The Waiting Room

Whether you are the caregiver or the patient, the “what-if’s“of the waiting room can feel terrifying, and the wait can feel agonizing.

Whether cancer, tumor, stroke, traumatic injury, or major surgery, a health crisis of any kind involves waiting. And this waiting arouses many emotions: fear, uncertainty, sorrow, agony, and anger among them. Elizabeth Turnage helps readers meditate on the certain hope and surpassing peace of the gospel: God has worked miraculous deeds and redemptive wonders in the past, and Jesus will “soon” come again to end our wait, and to bring full and final healing.

When her son was diagnosed with a brain tumor while her father was also dying of prostate cancer, Elizabeth Turnage spent long spells in many different waiting rooms. As she waited, she began to wonder, “What if this space could make space for another, better kind of waiting?”

What if the waiting room could become a “hoping room,“a place to grow our hope? What if this waiting room helps us to…

Experience the peace that surpasses all understanding?
Trust the redemptive work of God?
Become more like our beloved Savior?
Hope for the Day when Christ will return to bring full and final healing?

Endorsements: Elizabeth Turnage offers a wisdom that has been hard won, meets the test of the gospel, and is beautifully and brilliantly written. I can’t recommend this book more highly than to say you need a copy for yourself and eventually for every friend or family member who is called to wait for redemption. Dan B. Allender PhD, Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding PresidentThe Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Elizabeth writes to anyone who finds themselves in the waiting room of God’s sovereign purposes. She meets us there as an empathetic friend reminding us what is true in His Word, urging us to listen to the refreshing lyrics of the gospel, as she beautifully models what it means to lift our eyes to the Father who is faithful to meet us in the midst of our suffering. Karen Hodge, Coordinator of Women’s Ministries Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) Each meditation includes:

A relevant Bible verse.
A brief story related to waiting in a health care crisis.
A gospel reality that brings peace and hope.
A brief concluding prayer.
One or two suggestions for further action—Bible reading, links to music, reflection questions, other calming activities.

The Waiting Room concludes with an appendix that contains suggested readings, prayers, journaling ideas, music, and other calming activities.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage, M.Ed., M.ACS., is an author, teacher, and story coach. When her son was diagnosed with a brain tumor while her father was also dying of prostate cancer, Elizabeth Turnage became a cancer caregiver, spending many long spells in many different medical waiting rooms. She and her husband, Kip, an orthopedic surgeon, love spending time with their four adult children and their spouses. PASTOR EMERITUS CHRIST COMMUNITY CHURCH, FRANKLIN, TN TEACHER IN RESIDENCE, WEST END COMMUNITY CHURCH, NASHVILLE, TN Blogger at Gospel Coalition, Heavenward blog