David was doing what David usually did, and that is - he was whizzing through the water at a terrific rate, making ripples speed out as he flashed by. It made the others feel breathless just to look at him.
'David' grumbled his sister Deborah, 'Stop rushing about, you create a storm wherever you go.'
David laughed. 'That's how I like it - storms are exciting.'
But he didn't know then that very soon he would be caught up in the fiercest storm of his life! So he swam around his sisters and friends teasing and challenging them to race him. No-one accepted, they knew he was the fastest swimmer so there was really no point!
'Why don't you do something useful?' asked Debbie.
David looked at her in amazement. 'How can you ask me to do something boring like being useful, when there's all the sea to explore!' and he sighed in exasperation at the very idea.
'Well it's not fair that we should gather seaweed for the sandwiches' joined in his other sister, Sarah.
'No, especially as you eat the most' Debbie laughed.
'Oh, I'm not staying to argue with you girls' retorted David, and before they could blink their eyes, he was off!
His sisters watched him disappear then giggled. You just couldn't help liking David with his cheeky face and merry eyes, and he did help - at times - so with a shrug of their shoulders they carried on filling their baskets with the delicious seaweed. When they were full the girls looked around for David, but he was nowhere to be seen, in fact he was miles away!
Then the storm hit him! The waves were like mountains, and the wind carried him along at a frightening speed. 'Why ever did I say I liked storms' he thought as a particularly big wave plunged him down and down.
When he bobbed to the surface a flash of lighning lit up the sea, and he saw his cousin, Adam, also struggling in the waves. David was surprised, as Adam lived many miles away.
'What are you doing here, Adam?' he shouted.
'David!' gasped Adam. 'I could ask you the same question - what are you doing so far from home?'
But before David could answer they were both tumbled deep down into the rocks.
'Good, we can shelter here' Adam gulped, and they swam under a very large boulder.
'Hello' said lots of voices, and when Adam and David looked they saw their shelter was filled with cousins and friends from miles around. They all laughed and wanted to know how everyone had got there. The storm had lasted for many days, and across many miles they found out.
'We have been following a ship from Crete' one of the cousins said.
'Yes' added another. 'They have been having a dreadful time. They can't steer, and have just been blown along by the wind.'
'They have even been throwing their cargo overboard' said Ethan one of their friends.
'Has anyone been hurt?' asked David anxiously.
'No, not so far' answered cousin Don.
'Where is the ship now?' Adam wanted to know.
'Up top' said Don.
'I didn't see it, did you Adam?' David asked looking rather puzzled.
'It was too dark and stormy to see anything' Adam reminded him.
'That's true' David agreed as he remembered being tossed and thrown around by the wind and waves.
Then, as they were speaking, at that moment there was an enormous THUD!
'What's that?' 'What's that?' They all looked out from under the boulder and saw an anchor, then another landed, and another, and another - FOUR ANCHORS!
'I'm going to the top to see what is happening' said David.
'It must be that ship you were talking about' added Adam looking at his cousin Don.
'You coming with me, Adam?' asked David.
'Yes' he answered, as fearless as David, and up they went.
They found that the storm was still raging, and it was very dark, not a star in sight.
Then a wave caught them and they were lifted high into the air, and by the light of the lamps on the ship they were able to see a group of sailors lowering a small boat over the side of the ship.
"If the sailors don't stay on board you have no hope of being saved" they heard a man shout before they plunged down again into the storm-tossed sea.
Up they were flung again and, to their amazement, they saw the men cutting the boat loose just before they were tumbled over and over across the ship and down the other side.
'I'm going back down' croaked Adam.
'So am I' spluttered David, and they dived to the safety and calm of the rocks.
'What is it like now up top?'
'Did you see the ship?'
Question after question.
'It's very exciting up there' said David, his merry eyes sparkling.
'It's frightening' said Adam.
'Tell us about it' they all asked.
So David and Adam told them, and when they came to the man speaking, Caleb, their friend, said 'That would be Paul, he is on the ship. That's why we were following it.'
Most of them knew who Paul was, but, for the sake of those who didn't, Caleb explained that Paul was a great Apostle, and he had travelled to many countries telling people that Jesus was God's Son, and that He loves them.
'I'm going back up' David announced as Caleb finished.
'It's too dangerous' the others said, and they tried to persaude him not to go. 'It's too frightening.'
'Well, just a little, perhaps' David agreed. 'But I still want to find out what is happening to Paul, he is such a wonderful man' and off he shot to the surface.
It was daylight by now, but the storm was still as fierce, and the noise was deafening - the crashing of the waves, the thunder and lightning and sheeting rain as well as the creaking and groaning of the ship as the waves tipped her from side to side.
'I've never known anything like this before' David thought as once again a huge wave caught him up and sent him spinning across the sea.
'Have something to eat' he heard Paul say to the sailors as the wave crashed him into the side of the ship. 'Don't worry, God has told me that you will all be kept safe.'
'A Miracle!' thought David. 'I'm going to see a Miracle!' and as he was laughing in excitement the wind blew him spinning into what looked like a field of wheat!! He nibbled a piece, and sure enough it WAS wheat.
'A Feast!' he chuckled as he caught sight of the sailors throwing the wheat overboard.
Then - Plop! Down he went again landing amongst the rocks.
'What is happening now?' the others wanted to know.
'There is a field of wheat up there' he laughed, but that's not all. You must come with me, Paul has told the sailors that everyone is going to be kept safe in the storm. Come on! We are going to see a Miracle!'
'But is the storm just as frightening?' asked a timid cousin.
'Yes, but everything is going to be all right, God has said so, so hurry up.'
David was so delighted that the others forgot all about being frightened and swam up to the surface too.
'Oh, no' said timid Tina as they reached the surface. 'Look at that poor ship and all the people.'
They looked, and saw that the ship had run aground on a sandbank and was breaking into pieces. Men were swimming in the tossing waves, and others were clinging on to broken pieces of the ship trying to get to the shore.
'They will never reach the land in this storm' said Don.
'Yes they will' shouted David as he slid down a wave. 'God has told Paul they will be kept safe, and with our Heavenly Father Nothing is Impossible!'
And as they watched they saw that everyone DID reach the land. God had kept His Promise!
Elizabeth Aynsley ©

Acts 27 vs. 13 -44