Mary Novaria

The “For Sale” sign is up. So is my anxiety level as we have now entered real estate limbo. We’re moving… but not yet. We’re living here… but only a while longer. Last time we sold a house, it was on the market for six hellish months. Two things I remember most about that time eighteen years ago: The phone would ring requesting a showing just as I’d strapped our one-year-old into her high chair for dinner … And, I hid baskets of laundry on the far side of our bed, hoping lookers would merely glance into the room and not walk in far enough to see the mounds that accumulated daily with a pre-schooler and a baby. When we finally had an offer, it came from a couple who had come to the Open House the very first week our home was on the market. They’d loved it and spent those months saving for a down payment. Serendipity. The home didn’t sell because it was waiting just for them. As for us, we looked and looked, made a few offers, and had a couple of deals fall through. Then, t...

Ever heard of an EGR? I first learned about EGRs some years ago in small-group leadership training at my Episcopal Church. Our teacher, Father Ron, was a hip, wise, somewhat older priest, not an authoritative father figure--although he was an authority on many things--more like a really cool uncle or family friend who’d traveled the world and learned a few things the hard way. Fr. Ron was very open to sharing both his spiritual and earthly journeys, especially the bits that bring you to your knees and eventually lead to humility. One of the things we learned from Father Ron was that, as small-group leaders, we could count on having at least one person in our groups of eight or ten who was an EGR—Extra Grace Required; grace being that divine gift God bestows to bless us with patience and other virtues. Some EGRs talk too much, frequently interrupt, or veer off topic. Some second guess everyone else’s comments, or play Devil’s advocate. Still others sit mutely during group discu...