By Gavin Boyle
After their son River drowned in 2019, faith was the only thing that kept former country music star Granger Smith and his wife, Amber’s, lives on track.
“Our loss definitely tested our marriage,” Amber told Fox News. “[But] at the very beginning, even when River was in the hospital, going in for surgery for his organ donation, my husband and I went out to this healing garden. We looked at each other and said, ‘This is not going to tear our family apart. We’re going to find the good in this. We’re going to choose each other.’”
“We didn’t know what that was going to look like when we came home without our son,” she continued. “We both grieved very differently. So navigating that was difficult…We just really had to learn. It was this dance through grief of knowing when to back off, when to lean in, when to pray together and just truly have grace for one another — and grace for our kids.”
Related: Granger and Amber Smith Say their Christian Faith is their Strength After Losing Son
Still, the grief nearly cost Granger everything as he also turned to unhealthy coping mechanisms, like drinking, and even contemplated taking his own life.
“That night my sweet, incredible husband, the wonderful father of my kids, put a cold Glock 9mm in his mouth. I cry even typing this. It breaks my heart that he felt like this was the only way out,” Amber wrote in a book reflecting on that time, per PEOPLE. “I wish I had known. I wish I could have grabbed him, shaken him, and said, ‘You’re a good father! I love you! We’ve got this! This isn’t the way!’”
“But I didn’t have to. By the sheer grace of God, Granger became aware that the voice quietly telling him to pull the trigger wasn’t his own,” she continued. “He realized suddenly that he was under attack. He was engulfed in spiritual warfare.”
The couple has since found peace with the accident, and while they would still change the outcome if they could, they also see how the Lord has used it for good in their lives. Granger has also since given up his country music career and gone into full-time ministry to help spread the gospel.
“Knowing Jesus and telling others about Him is the treasure of my life,” Granger said when explaining why he was shifting his career path. “And I want you to know this, so you can have Him as your treasure too. I want my family to experience it and my kids to know this joy. I don’t want a career based upon building a name for myself to get in the way of that, no matter what kind of popularity or career I’ve gained.”
“I don’t want the Granger Smith name to be famous, instead I want to proclaim the name of Christ!” he continued. “The one that has washed me clean, the one that has freed me from my shame and my guilt. The one that gave me a new heart. I want Him to be known! And I want to know Him more,” he shared.
Praise the Lord for the way He has shown up in Granger and Amber’s lives. He is doing a good work in them and through them despite the terrible tragedy they had to endure.
Read Next: Granger Smith Explains Gospel’s Power: ‘The Way For Our Salvation’
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