The Waiting Room: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in a Health Crisis

by Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage, Scotty Smith (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998032108
Publisher:	Living Story
Publication date:	01/22/2019
Pages:	282
Sales rank:	509,432
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

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

Table of Contents

60 Meditations for peace and hope in a health crisis

Foreword by Scotty Smith

Cancer, stroke, traumatic injury, major surgery – a health crisis of any kind involves waiting, and this waiting arouses many emotions: fear, uncertainty, sorrow, agony, and anger. This volume of sixty meditations brings hope and peace from the Word of God for those who wait.

First, the ground is laid with the backstory of the slew of illnesses that affected Elizabeth Turnage’s family in 2017. The introduction then explores how the agonizing wait becomes an opportunity to know the peace and hope that comes from the good news of the gospel. We can know joy in suffering when we look to the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross and imagine the day when Christ will return to bring full and final healing.

The meditations are arranged loosely, meandering through various topics that will be relevant to anyone who has walked through a health crisis. In this case, “art imitates life,” as the reader will have good days and bad, good moments and bad. She can choose the devotion whose title seems most relevant to her in the moment.

How it achieves its aim to bring peace and hope:

Each meditation is around 550 words, expertly crafted to guide the reader to surpassing peace and certain hope. Each entry includes:

• An enticing title that will capture the reader’s attention.
• A relevant scripture selection.
• A brief anecdote or hook related to waiting in a health care crisis.
• A highlighted gospel reality that brings peace and hope.
• A one to two sentence concluding prayer.
• One or two suggestions for further action – further 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.

Topics include:

comfort in crisis, peace for health challenges, hope in fearful situations, God's faithfulness in suffering, God's love for sufferers, caregiving for cancer patients, hope for patients with brain tumors, forgiveness, growth in suffering, Christian maturity, Jesus is near, cures for anxiety, Jesus' love for hurting people, grief, sorrow, psalms, lamentations, Job, the good news of the gospel, waiting for Christ to return, Revelation.

Editorial Reviews

If you are ever in a hospital waiting room, submerged in anxiety, weariness, and possibly grief—and you will be—feel blessed if you have this book with you.... Elizabeth Turnage has sat in your chair and knows your pain, doubts, and fears. She also knows the God who brings comfort and healing to the distressed. DANIEL TAYLOR PHD , AUTHOR, DEATH COMES TO THE DECONSTRUCTIONIST,

This brilliant book is a tender gift of the presence of God for those caught in the deep woods of medical uncertainty. 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 PRESIDENT, THE 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. KAREN HODGE, COORDINATOR OF WOMEN’S MINISTRIES, PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA (PCA)

Elizabeth Turnage, in The Waiting Room, sits with us, offering understanding, peace and courage. She takes us right to our God through her personal story of waiting room ordeals, through God’s Word, in prayer....She conveys perspective for the difficulty of today, comfort and strength for the ongoing journey and great hope for the future. JUDY DOUGLASS, WRITER, SPEAKER, ENCOURAGER, DIRECTOR, CRU WOMEN’S RESOURCES

Elizabeth invites you to engage scripture, worship music, prayer, and honesty with your Creator. This is a book that I will read multiple times as Elizabeth has shown me where God is in plain sight in the wilderness of suffering. DR. PENNY NELSON FREEMAN, LICENSED COUNSELOR AND TRAINER

If you allow yourself to take this interactive journey of meditation, you may well find a place where your own heart will grow in trust and grace, even in the hard. RUTH ANN BATSTONE, COUNSELOR AND MENTOR, SERGE; SENIOR STAFF CONSULTANT, PARAKALEO

With acute accuracy Elizabeth names my deepest fears. With gentle probing she invites me to trust my Father. With an economy of words she creates space for faith to flourish. SHARI THOMAS, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PARAKALEO

From the Publisher