EGR

Each year, I read The Purpose Driven Life for Lent. As close as I can figure, I’ve been reading that book for the past 16 years, give or take a year or two. I have highlighted passages on almost every page, and I date the highlights to remind me where I was emotionally and/or spiritually that year. The Purpose Driven Life is one of the three primers I read every year, the other two being Man’s Search for Meaning and Traveling Mercies.

Although the book is filled with pearls of wisdom, there’s one term that resonates with me every year, EGR, an acronym for Extra Grace Required. The book defines an EGR as someone who is “difficult, a person who may have special emotional needs, deep insecurities, irritating mannerisms, or poor social skills.” I’m not sure anyone needs a definition to recognize an EGR. Truth be told, I have no trouble identifying people who fit the description. However, this year, I’ve decided to look a little deeper and recognize the ways I am an EGR:

• When I’m judgmental – hence the list of others who are EGR.
• When I’m impatient – usually just with insurance companies and healthcare systems that don’t do their job. Has anyone else attempted to transfer their medical records from one provider to another? If so, I know you feel me.
• When I spend too much time overthinking instead of trusting the process and God.
• When I lack the self-confidence to say or do the things I know need to be said or done.
• When old hurts and faults still haunt me.
• When I leave social events without telling anyone – I believe it’s called an Irish goodbye, but naming it doesn’t make it any more socially acceptable.
  
  Despite my need for EGR, I’m thankful for those who love me for who I am, and forgive me for who I’m not.