This is good too

Btw, check ou this little book on spending. You may have to give your email address to access it.

Six days and counting...

Sorry GG, probably won't get to the audio file until the weekend but I did want to update folks on the week I've had at my new job. Had my benefits "training" today and was interested to learn that the company we use for our 401K is so serious about retirement that it will automatically sign you up for 3% deductions if you don't sign up and the company still has a pension plan. The overall medical plans and what not are also very good. We even get discounts at movie theaters, gyms, Carowinds and other places. And if you opt out of their medical plan to use a spouse's they will reimburse you for not buying theirs. Pretty cool. I got my first accolate from the editor for posting so many blogs entries and they are taking it easy on me by having another reporter help me cover meetings (although she said she thinks I can handle it).

I also found it interesting that most folks in the newsroom try to bring their lunch to work. The refrigerator stays packed. I think part of it is practical-- it's hard to find a lunch hour on some days to spare. The computer system is quite complex but I'm learning. I'm also getting used to talking to the superintendent on pretty much a daily basis.

Couple of Things

Came across this website on Poynter:

http://www.thefrugallife.com/

Seems very on point for our frugal minded ways.

Also, I want to make a recommendation. If you haven't read "A Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind, you should. I highly recommend it. I just finished reading it and it was amazing. Suskind, who works for the Wall Street Journal, won a Pulitzer Prize.

The book follows Cedric Jennings, who was a student at Ballou High School in D.C. Straight up hood. He wound up going to Brown University. The book follows him from his sophomore year at the really bad school in a tough environment to his freshman year at the Ivy League School.

It's impressive on two levels. First, it's good journalism. A very compelling read and as a reporter I marveled at the access Suskind had to Cedric and his mother, Barbara, and all the other main "characters."

Also, it's neat from a spiritual aspect. Cedric and his mother are very religious and his faith in God helps propel him to success. It's a truly touching book.

So, there it is. That's all I got for today. I look forward to seeing Morgan's church clip posted and reading about Kierra's Nawlins' adventures in the days to come. Yes other BPB blog posters, I'm calling you out! Ooooh. :)

-GG

Good Good

Good Friday was, well, good. Thoroughly enjoyed "Jesus Rose and He Lives!", an Easter play by University Park Baptist Church Pastor Claude R. Alexander, Jr.
I think it's fitting MoJo's last day of work at the Gaz was on Good Friday and she's moving to a new town over Easter Weekend. Fitting cause it's so clear this is God's doing. Hope everyone has a blessed Easter holiday.

-GG

Got summo fo ya

I have found some additional Web sites on Christian stewardship and debt, which are good. I have also read Christian fiction by Randy Alcorn, he is good. Holla!

mojo

Well looky here...

Yeaah! K-Young is finally on board and what a way to make up for it. I totally agree with your post. I hope you guys are ready to discuss your goals for our last meeting! It will be pretty casual. I am excited that we were able to complete it and learn so much. This has truly been a blessing and has prepared me for quite a step up in my career as well as a major financial challenge. As my uncle said last night -- Heeey shawty... get yo finances in order! I hope the next good news we hear is that GG is going to New York City!

Another interesting site to read on stewardship.

Fiasco in Charleston

So here goes! It pays to obey God. Or maybe I should say there's payback for not obeying God. I let someone talk me into going to Charleston because I felt like I "needed" a mini vacation. Never mind that I didn't have the extra money, had tons of work to do, and I was already exhausted from a busier-than-usual week. I also pushed aside what I learned with the first bed & breakfast I called -- that there was a special event that weekend and all the hotels would be at their peak rates. So what happened? First we checked in at our hotel, which from the outside looked like a war zone because of a major renovation. Next we set out to find a place to eat because we were both starving. I had studied the AAA book up and down for this trip. So how come the restaurant that I had my heart set on was closed for a private party? Then ask me why it took us an hour to find parking before we spent two hours walking around looking for a place to eat in a city known for its restaurants. My companion and I took turns asking why it was so hard to find somewhere to eat that didn't have a dress code and didn't require reservations. I quit asking when the Holy Spirit reminded me that I wasn't supposed to be there. Then I started praying for mercy. When we finally couldn't walk anymore, we ended up at a popular seafood restaurant where the wait time was about 30 minutes. The temperature started dropping really fast while we were waiting outside in the line and we were icicles when they called us in. When we finally sat down I ordered shrimp and grits because I heard so many times how good it was. So ask me why I wanted to cry after my first bite of shrimp and grits because I was so grossed out. For the first time in my entire life I sent back food at a restaurant, even though my stomach was trying to digest itself. And while I waited the 25 minutes for my new order to come out, I filled up on hush puppies. By the time the food came, I wasn't hungry anymore and my slight sniffles had turned into an all out sinus infection. When we got back to the hotel I was burning up with fever. I tossed and turned all night and barely made it out of the bed the next morning. Our first tourist stop was at Eckerd's, where I stocked up on fever reducing medicine and cough drops. By this time I was just praying that God would help me make it through the day without passing out in a strange place. Things started looking up after breakfast. Walking did me some good and a Fort Sumter boat tour made me feel like our time wasn't totally wasted. But then we left Charleston late and somewhere during the drive home I started getting feverish again. In the end I paid for Charleston four times over. I ended up working seven hours on my day off to make up for work I didn't do over the weekend. I ended up on strong antibiotics as my sinuses were so infected that my face was beginning to swell. I missed the BPB outing to the basketball game because I felt like crap. And I missed two days of work to recuperate, marring my perfect attendance record and missing a meeting that I had called. So what did I learn? God may let me live after I've been disobedient, but He won't let me get away with it. And it's much easier to suffer for the sake of righteousness than it is to suffer the consequences for sin.

Blog within a Blog

Check out the blog below! :)

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/jrblog/archives/2006/04/weve_hired_morg.html

About stewardship

Here is another Web site I found that talks about Christian stewardship (focused on married couples). FYI

It Really is a Small World (Afterall)

About a month ago, me and "MoJo" presented a training session about the movement toward online journalism. We showed this package from the News and Record as an example of using multimedia, video, podcasts, etc. to supplement stories:

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060212/NEWSREC0101/602110327/1001/NEWSREC0201

Well, today I covered the first Gaston Kidney Walk at Gaston College and Cassandra Elliott, who was featured in the presentation above, spoke at the event. She received her kidney transplant four months ago.
Pretty neat occurrence and yet another example of how God works in mysterious ways.

-GG