Granger Smith > Quotes

“Consider this. Happiness happens to you. It’s something you feel when things are going well. It’s temporary. But joy is different. It’s an internal peace, a gift that can never be replaced or taken away, which means it can exist even alongside our deepest sorrow.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“We are all sinners in need of a savior. God came to earth in the person of Jesus to redeem and gather His people. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and taught about the kingdom of heaven. Labeled a blasphemous heretic by religious leaders, He was crucified on a cross but rose from the dead three days later at a real time in recorded history, in a real location. He revealed Himself to hundreds of real eyewitnesses, claiming that anyone who believed in Him would have peace, rest, and, most importantly, eternal life in a place where all tears would be wiped away, forever.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“A GUILTY MAN CAN’T FORGIVE HIMSELF WHEN AT HIS CORE HE STILL BELIEVES HE’S GUILTY.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“When grief is really bad, it’s a reflection of a love that was really great. The deeper you love someone, the more you’ll grieve their loss.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“Give me new desires only for the eternal things, not the earthly ones. Increase my faith in You and not on my own understanding. Remove any illusion that this home is forever . . . because it’s not. Once again, God, renew me.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“Pain is not permanent. Pain is not pointless.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“God uses us to help others, and when we do, we experience a peace that surpasses understanding—peace like a river.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“Like a river, life is full of twists and turns. Like a river, we will encounter storms, debris, shallows, deep, calm, and turbulence. But like a river, regardless of the obstacles, there is always a path downstream.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“clear picture of God that is woven throughout all sixty-six books of the Bible. According to Scripture, the Source of the river is in complete control of everything that happens downstream. If this is true, then the response to that knowledge could only be complete surrender, humility, and trust in His purpose. And instead of wasting our futile efforts fighting against the current, we are called to align ourselves with the flow. And the result of that surrender? Peace, joy, love, and hope. These are things I did not have at the time. It doesn’t mean there won’t be any suffering; in fact, the Bible promises tribulation. But it allowed me to see that there’s a meaningful reason behind all of it. Today, with my eyes wide open, I’m still discovering new reasons. MINIATURE NAVY SEAL I sensed this “glitch in the Matrix” many times after we lost Riv. But the first time was while we were still in the hospital. During”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“He would say, “The guys who don’t care about what they wear or what others think but still set the trend anyway, the guys who don’t get caught up in trash talk and bullying but still protect the vulnerable, the guys who make friends based on their heart and not their job, those are the studs. Those who aren’t that? Those are the duds.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“If we want peace in our lives, God needs to rule in our lives....the only way to satisfy the human heart is by surrendering to the one that created it”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“It’s kind of like that story I’ve heard that says at some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play together for the last time, and none of you knew it. I felt that.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“They aren’t strong on their own,” the tree explained. “They’re as fragile as my limbs. But I bury them in the soul and intertwine them with roots from other trees/ When a storm comes we lean on each other. And the rich soil holds us all together.”
― Granger Smith, Up Toward the Light

“Why does social media enthrall us so much? Don’t we know from my story and countless others that it’s all a lie? We only post things the way we want everyone else to perceive it. Sure, it can be lined in truth, but we still pick only the best photo with the best lighting from our best side. We edit the caption and then edit it again until it reads exactly like what we hope everyone believes about us.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“It took dying to who I was and what I had become at the rock bottom of that river to realize that nothing in my own power could change the course of my stream. I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t change it. I couldn’t manipulate it. I couldn’t survive it. But most reassuringly, I didn’t have to. All I had to do was connect with the Source of it and surrender to it. When I finally did that, I realized my story was only just beginning.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; This is to have succeeded.2 It”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“I’m not special. I’m not unique. I’m certainly not deserving of grace, and there are only two words that can complete that thought—But God.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache

“Generally, self-help teaches that the problem is outside us and the solution comes from within. The Bible teaches that the problem comes from within and the solution is outside us.”
― Granger Smith, Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache