Trusting the Bridge Builder

Since my first reading of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I began making my Graces List - God's gifts in everyday life, small and large.  In re-reading it for the 5th time (am I a slow learner, or simply needing to delve deeper into this amazing book?), I find something different that I'd skimmed before.

Thanks builds trust.... Who trusts the Bridge Builder?...How do you count on life when the hopes don't add up?  ... The hopes don't have to add up. The blessings do.  (emphasis added)

Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on. ... Can God be counted on? Count blessings and find out how many of His bridges already held.  Had I not trusted all these years because I had not counted?

That question is mine as well...  One only needs to glance backward in the mirror to a crossed bridge.  How many times have I crossed a bridge without giving a second thought to trusting its integrity? its strength? its foundation?  Have I ever hesitated to proceed, or simply lunged forward in blind confidence?

Making my own Gratitude Journal continues to be a good exercise in recognizing the Bridge Builder at work.  Knowing that I will enter simple words to remind me of His goodness keeps me alert to His ways, His work.

44.  October October October
86.  Oak leaves at a gravesite
159. Misty in labor
169. For Ruth: Psalm 69:29 I am sad and hurting...
174. My inheritance of faith
185. MP & me... pinky swear: save each other if one is missing & wandering aimlessly, IF we remember
195. 1907 red leather diary
250. Me: have you written letters to Santa?  2 grandsons: He lives in our house
279. A regular paycheck
287. Memory of the red brick with enameled iron fence - now abandoned and lonely
292. Even in the tornadic mess called a house, it will be Christmas in 7 days
305. Emma and her blingy headband
323. Special Christmas ball
339. Surviving cancer 17 years
375. City Harmonic - "Holy (Wedding Day)" in Nashville traffic snarl
376. US flag flying high from a tall building at dusk

There is something uniquely prayerful about making this list... about finding God, the Bridge Builder, everywhere I turn.

God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors.

My hand is open to receive God's magnificence as well as His lessons.  I trust Him for a night of rest, another sunrise, another conversation with loved ones, a new project to capture my attention, a grieving soul to companion.

He has blessed today.  Will He not bless again tomorrow?

Scarcely a day goes by that I do not wonder about the future.  I guess that's what happens as we age. I have traveled far on Life's journey, and the Bridge Builder has kept me from plummeting to certain death or disaster countless times. I have thanked Him not only for my own blessings but also for the blessings seen the lives of others.  His sure, steady strength has laid a foundation that can be trusted.  Without a worry, I go to bed each night and awaken the next morning.  Will He not bless again tomorrow?

"Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are a divine choice," wrote Henri Nouwen.

Again, I urge friends and acquaintances to read One Thousand Gifts.  However, if you choose not to, it is still possible to make your own Graces List.  Such a Gratitude Journal is a timely reminder of the Bridge Builder's care for each of His children.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. --Lamentations 3:23