Article January 30, 2012 Issue

Let the carnival go on!

Stephanie deValpine

Some years ago when I was living with my family in Venezuela, I was in charge of the school carnival. This was put on every year by the Parents’ Association. There were two co-presidents of the Association that year. Some of us thought they were causing a lot of tension and resentment by getting involved in every detail of the carnival, making changes to things already done, requesting new things that there were not the time or resources to implement.

Their actions fell particularly hard on the head of the decorating committee. One morning, this woman called me in tears. She told me that she couldn’t carry out her duties that day because her little two-year-old daughter had a fever. Moreover, she was resigning from her position because she was so distressed by the co-presidents’ constant interference.

This was all very upsetting to me. My heart went out to that young mother and her little daughter. I wanted to help, so I decided to pray. I knew I had to get rid of my resentment of the co-presidents.

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