you woke me up in the morning

youarestars:

Dearest dears: Today we announced our new album, The North, out September 4 in North America.  Here’s the first track, “The Theory of Relativity”.  Download it at http://youarestars.com #StarsTheNorth

I must say, it’s been one of the wildest things to do to come this far… 80% of the people whom I have talked to told me the exact same thing. “that’s is the most courageous thing to do”, which took me by surprise initially. 

It does take a whole lot of courage, but I don’t feel courageous at all. In fact, what kept me going was just a “step by step” principle. People who knows me knows about how either daring or maybe sometimes impulsive when it comes to decision making. it’s 50/50 most of the time whether it gets wrong or right. yet, being wrong is not the end of the world. just have to turn and continue from there… right? 

you may follow my twitter, instagram and fb postings. those are the beautiful things (especially instagram). But that also reflected the positiveness of my posture I suppose, having looking back at it. of course I cannot discount the fact that it’s really exciting to me. I find it hard to believe I’m here (in Melbourne) myself.

some of you may not know the intensity of the move. the logistics, the finance, my first month here preparing the house and also not forgetting cranking up on the studying bit. 

then came the most ultimate test. I was diagnosed with some medical condition 2 months ago and needed to undergo a surgery. who in the world want that to happen? but it did. the surgery was 2 weeks ago. just before my birthday. just before a whole chunk of assignments are due. just when the weather decided to go really wonky. how many “just whens” do I need? 

But I am thankful to my wonderful wife, Deanna. It has been tough on her. she gave up so much to come here. (well, as excited as she is, it’s not easy giving up) I have no idea what’s the full extend of that, but I do know this brought us closer to one another. she has became so much more independent. someone who hasn’t drove for more than almost a decade. now she drives everywhere.sends the kids to school. cooks almost every meal. she took care of the house totally. while I rest and am still nursing my surgical wound. i can only stand in awe of how strong she is, i guess I will have more to discover about her. 

I can say I’m proud of myself too, having to go through the surgery. I stand strong doing what I need to do. I can say I have a positive spirit towards this, during this time, I even played and led worship in my school’s chapel the past 2 days. but Deanna? she’s more than that. and I more proud of her than myself. 

Her birthday is approaching. I can buy her a gift. I can buy her a meal. we can have a wonderful time. yet, I think she deserves more. That’s why I’m writing this post to publicly honor her, as part of her birthday celebration. For her strength, for being such a great wife, a great mother to the kids and also for being such an amazing woman. 

“We have came this far…” these were her words and they kept me in focus. I’m truly blessed… 

today is my birthday. We made this cake as a family project. it is just layering of different things. In the process, each of us contributed alittle here and there…

and the finished product is a completely delicious looking Trifle. 

I’m just grateful to all who posted the well wishes and some of the messages I received just brings me to tears. yet, I am brought to the awareness, every message I receive is like this trifle, layer by layer, each one of you contributing. Love is like that, contributing, not just a concept. doesn’t matter how. doesn’t whether where. regardless of ideals. doesn’t matter if statistics tells you that your real friends are just 10% of your actual friends count on FB. it matters when we contribute one time or another. thank you all for your presence… May you be blessed the way I was. 

We are a family. a family project. 

JohnC+Dee+Jodee+Ethan+Emma