Rev. Dr. Margreat B. Smithson is a Nashville native, author, and distinguished woman of God among other great things. Her new book God’s Waiting Room was introduced to all by Bishop Calvin C. Barlow, Jr., noted author, Christian publisher, senior pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church, family man (wife Rutha Barlow), entrepreneur, et al.

God’s Waiting Room was written to let readers know that in this life: “everything is not always going to be alright. Sometimes, we must wait and the best place to wait is in God’s waiting room. It is his waiting room that we often discover the true purpose and patience of waiting. God’s Waiting Room seeks to encourage its readers that God has everything under control. All of us, at some time on life’s journey, will find ourselves in the waiting room of life because of life’s situations and circumstances. God has designed it that way. But be assured, your waiting is designed especially for you. Your waiting room was fashioned for you and your life’s circumstances,” said Bishop Barlow, Jr.

Rev. Dr. Margreat B. Smitherson is a member of Watson Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. John R. Faison, Sr. is her pastor. At Watson Grove, and outside of Watson Grove, Rev. Smithson serves in many ministries of the church.

Rev. Smithson accepted her call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in February 1988 and was licensed by the late Rev. C. W. Goodwin, Sr., December 11, 1988 at Watson Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Her brother, the late Rev. Joe H. Cantrell, ordained her August 23, 1997, at the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Rev. Smithson received her B.S., M.S., and Th.D. degrees from Emmanuel Theological Seminary, Rossville, Georgia through the Emmanuel Bible College Extension, Nashville, Tennessee. She also received a B.S. degree in Bible Studies/Business Adminis-tration from American Baptist College, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1997. In 1997, she was featured in the National Deans List and the All-American Scholar Collegiate Directory. June 10, 2008, she received her certification of completion from the Tennessee Pastoral Counseling Center and is now a Pastoral Counseling Specialist.

When asked a few general questions about the author’s daily strength-draw and core beliefs, she proudly said: “In one of my messages preached during Easter season, my pastor mentioned the weight of the cross. He spoke of how heavy the cross was for Christ as He went to Calvary and how Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help with the cross.

“The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said that is the way it is with waiting in the waiting room of life. The weight of burdens trials and tribulations are heavy, and you must let Jesus help. He is willing if you will only ask Him. Allow Jesus to take on your problems. Give Him the heaviness of healing and delivering you, knowing that your breakthrough is on the way. In God’s waiting room, the weight of the wait is heavy sometimes. The atmosphere is filled with the heaviness of uncertainty, emotional hurt, and frustration, and financial despair, physiological and physical pain. The strain of the weight could be one thing or another. “Or it may be a combination of things. You can feel the weight engulfing your very soul. I don’t know about you, but when that heaviness appears, I find myself singing Elisha A. Hoffman’s hymn, ‘I Must Tell Jesus.’”

God’s Waiting Room can be obtained through <Amazon.com>, Books a Million, Barnes and Noble and via <www.lowbarpublishing.com>.