White or Wrong?

© http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/

There it was: white, gleaming and beautiful, lying on the counter.

I wanted it.

I got the original metal iPhone for a great price, but after two years of faithful service, it was showing its age. It couldn’t record video, a gigantic grey blob was growing across the middle of the screen, and newer, more complicated apps wouldn’t even install. It was finally time to upgrade to the iPhone 4.

There was one problem: EVERYONE was buying an iPhone 4, and I didn’t want to be like everyone else! I decided to just tolerate my broken phone and wait patiently for the WHITE iPhone 4.

I didn’t think it would take 9 months for Apple to make it.

The day it was finally released, I was so excited, I almost danced to my local cellphone store—

—Only to find that they were sold out. “That’s ok,” I thought. “I’m not going to the States for VOICE for another six weeks, so I’ll put my name on the waiting list. I’ve waited this long, a few more weeks won’t hurt.”

The problem was the store didn’t get any more white iPhones.

I called other store, but they were sold out too. I started to give up, but three days before I returned to the States, I found one store that had one iPhone 4 to sell the next morning. YES!!!! God was rewarding my patience! I got up early the next morning to wait in line for the phone–

–Only to find that someone else was ALREADY waiting in line–and had been waiting since 4:00 in the morning!

At first I was frustrated and disappointed, but then I stopped to ask myself some questions.

1. Why did I want a white iPhone 4?
   Answer: To be cool. To have something that NO ONE ELSE had.
2. Would the color of the iPhone affect the way I used it?
   Answer: Ummm… probably not.
3. Should a first world problem like the color of my phone be taking so much of my time?
   Answer: …No.
4. Was God using this to teach me a lesson?
   Answer: Yes. I wanted people to see my phone and think I was cool and special. God wanted me to remember that my phone is only a tool. If used properly, it would bring glory to God, not myself.

I ended up with a black iPhone 4.