Process

Since the end of September the Holy Spirit has been showing me about process.  Elements of my life that were once simple, ordinary, every day events have become processes. For example last week my computer, a Mac, and my phone, and iphone, began duplicating contacts faster than rabbits multiply. Faster than you can drink a cup of coffee, actually.  I had almost 9,000 contacts in my address book, AND, some of those had duplicated information within each card up to 200 times.
I followed instructions on the web site. They kept multiplying. I called Apple support and after much quality time with Melissa and her supervisor, she said "I've never seen this happen before" and advised that we call tech support with Mobile Me.
Call made and after a few hours with tech support, Justin and Muffin did all they were supposed to do. Justin said "I've never seen anything like this before".  A few days later the contacts were multiplying again.
I made an appointment at an Apple store, 200 miles from my house, for Friday morning at 9 a.m.  We arrived with computer and phone in hand and I had high hopes for a quick fix and some time to learn more about making movies with my phone and computer. After an hour and a half, Jesse, our Genius of the Day, said "I've never seen anything like this before" and told Muffin how to fix the remainder of the problem.  We left the store and thirty minutes later during a phone call with CB my iphone died--totally black screen.  We tried all the restore features and settings, took it to Boo's house and started over and nothing would help. Called tech support and spent quality time with more people who said "I've never seen this happen before."  Learned that my iphone was eligible for an upgrade and made an appointment at the same Apple store at 7:15 pm.  Amanda said, "I've never....." and called Ping, the manager, who said the same and both were shocked that Jesse, the morning Genius was unable to solve the problems.
But, the AT&T store was involved because that's where the phone was purchased.  So at closing time that evening, I had a phone replaced, but the information in the store computer said my phone was not eligible for the upgrade. AT&T said it was. After much confusion and physical trips to the AT&T store it was decided that the following morning would be the big exchange--a 3GS phone exchanged for an iPhone 4, and Ping would give accessories for our trouble and hassle for the day (and week).  Of course the AT&T people said "I've never seen anything like this before."
So a two day trip turned into a three day trip and we were able to
1. Follow up at the dentist office
2. Spend an evening and morning with Kak
3. Spend an afternoon with Boo, Gracie and Jonah and see Michael before leaving
4. Figure out the multiplication problem
5. Clean out the Address Book, Phone book contacts, and Google contacts
6. Do our grocery shopping at Central Market
7. Spend time on the phone with Nannie, Nana, CB and Rowdy Girls
8. Exchange phones

But here is what happened on Saturday morning.  Arriving with coffee, phone and computer in hand at the Apple store, we again saw Amanda, added Alex and finally Ping to the mix.  The AT&T people said that Kak's phone was the first phone eligible for the upgrade, so I took the replacement 3GS and gave her the new iPhone 4 with all the bells and whistles for face time, camera, movies, etc.  It represents three upgrades for her and she will use it well!  And the Apple employees thanked us over and over and over for not being angry and impatient with them.  So did the people on tech support on the phone.  And the manager did give Kathleen a new case and protector for her phone.  And I learned that the process was really about praying for the people who came in and out of the Apple store, including the employees, and about keeping God's peace, joy and love through the process.