a gorilla! It was a walk that took him across the room in two steps...two long stride, foot stomping very unfeminine steps. You can't walk in heels like that! So I spent a good amount of time assisting him in the art of walking in heels, an art in which I myself am not necessarily proficient. Now you are probably asking, "What's wrong with you?! Why on earth would you do such a thing?! I have to tell you there were times I wondered the same thing as I watched him slouch and stomp back and forth across the room practicing his 'girl walk'. Now before you get any wrong ideas, I want you to know that our son isn't strange! At least not in the way you are thinking. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for his transformation.

He was about 15 years old at the time and was to be a surprise guest at a Royal Ranger Campout. Hmmm, this probably needs more explanation. For those who do not know, the Royal Rangers are a Christian Scouting organization, much like the Boy Scouts but with the main focus being on God. Once a year they had a sectional campout. Hundreds of boys and leaders would come for the event but women were NOT allowed anywhere near it. So they knew the boys would be totally caught off guard if they thought a girl had gotten into the camp.

As they sat at the huge campfire and sang 'She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain' our son made his entrance. I understand he strutted with much confidence as he powered his nose. It must have been pretty funny. I'm not sure if the audience ever found out that he was the 'girl' so I may be spilling the beans here. However, I'm not entirely sure he was completely convincing as a female.

There are some things that are just hard to fake. Like being a child of God. That's hard to fake. Sure many may pretend to be a Christ follower and might even have all the outward looks and speech. They may actually convince a lot of people but if there hasn't been an inward change, the truth will come to light sooner or later and you can be sure God isn't fooled.

1 Samuel 16:7b says "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." So if God is looking at the heart, what is He looking for? Psalm 51:17 tells us, "The sacrifice You want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, You will not despise."

So, how is your heart? Is it pure and honest? David's cry in Psalm 51:10 was, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.'

It doesn't matter what others see, only what God sees. A sincere change of heart is what really matters. A truly changed heart is born out in everyday life, not simply one picture at a single point in time.

And is my daughter-in-law ever glad!