You're Not in Control

I know that I am not in control of many things in my life; neither are you.

We humans do try to control a large part of our world, though. Don't we? We seek to surround ourselves with all the comforts we can and keep out all the negative--including people.

But we are never totally successful at it or else we wouldn't all have some "gripe" about some "thing" or some "person" that grates on our last nerve. Not a day goes by that we don't feel unable to change something for the better in our world. Am I right, or am I right?

So what do you do with your inability to change something or someone that is keeping you from enjoying your daily life more?

You can't always ignore it...you can't always flee the scene...and you can't always tolerate it.

In my opinion, you can only do one thing: Ask God to help you bear up under it and to show you what He is teaching you through that situation. He may just be teaching you to accept that not all of life is fair, good, or changeable--and that sometimes we just have to "accept" things; instead of changing them.

After all, He is really the only one who can change people's hearts. Isn't he?! It took Him to change mine. How about you?

Heaven's Heros

There is a song we sing at church that talks about Heaven's heros. We sang it yesterday, in fact. And you know who I think about when we sing it? Those people who really try to make a difference on this earth.

Two of those people are what I call my Pew Pals; they sit beside me and my daughter on the church pew every Sunday. And they are definitely Heaven's heros to me. Let me tell you why.

This past Saturday, after God laid it on my heart, my daughter and I set out to feed a hungry community of over 100. We've done it many times in the past, but it has been a while since we did it.

The people who used to help us have either went on to heaven to be with the Lord or have chosen other causes to advocate now; some others just don't focus on anyone but self these days, unfortunately. So we needed some new helpers.

These two pew pals of ours were as eager to minister as children on Christmas morning. They showed up early, loaded up the serving tables to be used, and did anything that was asked of them: from putting the drinks on ice to laying out the paper products--and at the end they gathered the garbage for discarding.

They were kind in tone and nature, smiled at those people going through the food line who needed to be encouraged, and made sure everyone had a plate of food and a drink.

That might not sound like much to some, but when hurting and hungry people encounter a kind soul giving them a plate of free food--with a smile and a kind word--than it can mean the difference between a depressed day and a joyful one.

So I salute the real Heaven's heros in our midst, those people spending their leisurely Saturday's serving the less fortunate: my daughter and the Bells in this neck of the woods--and whomever does it in yours.

Radell

Tweeter

Are you tweeting? If so, let me know. I'm curious to see what your experiences have been as a writer who tweets links to your articles on AC and elsewhere.

Dream Job Writing Contest

Interested in entering a contest that could net you $500 as the grand prize?

Make a comment to this post, giving me your email address, and I will send you all the details.

Writing Opportunities: Make More Money

Hey everyone!

If any writer is looking for a website where they can sell the articles they have already written (and didn't give away full rights to AC or anyone else) just copy and paste this link below into your browser and it will take you to the sign-up page.

http://www.constant-content.com/?aref=32182

You set the price (between $15 and $120), depending on the article and the rights you wish to sell.

Let me know if you have any questions.

My pen on that site is Radell Hunter

Saturday, October 31, 2009

FYI: I'll post again later tonight about the writing contest you should all enter! But for now, check out the two articles I wrote for Bright Hub this week. They have to do with computer spyware...one may apply to you.

Writing Opportunities-Monday, October 26, 2009

Good morning!

I think I mentioned the online company "Elance" in a prior posting but just in case you have forgotten about it, let me remind you of the potential writing opportunities there: they pay much more than AC or DS.

Elance allows you to signup with them and post copies of some of your prior writing examples in a "portfolio" so that potential "buyers" can preview your work and make you a writing job offer (show a range of your work--and only your best stuff). They also allow you to preuse the job openings in your writing field to see if you want to bid on any of them (more about that in a minute).

Elance isn't just for writers though; the company also provides other artistic professionals (like computer and web designers) the opportunity to look for writing jobs and post their portfolios too.

It cost nothing to join the Elance community and they give you the ability to use their service for free--with a limit of three free connection points each month. You can, however, pay for more "connection points" at any time by signing up for a monthly fee. Each time you bid for a job you see, it will cost between 1 or 2 connection points, so that is why you might need more than 3.

Here is how they work: You sign up and input your information (you can limit what you say about yourself and use a pseudoynm--or your real name--in the information that is seen by readers). However, you will have to list your personal information (like school degree and name, employer names and jobs, etc) if you elect to become "certified" and allow Elance to check out your formal education, previous employers, and published writing credentials.

You don't have to become "certified" by Elance. It is a process that makes their clients more "comfortable" with hiring you, sometimes, but that is not always the case. They charge for this "certification process" and I haven't done it yet, so it isn't a necessity to get hired by someone without it.

Once you signup and input your data, you are ready to "look for work." I recommend you choose only Escrow jobs (you can click on the Escrow button on the left-hand side of the 'looking for work' page to just see those jobs).

Once you find a job you like, it will ask if you want to bid on it, so just click yes. The rest of the process is self-explanatory so just follow the prompts. If you don't have enough connection points left to bid on a job, it won't let you.

***Important: Before you bid, click on the name of the company advertising the job to see their stats. Don't waste a bid on someone who has advertised 10 jobs but only awarded one. Also, don't bid on any job where they want you to write 10 to 20 articles for $50. Ignore those! Elance is a higher-paying job site than AC, so get the money you should be making when you go there.

I just got a new client at Elance myself last week, so I'm off to complete that assignment today. If you have any questions, email me, I'll be glad to help you with your bid process.

Happy writing!
Radell