The natural world is one of the clearest, most beautiful ways that we can see and experience God in a somewhat tangible way, don’t you think? When we witness a wave curl and crash, or we can’t look away from the flicker at the end of a wick, or we’re stunned into silence by a peacock crossing our path — this actually happened to me a couple of weeks ago! — the ho-hum brushes up, even just for a moment, against hoo-whee-wow.

Sometimes, however, the natural world leaves us scratching our heads and saying, “Hmm…that’s strange,” or “God must have a reason for creating that…”

This month, we asked the kids to ponder God’s creation and answer the question, “What do you think is the strangest animal that God created and why?”

In the Yucaipa Branch, California, the anteater got two votes, one from Calani (age 8) and Caileen (10), who both cite its long nose and tongue as its funniest looking features. Chloe (4) said that the elephant is pretty strange due to its long trunk, and Adam (5) said that the okapi, with its giraffe-like head, short neck, and zebra-striped legs has got to win the prize as the strangest animal.

Enjoy the cute pictures that the kids created.

In the Pinetop Branch, Arizona, Robby P. (10) didn’t even have to think twice — he immediately said that bed bugs are God’s strangest creation because they have no purpose other than to annoy people.

We super-smart adults know that each one of God’s creations, no matter how seemingly strange and illogical, has a purpose. How do we know? The story of the fleas, of course!

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.