By Ann Farabee

Who, me? God, You are always thinking of me? What? Did you say that I am your friend? How can that be?

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.”

James 2:23 says, “And the scripture was fulfilled that said Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.”

God is always thinking about us. God is our friend, and He is so good!

We are in a beautiful season where leaves are changing from green to red, orange, yellow, brown and even purple, reminding us of our beautiful world.

I have a few questions about leaves:

Why do leaves fall from dogwood trees? They are afraid of the bark.

Why were so many people collecting leaves under a tree? It was a poplar tree.

How do maple leaves and elm leaves get along? They sign a peace tree-ty.

What did the tree say after he made an offer? Take it or leaf it.

And a personal favorite: Why don’t you make like a leaf and leave?

All right, let’s just LEAVE the jokes for now…

Genesis 1:12 says that the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Yes, right in the middle of creation, God made the trees and said they were good. And, He paints their leaves different colors every fall, and He repaints them the next morning and the next!

Are all those amazing colors even in our color spectrum? We have the privilege of watching it all unfold!

Trees begin from a seed to a sprout, a sapling to a young tree, to a mature tree, to a snag dead tree whose life is coming to an end as it falls to the ground years later.  But even then, it continues to provide shelter for animals in its cavities and tree holes, food for animals, nesting for animals and a place for woodpeckers to peck.

As I was finishing this column, I convinced my husband to help me count the trees on our property. Not one of the approximately 1,500 was exactly alike. As far as counting the number of leaves, many of which were on the ground — only God can do that.

God works out every single detail in nature, and we get to enjoy the beauty! Isn’t it amazing?

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.