It is 3 a.m. She is lying in bed, thinking.
She is formulating her ideas. She is writing her words, mindfully going over the sentences, grammar and punctuations. She has something to say, and she wants it to be right – as right as she could make it.
It is a cold morning, the temperature being below zero. On her bed with her are some of her cats as well as the dog. They are cold too.
Before she knows it, the time is 6:30 a.m. and Susan Nordrum knows that she has to get up. She rises and sits on the edge of the bed – the cats and dog scramble as they know that they will be fed soon. But first, Susan clasps her hands in prayer, “Thank you Lord for giving me another day.”
She rises from the bed slowly. A new day has begun.
She walks wearily to her computer desk. She has trouble walking since a unfortunate accident in 1999.
During a job interview at a retail store in Liberal, Kan., Susan was told that part of the job was being able to lift heavy boxes. The box she was about to lift, she was told, was about 25 pounds. She went to lift the box thinking that the weight wasn’t going to be so bad. Instead, it was heavier than she thought, and her back gave.
To this day, she has problems walking. To make matters worse, she has asthma and type-2 diabetes, for which she must take medication after every meal.
“I am a physical wreck,” she said. “But I do my best every day with the help of the Lord.”
Susan is a religious person. Her life is filled with faith and with the knowledge that God will protect her and keep her going.
“I love the Lord,” she said. “I believe that Christ is the Messiah, and I believe in His word.”
She has written books before. They are stories that are filled with religious anecdotes and Biblical quotes. She has self-published these books through Amazon.com and said that, all things considered, they have done rather well. Her books have sold throughout the world.
“People need religion and faith,” she said. “People need that for their salvation.”
Her first book, “When I Close my Eyes, There’s Light” is the story of her life. Published in August 2011, it took 14 years to write.
“I would write a little, then I would put it away,” she said. “It is about me and how the Devil tried to take me down with him.” But then she smiled and said, “But the Lord rescued me.”
She has published two books since then, both telling the stories of people who have strayed from the faith but have been rescued to live a better life.
My books are filled with the glory of the Lord,” she said.
Susan is a Pentecostal, affiliated with the Assembly of God. “We believe in many of the Biblical rituals done in ancient times by the Jews,” she said.
“We believe in anointing with oil and the act of feeling a sick person to heal them.”
Susan still takes her time writing.
“Because of my condition, I just write for a little while than I have to rest,” she said. “Eventually, it will get done.”
She needs to rest periodically because of the back pain and usually takes afternoon naps after lunch. Although the pain is still there, it is tolerable.
“I need to live my life the best I can,” she said. “I know that the Lord will help me through it.”
Susan was quite excited about someone wanting to write about her story. “I’m a boring person, you know,” she said with a laugh.
But one must wonder how she is able to do the things that she does despite her ailments. To be a mother to her two children, to be able to maintain a household with their help, and to write her stories.
Yes, God does work in mysterious ways.