You must love the Lord your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. (Deuteronomy 11:1 NLT)

After an excellent but tiresome vacation in NYC, we were actually looking forward to a week of recovery at home before heading back to our normal work schedule. Two things I have refused to look at are: our bank account and the scale! But that sure didn’t stop us from indulging in our time off.

Kenny’s friend owns a popular restaurant in Boca Raton, near Mizner Park, and recently The Rebel House has been opening for brunch. With our newfound fascination of brunches, we decided to give it a try last Sunday. Reviewers for this restaurant and bar describe the Rebel House as the “cool” and “hip” place to be, and they are 100% right! Needless to say, the food is very experimental and goes beyond what other popular restaurants are serving.

One of the many things we enjoy is the their bread service…except is more like popcorn service. That’s right, instead of bread we got popcorn! Their flavor du jour was cinnamon sugar popcorn, which was perfect for brunch. As we were munching on the popcorn, we couldn’t decide on what to get, but as customary we followed our server’s suggestions. We started off with an item that wasn’t on the menu but was highly recommended by the owner, lamb tartare. We’ve had beef tartare and tuna tartare before, but never heard of lamb tartare so I was a little skeptical at first to try it. Kenny loved it so much that I couldn’t resist but finally taste it and he had all the reasons to love it. The plating was beautiful and the lamb didn’t even have that gamey taste I was expecting. Even the table next to us was wondering what we had and they seemed disappointed that they didn’t even see it on the menu.

After the tartare, we immediately got our brunch items. Kenny ordered the Pork Belly Benedict (poached farm eggs, bacon braised kale, griddled biscuit, chipotle holladaise, and pickled pepper salad) and I ordered the #4 with Cheese on a Mother F—– Biscuit (grilled rebel sausage patty, fried farm egg, white american, potato cakes). Don’t worry, I didn’t repeat the whole thing while I ordered it. Both dishes were very heavy, but full of flavor. We both enjoyed them, but we couldn’t finish them because of how full we were. But that still didn’t stop us…

Finally, we had “the overdose,” a cheesecake with chocolate, caramel, bananas and peanuts. Surprisingly, not as sweet as it sounds because the peanuts actually gave it the perfect balance.

I don’t remember eating anything for dinner that night… brunch was more like brunchinner!

Food: 5/5

Service: 4/5

Every time we go, the service can be a little slow, but this is “The Rebel House,” it’s a very relaxed setting and although it might take sometime to find out who the server is, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing because it takes time to pick what to order since everything sounds tempting!

Decor/Ambiance: 4/5

It can be a little hard to find if it’s your first time and again, the setting is very relaxed and laid back, it is definitely worth a visit once… or every time there is a menu change! And they change it pretty often, check out their Facebook for all the info.

The Rebel House was a very relatable spiritual theme this week as I read my One Year Bible. Reading through the Book of Deuteronomy has been very challenging for me and has not inspired me to read more. The more I’ve sought it out with God, the more I’ve realized that God has been asking me to love Him above all and also obey His commandments. I haven’t been obedient the past few months when it comes to reading my One Year Bible; after finishing Genesis and Exodus, I just couldn’t keep up with it anymore. This has caused me to doubt His promises and after I doubt, fear comes creeping in. I start thinking about horrible scenarios and a thousands of “what ifs.” After this, my mind automatically triggers to disobey, rather than obey. I say, “what’s the point?” and I become angry towards a loving and compassionate God who wants to see me succeed and thrive. It’s been a constant roller coaster lately, but the good news is that He always grabs me right before I fall and He holds me and reminds me time and time again that He has it all under control.

O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you! (Psalm 71: 5-6 NLT)

This Psalm is a reminder of God’s promise to me; He saved me from death in my mother’s womb. When life seems meaningless, He finds a way to remind me that there is purpose in His plans. When my heart grows anxious and seeds of bitterness attempt to call my heart their home, He once again reminds me that there is no need for me to grow weary “while doing good.”

Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain. If I had really spoken this way to others, I would have been a traitor to your people. So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning. Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant—I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.  (Psalm 73: 13-26 NLT)