I've Been Quiet - Here's Why

I don't usually write post updates about myself, but I thought I would give it a try. I have been pretty quiet here at The Father's Heart since late January, and I'm itching to get back. So what have I been doing?

ARIZONA TRIP

First, my husband and I went to Arizona to visit family, and we especially wanted to see our then 5-month old granddaughter, Elizabeth. I can't begin to tell you how much I love her. I guess that makes me a typical grandma, but I didn't expect to feel it quite so strongly.

I am Oma, and Kevin is Opa (German for grandma and grandpa). Kevin is 100% German even though he has never been to Germany. That doesn't keep him from being proud of his heritage though.

I truly was nervous that Elizabeth wouldn't like me or that I wouldn't know how to be a grandma. To an extent, I still am. You see, growing up, I was afraid of both my grandmas, and once I had children, they were afraid of my mom. So you can understand my concern. I've had plenty of people tell me it would be different for me, and I'm beginning to believe they could be right. Of course, Elizabeth is only six months old and will have no memory of our interactions to date. But if what we have

experienced so far is any indication of the future, then we are golden.

Did my grandma and my mom feel this much love and joy over their grandchildren? Probably. I mean, who could resist such wonderful children? Lol

While in Arizona, we were able to help Josh and Deborah redo their front yard. It was full of dirt and weeds as you can see, and one tree was dying. Something needed to be done. Both Josh and Deborah wanted to put in a better watering system and lay rock. Deborah wanted a flower garden too. Their yard turned out really nice.

Of course, Kevin did most of the work, and Josh did a lot when he wasn't at his job. Deborah and I helped as much as we could. We took turns watching Elizabeth, and Deborah was able to get her garden done. Below is the only picture I had of Kevin outside. Can't you tell how hard he is working? If you look at the concrete, you can see that part of it is new. Kevin extended their front porch, and it turned out great.

WEALTHY AFFILIATE

Once we got back home, I was feeling restless. I'd known for quite a while that I wasn't happy not working and contributing to our finances. I began to look online for a job I could do at home. I landed at Wealthy Affiliate (WA), an online marketing affiliate program and community.

It isn't at all what I had in mind when I began looking. I don't know what I thought the internet would offer, but I knew I couldn't wear a mask and that I would have to find something I could do from home.

Although I wanted to find something that would bring in money right away, and WA didn't offer a quick return, I realized that I wasn't exactly qualified to do any of the jobs posted online. Unless I was willing to make phone calls, then there didn't seem to be anything. No Thanks!

I did come across a few scams with promises to make money right away without much work though. In fact, researching one of those scams was how I came across WA. Although I was a little skeptical, they offered a free week of training so you could see if it was for you. I had nothing to lose.

Wealthy Affiliate (WA) is both a training program for building an online business through affiliate marketing and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

THE BUSINESS SIDE

I am learning everything I need to know step-by-step to create a successful business online. Of course, I'm just starting, and so I haven't done much. I've built a bare website and written one post, and I'm working on a second. But I decided to take a break and write this post instead.

I have no marketing experience, but because creating content on your website is a big part of making your business successful, I thought it was right up my alley. Plus, the first week offered the Level 1 training for free, which is ultimately what convinced me to give WA a try.

I chose "Cast Iron Cooking" as my niche. I had been cooking in my cast iron skillet a lot lately and was loving it. I am interested in learning more about cast iron cookware and sharing what I learn so it seemed like a good fit. If by chance, you also love cast iron cooking, feel free to visit my website and read my one post on seasoning your cast iron. But don't expect to be wowed by the look of the website because if you remember, it isn't finished. In fact, it doesn't look like anything, really. It's up and running and that's what counts at this point, I guess.

My next training is going to cover the use of images. You would think I already know about images since I have this website. But I am following the training and doing the assignments as I go along. It may be different in WordPress. And that means finishing my second post before I can move on.

THE COMMUNITY SIDE

The community side was something I wasn't prepared for and am still not sure I have figured out the best and most productive way to be involved. I could easily do community all the time, but that would defeat the purpose. So I must figure out how best to divide my time between business and community before it takes over. I am told after three months of being a member, the community interaction is rewarded. I'm not sure exactly how, but I aim to find out.

Being a part of the community reminds me of my early days on Facebook. It was easy to spend too much time there and leave feeling like you didn't accomplish anything. The community at WA is where you get followers, read what others write, take time to like and comment on what they write, and ask your questions. The people are more than happy to help, which has been a blessing. There are thousands of articles people have written to help with just about any question you might have, but people are also willing to answer your questions if you type them into the community newsfeed.

I'm not saying the community isn't valuable because it is; I'm saying I need to manage my time there and make sure I don't neglect my training. My training is what will lead to my business being successful and my being able to make money. The desire to work and contribute financially is why I joined in the first place. Sure some people want to become millionaires, but plenty of people simply want to make a decent living doing online affiliate marketing. The amount of money one is trying to make isn't really the focus anyway.

That being said, I realize I have learned quite a few things from the community:

• How to organize my thoughts better

• My writing doesn't have to be perfect

• My writing is my opinion and therefore not subject to scrutiny or fact-checking. I don't claim to be a journalist; I write opinion (or on this site, belief)

• Critique is valuable and should be welcomed. Critique can also be done tactfully so that it sounds inviting rather than criticizing

• The more I practice in the community making comments and eventually writing my own posts, the more I will think and move quickly (I am super excited about this one because it is already happening)

I am a slow writer and thinker. I sometimes spend hours and hours researching for one short article. I sometimes change things so many times that I no longer know what I have written. I read and reread what I write over and over looking for tiny mistakes. I then put the whole post into Grammarly to check and find still more mistakes I didn't catch. I desperately want to learn to be quicker.

CONCLUSION

As you can see, I have been busy. But I do not want to stop writing in The Father's Heart. I am currently working on a post that has been slow-going. But be looking for it soon. I also have started a couple of series, you might say, that I don't want to abandon.

I hope you have enjoyed this update. I would love it if you posted a short comment below letting me know what you thought.

God bless,

Lynn