Sandy Cove

Those of you who are friends with me on facebook might have noticed I wasn't really around much last week. Every year since I was eight, my family and I have gone to a homeschool conference at Sandy Cove Ministries. Over the years, we've made many, many friends and have come to love the place almost like a second home. After sixteen years of being there, I've never figured out how to be on a computer and enjoy the amenities.

But I wasn't off facebook for that reason. I was avoiding because many of my friends didn't seem to have a problem doing both! You see, this year is the first year that we weren't able to go. I knew our decision to stay home was right, but I still couldn't help but feel sad whenever someone was talking about the good food, the dynamic lessons, the fun atmosphere, the amazing worship times. I didn't begrudge them their vacation. I know it's difficult to contain the pure joy that exudes from every pore of that place, but I was sad that I was stuck at home while they posted about it on facebook, so I avoided it.

It was childish and mopey of me and I made no points to try to justify my actions. I knew I was pouting and told just about everyone who asked that I was doing so. Everyone who knew basically did the "Aww, poor baby," pat the head stuff you do to a five year old who's dropped his ice cream in the dirt, which is probably more than I deserved.

Thursday night is a special banquet Sandy Cove runs just for adults. Zach and I discussed going, but the price of the dinner was more than we really thought worth it. To stay the week, it is beyond a fair price, and Sandy Cove often loses money, especially during the homeschool week, but the price for just the dinner was too high for our meager budget when we already had a couple things planned out for the week since we couldn't attend.

Dad came down on Wednesday to take us to a ball game after spending the day up there and said "We're working on getting you two tickets to the banquet. Would you still like to go?" Any trace of pride in taking charity was long since wiped from us when we moved in with my grandparents rent free last September. We didn't mind stowing away to spend a night with people we didn't think we were going to see at all.

We had a miraculous time. The food was wonderful, the view dazzling, and the people better still. The tenor of the night seemed to be, "It's so good to see you here. Next year make sure your dad comes all week." We know we rode in on his coattails, but we had such a good time we didn't mind.

We spent the evening eating, enjoying the water and sunset, and finished up our evening at The Galley, I mean, The Tenth Hole- a little snack shack that makes the best milkshakes. It wasn't a full week, but it was certainly a thrilling experience to be able to go at all. There is something special about that place. I hope you all have your own place like that.