Sunshine Bridge

As you went down the River Road you ran into an astounding sight back in those days. There was a brand new gigantic size bridge that spanned the Mississippi River. At the each end of the large bridge (similar in size to the New Orleans Bridge over the Mississippi) were cornfields. That's right- fields- not roads. Click here to see a photo of Sunshine Bridge.

The Sunshine Bridge near Donaldsonville, Louisiana was built by Governor Jimmie Davis. Davis died at 101 years old in 2002. He was a sharecropper who grew up to become governor of Louisiana. Among other things Davis wrote over 400 songs and played some roles in Grade B Westerns. One of his best songs was "You are my Sunshine." He also had a horse which he named Sunshine. One time when people complained about the governor using his Limo he got on Sunshine and rode up the steps of the Capitol in Baton Rouge.

It was no accident that the Bridge was named "The Sunshine Bridge."

The Bridge was also known as the "Bridge to Nowhere." Later State Highway 22 was connected to it. You can see where the bridge is located an Ascension Parish map by clicking here. But when HarleyDad first saw the Bridge it was a gigantic bridge connecting two cornfields. I had assumed it was just more of the Louisiana porkbarrell politics. However, there was a plan to get roads to the Bridge.

From time to time all of us appear to have "Sunshine Bridges" in our lives. We invest ourselves, our time and our hearts in things that are grand and seem so very important. We wake up one day and realize that we have built a Sunshine Bridge. The dream is grand, beautiful, stately and gleaming. But it goes nowhere. We are startled by the incongruity of what we have committed ourselves to and realize that after all our efforts, our grand dream leads to nowhere and we are broken-hearted. We have invested so much in a person or a dream or a cause and we are profoundly disappointed.

However, even with the "Bridge to Nowhere" there was a plan. Highways eventually connected into the bridge and industry developed in the area because of it.

My prayer is that God will build superhighways to to the Sunshine Bridges in your life. That what appears to be a total waste may be salvaged through the economy of God. He uses what is broken in our lives. As we have wrestled with God and life, we have been broken like Jacob was in old age and we bear wounds from this divine wrestling match. Although the evidence of our battles may never totally leave us, it is my prayer that you will find restoration.

HarleyDad