Finally Purchased BGE Medium. Need advice for 1st Cook.

Cheapest way to start it...make a void in the center of your lump after loading up the egg.  Take a paper towel, fold to 1/4 its original size.  Pour a teaspoon or two of veg oil (any waste cooking oil will do, bacon fat works too) onto the paper towel.  Fold or twist up so the towel is compact and the oil distributes throughout it.  Nestle in the void in the center of the lump.  With the bottom vent wide open and dome open, light the towel.  You should have a nice fire in about 10min or less.

+1 on all the advice. If you do rally to those high temps, please be careful.  Remember to at the minimum burp your egg if not even take the DW off completely before you open.  Flashback and burned fingers are no bueno.  

Congrats on the medium BGE. Did you get any accessories? The paper towel with oil thing that @njl‌ mentioned will work. I use a chimney. If you have a weed burner or a torch laying around, use one of those. If you have a way to cook indirect or a way to raise the grid(I use three bricks), I suggest trying a spatchcock chicken. You can pick up a chicken for about $6.00. So its kinda like burgers in that if you mess up, your not out much. The chicken actually might be an easier cook to start with as burgers can get out of hand in a hurry when using lump. You can cook the spatchcock direct if the grid is raised or use a drip pan on the plate setter.
My biggest mistake was starting my cook to soon before the VOC's burned off. I had a little bit of buyers remorse because the food had a horrible acrid taste. The best way to tell if the egg is ready is to hold your hand over the top and then smell your hand. If it smells bad your food will taste bad.

@bcc73186‌, you've joined a great forum with brilliant and friendly people that make the transition to the BGE really easy. It's like having tech support 24/7. Just remember to enjoy the journey.

First of all, congratulations on the medium, I wish I would have purchased that first so I would have had a better reason to get the XL in the future.  For starting the fire, I have used many methods in the past but the one I like the best is gel fire starter.  You can get it at a fireplace/barbecue store or a hardware store for a little cheaper.  I get mine at Menards for $5.99/quart, it's an all natural product and doesn't add any other flavor to the food.  I found the fire starter BGE cubes tend to smell like a parafin that I am very sensitive to.  The gel fire starter is like a natural lighter fluid that sticks to the lump and allows it to get up to temp really quick.  I also get about 50 cooks out of a bottle which is good for me since I use the egg 4-5 nights a week.  Whatever you decide, enjoy your egg my friend.

Welcome aboard. Remember to post pictures as well.

I like the idea above about starting with a chicken. Spatchcock simply means you've cut out the back bone. Another confidence builder is turbo butt. Pork shoulder coated with a BBQ rub of your choice and cooked turbo style. Turbo simply means done in 5-7 hours vs a long overnight cook. Search for turbo butt on this site. Butt is very forgiving. Definitely wait for the smoke to smell good. Be patient. And try not adding wood to the charcoal at first. You should have a "just charcoal" baseline to which you can later add wood smoke. Practice a bit on longer, low and slow cooks prior to telling a bunch of people to show up for dinner at a certain time. On butts and briskets you will experience the baffling "stall". This site will teach you how to manage that. Also as implied above, your first few cooks are about learning the egg. Give yourself a break if everything is not perfect the first few times.

Oh, and put your city in your signature line and you will likely have some Egghead buddies nearby pretty soon.

welcome aboard. I would suggest the thermapop for a good starter instant thermometer if you don't want to spend $100 on the thermapen right away. I've used mine for a few months now and no problems. Still plans for the thermapen but after I grab a maverick The spatchcock chicken has become an almost weekly cook. Season it however you want and slice or shred it for multiple meals.

Welcome aboard. There are many ways to do things, but this is a great place to learn. You can Cook burgers raised direct, direct fast, slow. The same holds true for everything, even how to load and light lump. Search this forum, ask questions, try new things, but most importantly, relax and have fun.

Welcome have fun and even a bad cook on the egg is better then a good cook on a gaser

Congrats..welcome to the forum