Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

by Granger Smith

Overview

New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, ECPA Bestseller

'Country music artist Smith debuts with a sensitive and moving recollection of his path through grief. . .In stark, intimate prose, the author candidly renders the realities of suffering while articulating a moving message of renewal. Those seeking a faith-based path through grief will find this instructive and affecting.' — Publishers Weekly

Like a River, a triumphant story of new life birthed out of tragedy, will teach readers how to face their failures, confront their pain, and connect with God—the true source of life.

On June 4th, 2019, country music singer Granger Smith was enjoying a final evening with his kids before heading to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards and his next tour. While helping his daughter London with her gymnastics, his youngest son fell into their pool. Granger did everything he could to get to him, but he was too late. River drowned, and Granger's world shattered.

The days, weeks, and months that followed River's death sent Granger on a dark and painful journey. Every time he closed his eyes, he replayed the horrific event in his mind, and every time he opened his computer, he was bombarded by the critique and criticism of people who blamed him for the accident.

Despite his best effort to get back on stage with a smile and song, it was all a façade. On the inside he was dying. Fortunately, that's not how his story ended. And now he is compelled to help people all around the world find strength, peace, and hope on the other side of tragedy.

• Like a River, life is full of twists and turns.
• Like a River, people pollute our world with their critique and criticism.
• Like a River, tragic events keep us dammed up.
• But like a river, we can find the courage to keep moving downstream.

Rivers don't run on their own strength; they flow from their source. When we try to keep going on our own, we won't make it, but when we connect to the greater source, we will find the strength and the faith to keep living after loss. This triumphant story of new life birthed out of death will inspire every reader to live Like a River.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400334360
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	28,999
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Granger Smith is giving everything to God. After 24 years touring as an award-winning, platinum-selling country music singer-songwriter, Smith chose to leave the music business to pursue ministry. The "Like a River" summer tour in 2023 will mark his last as he moves full throttle toward his faith. Honoring his late son, River, Granger's first book, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache, will be released on August 1, 2023 (W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson). Compelled by the call to ministry, Granger intends to serve his local church under the teaching, council, and leadership of his pastor and elders while he continues work on a master's degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, along with public speaking and authorship. Granger and his wife, Amber, live north of Austin, Texas, with their kids London, Lincoln, and Maverick. Visit grangersmith.com for more.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2023

Country music artist Smith debuts with a sensitive and moving recollection of his path through grief recovery after his three-year-old son, River, accidentally drowned in 2019. Beginning with a paralyzing account of finding River facedown in a pool, Smith details the “slideshow” of grief that repeated on loop in his brain in the days afterward: River “purple and limp like a rag doll,” and, later, “in the hospital with breathing tubes in his nose”; Smith’s other son, then–five-year old Lincoln, placing his fingers on River’s casket at the funeral. Smith went through the motions at concerts and sought relief in self-help books and his weed pen, until a moment months later when, listening to devotionals in his car, he was “blown away” by a sudden awareness of God’s unconditional love: “I knew of God before, but now I understood something far greater... he knew me.” Smith explains how he abandoned a false sense of control and placed his trust in Jesus, and found a measure of purpose within the pain by using trauma as fuel to spread God’s message. He also offers readers strategies to navigate their own grief, such as surrounding themselves with like-minded believers. In stark, intimate prose, the author candidly renders the realities of suffering while articulating a moving message of renewal. Those seeking a faith-based path through grief will find this instructive and affecting. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly