A Time With No End

By Janice Flowers

This book is about a girl that has her faith and belief tested in a hard way. She learns how to hang on to God in the most difficult times in her life and finds that she has the ability to trust God, even in the hard times. He teaches her not only is he her God, but he also reveals how strong he is! And she learns that God can multiply good things for her and restores her faith in him and her friends! A Time with No EndaEUR"his words are timeless. When he speaks them, they never end, but they bring life!What does it mean if you describe something as timeless? You mean that it is so good or beautiful that it cannot be affected by changes in society or fashion!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636307589

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

About the Author

cover.jpg

A Time With No End

Janice Flowers

ISBN 978-1-63630-756-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63630-757-2 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63630-758-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 Janice Flowers

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Timeless—what does it mean when you describe something as timeless? You mean that it is so good or beautiful that it cannot be affected by changes in society or fashion.

His words are timeless, when he speaks them, they never end, but they bring life.

Chapter 1

Claire's Story

My pretend life would be living in a world where people would love you and accept you without judging you by what you wear and what you look like. Here I was, twenty-four years old and starting a job at a day care academy, and I loved it! I got to play with babies and prayed with their parents.

I worked with one great lady! She was older than me, but we hit it off right away. I found it so easy to talk to her and get her to help me pray about different things, and we found ourselves being prayer partners in our daily lives. She was in her sixties, and her name was Tammy. I think she had the coolest hairstyle, and she always looked so neat. She never met a stranger and she loved all the babies that came in our room, and she always would say, Claire [that's my name], you can do anything God tells you. You can do it. Just stay true to him, and he can and will use you to do some great things in our day care.

Tammy and I worked in a place that was Christian-based, but I found out that everyone that says they are Christian doesn't really mean that they are.

I went to work on Monday mornings with a big cup of coffee and a lot of prayers. Before I left, my husband, Clay, prayed for me, for God to keep his hands on me, to stay safe, and for him to use me throughout the day. I thought about his prayers and add to them for God to help me, and I would ask for God's blessing on my husband too. I thanked him for giving me the love of my life!

I came into the day care and found another lady, Phyllis, in the room with Tammy. I spoke, and Phyllis didn't say anything. I let it go and just kept on talking about our time in church that Sunday and about how God moved throughout the whole church. I noticed Phyllis didn't have a lot to say except things related to our babies. I didn't know a lot about her, except she was hard to get along with, but I did keep trying.

I found myself thinking maybe something was wrong with me and having thoughts like, Maybe I should look for another job. Maybe I didn't hear from God on this job. Later on in the day, Tammy and I got to talk about the way she was feeling, she told Tammy maybe I was wrong about hearing God telling her to stay at this job. Tammy looked concerned and told me that she had been praying for God to bring a prayer partner to the day care, and he sent her me.

She got up and hugged me and told me the devil was making me doubt and that I needed to shut him down with the Word of God because God had started a work in me, and he was going to finish it. I was so glad to have this woman in my life. Tammy told me to not worry about Phyllis because she had been praying for a few years for God to move her. I couldn't believe Phyllis was not a believer like Tammy and me. I guess I was just too young to think just everyone was not a Christian. It hurt my heart to have this become a truth to me, but I put it away in my heart for this day and knew I had to make it a matter of prayer.

On the way home, I was thinking about all the people that had come into my life since I started working at the academy. There were a lot of people that left their babies with me that I really liked and I got to pray and see God do some great things in those babies. Like I saw God heal a little boy's legs that were twisted because of a deformity, and Tammy and I kept praying for him every day. And I saw God little by little straighten that baby's legs. We just rejoiced. That is, Tammy and I did. Phyllis didn't really enjoy praying with us, so we just prayed anyway.

As I got home, I saw Clay's truck already home in the drive. I thanked God for watching over him one more day. As I went in, I smelled something good and heard him in the kitchen. I smiled as I already knew what he was cooking: his famous spaghetti, which I love, and the garlic bread is delicious. He smiled and kissed me as I entered the kitchen.

I thought I could get a jump start on dinner for us as he smiled at me, once again thanking God for him. I had never had anybody to love me before Clay came into my life, and I couldn't thank God enough as we sat down for dinner. He asks about my day. I told him about Phyllis and the way she made me feel and all the doubts that had come into my mind about leaving that job.

He told me he didn't like me working but he knew I enjoyed it there, for if I believed that God put me there, I should not let the enemy come in and steal anything from me. I didn't tell him there were a few people that worked there that were very intimidating and kind of scared me.

I had never had anybody till Clay to talk to me about Jesus! Clay was the one that had led me in the sinner's prayer. I have never been the same person after that day. God had saved me from so much. I had a lot of bitterness in my heart because of things that happened to me growing up I thought I had forgotten about until after Jesus saved me. I know he healed my heart, but the job of the enemy is to come to you and make you doubt.

*****

Seven o'clock came early for me to get up and get dressed for work. By the time I got my hair up, it was almost time to go. I kissed my husband and let him pray over me again because I depend on his prayers. I got to work, and they told me Tammy was sick. My heart fell because I hated for her to be sick. I worried about her and said a prayer for her and reminded myself to call her during my lunchtime.

Phyllis came into our room with another lady whom I didn't know, and neither one introduced her to me. As I started trying to talk to her, Phyllis just started saying things like, You can go home, Claire, we have it here today.

It hurt my feelings, but I picked up my shoulders and just ignored the smart remark. I just started playing with the babies, which was so much fun for me!

Later, a girl came in my room and sat down on the floor with me. I had spoken to her a few times and found out her name was Sara. She started talking about church, and I learned she went to a little country church. I felt the Holy Spirit telling me she wanted more. I asked if she had any kids, and she told me she had a kid that was two years old. She explained she had gotten pregnant right after she had gotten married.

I noticed the sad look on her face as she was talking about it, but I didn't say anything. I just put it away in my heart to pray about it and ask God for directions on what to say to her. We found out we had a lot in common. She loved to talk about Jesus, and she was very sweet, and when she told me about her son, I can feel how much she loved him. We laughed and played with the babies a little while longer, and she finally asked me, What's up with Phyllis?

I told her, I have no idea, but I guess she's having a bad day.

She told me she wished she could get put in my room, and I thought to myself, I wish you could be there too.

I came home and realized it was not too late to work in my yard. I have always loved planting flowers in my yard, but since I started working full-time, I didn't get to as much, and since me and Tammy had become friends, she also loved flowers and had given her all kinds, some I didn't even know the name of, but they were so pretty! I said a little prayer for Tammy and told myself to call her again when I got to settle down.

I went inside and stirred the soup I had left in the Crock-pot this morning. It smelled really good, and I smiled when I thought about how Clay was going to like it. I said a little prayer for him to stay safe while he was coming home. I went in and changed out of my work clothes before turning my attention to the yard. I stopped and looked around the yard and realized it needed my attention really bad, but I knew when I took my job at the day care that some things were going to change. I kind of felt sad because I loved working at the day care, but I also loved working in my yard. I made a promise to have more time to work in my yard and the day care.

I sat down to pull up some weeds that were attacking one of my flower beds. I thought about how sometimes we let the weeds attack us with things of the past and with things that make us doubt what God has for us, but as I started pulling the weeds up and throwing them in my cart to pull out to the burn pile, it came to me. Claire, you need to do some weeding to your life.

I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart and I asked him to please help me. I kept working and pondering the things the Holy Spirit had spoken to me. The day was slipping away. I was enjoying just being outside and listening to the birds sing and just being able to be stress-free, even for a little while.

Clay drove up, and I went to the truck to meet him. I know he is tired. Clay is a brick mason. He puts his all in his job. He is a good man of God and has a good reputation in our town and even in other states. He stays busy but it provides a lot for us. He gave all the glory to God for his business, which made me so proud of him.

He asked what I was doing as he puts his arm around me and I show him what I had been doing for about two hours. He looked at all the weeds I had pulled up and smiled. I told him the soup was done in the Crock-pot. He reached down and gave me a kiss, and we went into the house.

We sat down after we get the dirt off of us to have our dinner and talk about our day. I found out he'd had a hard day with one of his helpers. They had made a few mistakes which was going to cost Clay some more time and money on the job. I tried to reassure him the best I could. I told him God would help him.

He said he did a lot of praying on the way home and felt a lot better about it all. I squeezed his hand and gave him a big bowl of soup. He smiled and thanked me as I sat down. He said the blessing over our dinner and thanked God once again that we were both safe and together. He complimented me on the soup, and we ate our dinner without talking a lot but just enjoyed being with each other.

Before he finished his soup, he once again told me how good it was. I just smiled because all I had done was put all the stuff in the Crock-pot. He got up to help me clean up our dishes. We had it done pretty quick and settled down to see what was on TV that we both could enjoy. I thought about Tammy and told Clay I had to make a quick phone call. He said it was okay.

I dialed her number and heard her answer. I knew by her voice she was feeling better. She assured me she was fine and she would talk to me tomorrow at work. She knew Clay was home and didn't want to keep me on the phone long. We said our goodbyes and hung up. I got back in to just find my hubby sleeping. I woke him and told him we should get on the bed where we could just go on to sleep. We said our prayers with each other and said goodnight. I knew he was tired and really needed some extra sleep. As I lay listening to my sweet husband breathe, I once again asked God to help him with his problems at work. As I drifted off to sleep, I once again asked God to give us a baby.

Chapter 2

A Time to Trust

My week kind of went fast at the day care. I was still having problems with Phyllis. She was still her usual mean self. It was so hard to comprehend how some people were just ugly and awful, but she was. I realized she was just ugly and mean to me. She acted like she loved everybody else, but I also noticed some of the other ladies that came in our room that I didn't know whom I worked with would all ways single Phyllis out, and they would stand away from Tammy and me. I hated to see them do ugly things to Tammy, even though she acted like she didn't notice. I always wondered, How does she do that Lord?

I couldn't understand people that said they were Christians yet could treat people so mean. I felt like it was all my fault the way they were treating Tammy. I hurt for her in my heart.

I tried so hard to show them Jesus in me. I heard one of the ladies call me and Tammy Jesus freaks. I felt my heart almost break. Tammy asked later on when it was just the two of us what was bothering me. I told her what I had heard but I didn't tell her they were talking about her too. She told me it was nothing but the enemy inside those people that didn't want me around. She said it was kingdom against kingdom but reminded me who I belonged to. I always felt a lot better when we talked, but I still could feel the effects of hearing what I did.

We went through the day, just enjoying playing with our babies and talking about our families. I found out Tammy had three kids and seven grandkids and nineteen great-grandkids. I was thinking, Wow, and all I want is just one baby. But seeing how God had blessed her, I knew he could do that for me.

She promised to help me pray about it with me. She told me, All comes in God's timing. And then she told me, God gives good gifts to his children, and he will give Clay and you the desires of your hearts.

I just thanked her for being who she was and for just being my friend.

The next three weeks went by pretty fast. I saw a lot of new people come and go at the day care. I saw Tammy looking like she felt tired a lot. I loved her and didn't want her to feel bad. She had become so special to me. I kept thinking she was going to retire and leave me. It really hurt my heart, but I knew she deserved it. She had worked at the day care for a long time.

The next day, I felt kind of sick. By the end of the day, I was feeling worse. I just wanted to go home. Tammy told Ms. Graham when she came in our room that she was going to take me to the doctor because I was sick, so when she got off, she took me to see the doctor. She would not take no for an answer. I was feeling awful. I knew I had not been able to eat anything for a couple of days, but I had not said anything to her about it. As I sat in the waiting room, I told her how blessed I was to have her as my friend.

She smiled and patted my hand and told me she was the one that was blessed with me. I felt so humbled. By the time we got back to see the doctor, I was in a bad way. I was hurting pretty bad. When the doctor came in, he could see I looked awful. He had me to lie down on the table and pushed on my right side. It hurt so bad I cried. He said, Claire, you have appendicitis, and I need to admit you to the hospital now.

I sat there and cried because I was scared of surgery, and Clay hadn't arrived yet. I had called him on the way to the doctor's office, but he was a pretty good way from home and wouldn't be there for a while. The whole time, I was feeling so scared and totally forgot to ask God to take away my fears. Tammy was just sitting there, looking at me with her sweet little face. She didn't have that look of fear at all, and somehow, it made me feel a little better. With love coming from her smile, she said, Claire, I will be with you till your husband gets to you.

That made me feel a lot better because I knew she was praying for me. So the doctor's office made the arrangements with the hospital and said I should go as fast as I could. My level of fear and the sick feeling I had was mounting fast. I was thinking, Oh, God, what's happening? I've never been this sick before.

I heard and felt the Holy Spirit say, Just trust me, Claire, I am your shield and armor!

As we made our way into the hospital, Tammy and I were praying silently. Then I saw him—Clay. He came to my side as they put me in a wheelchair. He told me he got there as quick as possible. He reached down and kissed my forehead as tears came down my cheeks again.

They took us up to my room and helped me into one of those hospital gowns. The whole time, I felt so sick. The doctor who admitted me to the hospital came in and asked me, Who is your surgeon? I told him I didn't have one, so he told me, I'm gonna call one for you. He explained what a great man plus a great surgeon he was.

I wasn't able to ask him anymore questions, so he turned to Clay and told him his name. He said it was Dr. Ryan and proceeded to call him. He shook Clay's hand and told him it was an easy surgery and should not be long at all, but he was going leave all of that for Dr. Ryan. He told us a little bit about and assured us he was the best around. All I could do was pray for him to be everything he had told us. I also prayed for myself. I knew I was sicker than what anybody had known, but I knew because I knew my body was not doing the right things it was supposed to do. I had not said anything about it, not even to Clay, so I just lay there and asked God to search my heart. I didn't want any sin in my heart. I knew I tried so hard to make my Savior proud of me, but I needed to make sure. I was fixing to have surgery, and there were no guarantees with anything but eternity, and I knew I didn't want to leave my sweet Clay. But if I did, I needed to make sure Jesus was at my side! I just decided to shut my eyes and try to silence everything, but my heart was saying, "Hang on, Claire, I am with you. You are not alone!"

As I just lay there, I heard the Holy Spirit say, Just trust me.

I remembered Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Thy rod and your staff they comfort me.

I felt so much peace. Even in the fight of my life, I knew God was with me, and he was holding my hand. I had no idea I had been asleep for about an hour until Clay reached down and gently kissed my forehead and woke me up. I looked around. The room was full. My pastor and his wife and lots of our friends were there too. I looked, and Tammy was still sitting silently, and as I caught her eyes, she smiled and winked. Somehow, I knew she was praying for me.

Dr. Ryan, my surgeon, came into the room, reassuring me they were just going be outside the door. Dr. Ryan turned all his attention on me. How long has this been going on?

I told him it had been going on for three days.

He had a look of surprise on his face, then he asked, When was the last time you ate?

I told him it had been about four days since I had eaten anything substantial. He then checked my side and said, We are gonna do some more tests to make sure the appendix has not burst. But he then told me, It won't take but a few minutes to take it out, and you can have some grits and eggs for breakfast tomorrow.

I just smiled and thanked him. He left my room. I looked up and saw my strong husband looking scared. I reached out and took his hand and reminded him the way he prayed for me every day and told him, God has this too. But somehow, I sounded braver than I felt.

The next four hours was a blur of nurses and doctors. They came and put needles in my arm, which made me cry. But I was trying to be strong! At about two in the morning, they took me back to surgery. I was hurting pretty bad from all the poking they had done on my side, and as they left the room with me, I just wanted to go back in time and be sitting and talking to Clay. He kissed me one more time before they told him he needed to listen out for them, and the doctor would let him know something when he was done. I felt like I could trust this Dr. Ryan and didn't even know him.

As they were taking me back, I feel like I was going faint. I heard Dr. Ryan say to the anesthesiologist, Take it easy on her, you're giving her too much too fast.

Then I felt better. The next thing I knew was somebody was telling me to count down from ten, and then it sounded like somebody said, Oh, no.

I wondered who had said it, but then it seemed like forever I was in this room with somebody talking to me, but I couldn't say anything. After what seemed like hours, I heard my wonderful husband telling me I needed to wake up, but I was thinking, I am awake, why can't you hear me?

I heard the nurse tell him all I had been saying was I needed to take a shower. He laughed and said, She works at a day care, and that's the first thing she does when she gets home.

I lay there and listened to them talk and tried to get them to hear me, but then I heard the nurse tell Clay he needed to go back out and wait outside my room, and they would bring me up in a little while. I didn't want him to leave, but I felt myself again being pulled back to that peaceful place again.

Next thing I remember, I was back in the room they put me in when they admitted me. I didn't even know what day it was, but it was dark outside the windows. Clay was there looking so tired. My friend, Rylie, was there too. Even she looked worried. I was so weak, feeling that I couldn't think very good. My hands hurt from the needles being in my wrist. I wondered why my arms and legs hurt so bad, and I had something in my throat and couldn't say anything, but then there was a nurse trying to get the thing out, which hurt like crazy. Then I heard Clay tell me to cough so they could take the oxygen out. I tried, but it hurt so bad.

The next few days were full of nurses and doctors coming in and out of my room. I still had not wanted anything to eat but Jell-O, and for some crazy reason, it had to be lemon. Dr. Ryan came every day and put new bandages on my side. I had found out after two days of my surgery that he wasn't really expecting me to live. He had told Clay about how my appendix had burst and fell down in my colon, and gangrene had set in. He ended up having to take part of my colon out, and I also found out he couldn't sew me up on my side because of the infection. He had told Clay I should not have lived. That is how bad I was, but I didn't know how bad a state I really was in.

I stayed in the hospital for a whole week. Then Clay brought me home. I still couldn't do much of anything, so I just lay around and tried to let my body heal. I got to thinking how sick I had really been. I could not believe I had almost died, but God had other plans for me. I thanked him so much for helping me and asked him to continue to help me. I knew I needed to eat, so I was trying to find little things that I wanted. People from my church came over with food every evening. It was amazing how many people rallied around us!

Tammy called me every day to check on me and to tell me she was still praying for me, and she missed me at work. I told her, I miss you too, and I miss our babies.

Six weeks slowly dragged by, but I felt my strength coming back. My sweet husband wouldn't let me do anything, though, until I got back to see Dr. Ryan, and I still had a couple of days until my next appointment, so I just kind of hung out and watched TV and read my Bible a lot. I realized just how much Jesus had his hands on me all the time. I was so sick, but I could always feel my heavenly Father right by my side, and I remember as a little girl, I was so lonely and felt so unloved. I could always feel my heavenly father telling me he would never leave me nor forsake me, but he had big plans for my life.

I thought about how growing up, my mom and dad weren't close to me at all. I saw my mom go through a lot abuse from my dad, and I always thought it was my fault.

*****

I heard Clay drive up and couldn't wait for him to come in. It was my doctor's appointment time today. I was hoping he would tell me I