Deborah Van Norden, Published Author

11/06/2024

10/24/2024

This morning, I was reading my Bible and meditating on chapter 3, the first part of verse 22, which says,

"We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ."

Down the page in verse 25, the Bible says,

"People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood."

The Bible says absolutely nothing about being right with God, or "saved," because our parents are, or being saved simply because we go to church. And it doesn't say we can get to Heaven because we're good people and we do good deeds. In fact, it says the opposite. Isaiah 64:6 says this:

"We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind."

And in the New Testament, we read Romans 3:10-12, which says,

"As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”

And Ephesians 2:8-9 says this about getting to heaven merely by good deeds:

"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it."

Many, many places in the New Testament tell us that we don't get to Heaven by doing good works. Salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone. There is only one way to Heaven, and that is through a saving faith in Jesus Christ. A saving faith is not just believing that Jesus exists. Remember Romans 3:25 -

"People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life by shedding His blood."

I encourage you to read the book of Romans, especially chapters 1-8. Many modern translations use English as we speak it now, without the thee's and thou's and wherefore's. The verses posted here are from the New Living Translation.

Remember - salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone, and it requires a decision. Our faith in Jesus must be sincere. Talk to God now, today. Don't wait. None of us are promised even our next breath. ❤️

08/25/2024

If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

- Toni Morrison

08/23/2024

Question:
What would you say to somebody who felt their life was empty and meaningless, that they're tired of the drudgery?

07/30/2024

The rewrite....well, lemme tell ya...this book needs more work than I thought. I'm having to delete large chunks and write new chunks. It's not easy. Therefore, I have abandoned my August 1 goal. I apologize for any disappointment. I am not going to work with a date in mind to be finished. I'm concerned that if I set another goal that I will disappoint you yet again. I don't want to do that. Know that I am working on it, and I will update you further as time progresses. ❤️

07/07/2024

Hello, and a very happy Sunday to you all! I hope the day is treating you well! ❤️

It recently came to my attention that I will need to apply for a copyright for my book before I republish it. This is not a quick process, unfortunately. The book must be completely finished before I can do that. I don't know at this time how long the process of getting the copyright will take. So while I will likely be able to meet my August 1 goal of having the book ready to publish, I won't publish it until I have the copyright. A copyright is not required, however, it's a good idea to have one's writing copyrighted as it greatly discourages plagiarism. I will keep you all posted of my progress.

Wishing you a wonderful remainder of your day ❤️

06/24/2024

I decided to temporarily unpublish my book till the rewrite is finished. So, "Call Me Sunshine" is currently not available for purchase. My goal is to have the rewrite finished by the end of July, and my book available for purchase by August 1. Thank you for your understanding and your patience.

06/23/2024

I've been working on my rewrite this weekend. I wrote a very intense part in the first few chapters that I completely overhauled yesterday. I decided it was much too triggering for a lot of people, and the last thing I want is for my book to trigger people, especially people who struggle so hard with borderline personality. Triggering people would be the antithesis of why I published this book in the first place. I want to give people hope, not make them hurt more. So I'm putting my all into this rewrite to make this book the very best it can be. It's going to take some time, but it will be better than ever when it's all complete. And, I might have a little surprise for you when that happens, so stay tuned! 😊❤️

06/15/2024

I am currently in the process of another rewrite of my novel, Call Me Sunshine." During the past few years, I have grown as a writer, and I want my novel to reflect that.
After the rewrite is completed and I have republished on Amazon, I plan to lower the price for a short time. I will announce on this page, and I will keep you posted on the rewrite. I might even post a snippet of the book, so stay tuned! 😊