The clattering of dishes let the young mother know her six-year-old daughter was playing in the kitchen again. "Darlene, how many times have I told you.." Her voice was filled with a tired frustration that most mothers feel about three o'clock on a hot, busy day. As she came around the corner saw the flour on the floor, the refrigerator standing opening and little Darlene holding a spoon in one hand and a spilling can of chocolate syrup in the other. At her feet, there was a broken bowl from the family's best china.

The young mother, gave Darlene a few swats to her bottom, and sent her to her room for a time out. As Darlene turned to walk out, she looked back, still bawling, and said, "Mommy.. you're mean!" She then rushed up the stairs to her bedroom.

Mom cleaned up the kitchen and started to go back to her other chores. That's when she noticed how quiet it was. That quiet that every mother knows means a child is into some mischief. Mom went up to her daughter's room but she wasn't there. She heard a noise coming from her own bedroom. She walked down the hall and opened the door. There sat little Darlene, scissors in hand, cutting up Mother's new dress.

The frustration was too much. The mother grabbed the dress and held it up. "Ruined," she cried. She fell onto the bed crying. Darlene sat there for a moment and looked at her mother. She could see her Mother's body shaking with the sobs. She could hear her muffled cries.

Darlene reached out to her mother. She spoke softly, "Mommy.. Mommy.." Her mother continued to cry. She spoke louder, "Mommy.. Mommy.."

Her mother looked up, tears streaming down her face, "What? What do you want?"

"Mommy, I am sorry," the daughter said. The mother put her face back down into her arms and didn't answer, she just continued to cry. Darlene, the tears welling up in her own eyes, said, "Mommy, please, I am sorry."

The frustration overwhelming her, the mother said, "Just leave me alone."

Little Darlene watched her mother for moment and then, reached her little arm, she spoke through her tears, "Mommy, I am sorry. Mommy, please take me back."

"God Take Us Back."

That is us. We rebel against God. We run from him. We fight against him. Then one day, we wake up and realize how far we are from God and how much we really need him. We look to him and we cry, "Take us back."

The good news is.. that's exactly what God is waiting for us to do. God is waiting for us to call to Him. So that He might reach out and take us back into His arms.

Why don't you call on the Lord right now. It doesn't matter what you have done. It doesn't matter who you are. God is waiting.. and He wants to take you back and make you one of His own. Do it now."