Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, are opening up about their harrowing journey through grief and faith in a new episode of Christian multi-media platform I Am Second.
In an 11-minute video, the couple share painful details about the June 2019 death of their three-year-old son, River, whom they lost in a tragic drowning accident at home. In the wake of that loss, both Granger and Amber say they leaned heavily on faith, as well as attending counseling sessions.
The couple are also parents to two other children, nine-year-old daughter London and seven-year-old son Lincoln. After River’s death, Granger asked Amber if she would ever want to have another baby, and initially, she was adamant that she wouldn’t. But as time passed, she warmed to the idea — though she wasn’t sure it was a real possibility, as she’d had a tubal ligation procedure, thinking their family was complete. When a doctor suggested in vitro fertilization, Amber hesitated, worrying that undergoing such a procedure was tantamount to playing God.
At the same time, Granger remembered a conversation he’d had with Lincoln, after Lincoln asked whether God grows all trees or whether people grow some, too.
“I said, ‘God makes all the trees, but sometimes man plants the seeds,’” Granger emotionally recalled. The couple ultimately came to a similar conclusion about their decision to do IVF.
“I looked at her and I said, ‘God makes all the babies, but sometimes man needs to plant the seeds,’” he adds.
After much reflection and more ups and downs, including a miscarriage, the couple welcomed a baby boy named Maverick Beckham — whose name is a subtle tribute to River, including the letters “RIV” — on August 20.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
