PLEASE READ....

From the Footsteps Homeless Ministry blog - http://footstepshm.blogspot.com/2012/03/staff-sgt-jeffrey-t.html

INDOCHINE restaurant review

Reggie Taylor

INDOCHINE

In my insatiable quest for the best plate in town, my wanderings led me to INDOCHINE. Located in the heart of downtown Jacksonville on Adams street, this cozy 2nd floor restaurant boasts traditional and modern Thai artwork with a HEAVY emphasis on wood throughout the restaurant. There's a real feeling that you're in a tropical bungalow elsewhere in the world.

The menu ranges from pad Thai to fried rice with your choice of meat (or veggies) and desired heat. Indochine definitely keeps an oriental theme through and through. The only thing Americanized or Westernized are the choice of beverages.

 Even water was served in a canteen-like bottle with a skinny and stout glass.

The kitchen was rocking out dishes left and right.

Needless to say, the senses are stimulated sitting in such proximity to all this delicious looking Thai food.

My dinner for the night was the Tofu Pad Thai with medium heat. The dish definitely brings along with it umami, sweet, salty, and sour tastes - thankfully no bitterness.

Overall, my experience at Indochine was a good one.

I would have liked to see more Thai servers instead of all-American, but that's just me.

Would I dine there again? Quite possibly

As they say in Thai "กินเกลี้ยง"

or

"EAT UP!"



HAIR DID

Last May, I lost my job at Bank of America.

That's when life got a 'little crazy'.

I've been growing my hair out ever since then.

Here I am 10 months later and needless to say... my hair is longer than it's ever been in my adult life.

The process of growing DREADLOCKS has definitely allowed me to exercise patience.

Since I have a finer texture to my hair than most African-Americans it will take my hair longer time to actually LOCK/tangle.

Asians, latinos, or caucasians (not of African descent) can get their hair locked quicker with a palm roll technique.

The hair will actually become tangled and lock instantly.

Whereas African hair takes a longer process.

I don't have the luxury of washing my hair everyday or even jumping into a pool like I used to because it will ruin the locking process.

I do, however, go to a stylist to get my hair washed and retwisted about every 3 weeks.

The kicker for me is that my hair and nails grow EXTREMELY FAST!

My brother is a barber, so I would see him QUITE often when I was not growing my hair.

However now, I haven't received a haircut from my brother in nearly a year.

The only area of my hair that I cut is my facial hair and sideburns.

Everything else just grows freely.

_______________________

Recently, I went to go see my stylist.

She's a lady from the Bardados named Thea.

She's super legit!

Here's some pictures from my last appointment.

BEFORE

 AFTER THE WASH & RETWIST

 BRAIN DRAIN

good ol' science

 THAT'S MS. THEA.

SHE'S AWESOME.... AND LOVES RIHANNA.

 VOILA!



Our (Japanese) Father

Recently, I've felt this tug in my spirit towards Japan.
Having lived in Misawa, Japan as a child, I've always wanted to go back as an adult.

Since my relationship with God is growing stronger and stronger.... the 'tug' I've felt towards Japan may have undoubtedly come from God.

According to the 'ever-reliable' Wikipedia, Japanese Christians represent < 1% of the population.

You really don't have to be a mathematician to see where that can take this conversation....

tangent: my new job is awesome. what makes it awesome is that I have a lot of downtime in between actually working.

In that time, I study the bible (Greek/Latin/Hebrew roots of words - BLUE LETTER BIBLE is the bomb!), browse eBay, and...... Angry Birds....

Recently, I came across something interesting.

Any anonymous alcoholic knows the Lord's prayer (since it's said at the end of most AA meetings)

However, if you have no clue what I'm talking/typing about.....

Matthew 6:9-13

New King James Version (NKJV)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

What's cool is that I found the Japanese translation.
Wanna read it? Cool...

4 different versions:

1.  Kono yue ni nanjira wa kaku inore:

Ten ni imasu warera no Chichi yo,
Negawaku wa mi na no agameraren koto wo;
Mi kuni no kitaran koto wo;
Mi kokoro no, ten no gotoku chi ni mo okonawaren koto wo.
Warera no nichiyO no kate wo kyO mo atae tamae.
Warera ni oime aru mono wo warera no yurushitaru gotoku,
Warera no oime wo mo yurushi tamae.
Warera wo kokoromi ni awasezu, aku yori sukui idashi tamae.

2. Sareba nanjira kaku inorubeshi;

Ten ni mashimasu warera no Chichi yo,
Negawaku wa, mi na wo agamesase tamae.
Mi kuni wo kitarase tamae.
Mi kokoro no ten ni naru gotoku, chi ni mo nasase tamae.
Warera no nichiyO no kate wo kyO mo atae tamae.
Warera wo kokoromi ni awasezu, aku yori sukui idashi tamae.
Kuni to, chikara to, sakae wa kagiri naku nanji no mono nareba nari.
Amen.

3. Ten ni imasu watashitachi no chichi yo

O-na ga agameraremasu yoo ni
O-kuni ga kimasu yoo ni
Mikokoro ga ten de okonawareru yoo ni
Chi de mo okonawaremasu yoo ni
Watashitachi no higoto no kate o
kyoo mo o-atae kudasai
Watashitachi no oime o o-yurushi kudasai
Watashitachi mo watashitachi ni
oime no aru hitotachi o yurushimashita
Watashitachi o kokoromi ni awasenaide,
aku kara o-sukui kudasai
Kuni to chikara to sakae wa tokoshie ni
anata no mono da kara desu
Aamen.

4. Ten ni orareru Watashitachi no chichi yo,

mina ga agameraremasu youni.
Mikuni ga kimasu youni.
Mikokoro ga okonawaremasu youni,
Ten ni okeru youni chi no uenimo.
Watashitachi ni hitsuyou na kate wo kyou ataete kudasai.
Watashitachi no oime wo yurushite kudasai.
Watashitachi mo jibun ni oime no aru hito wo
Yurushimashita youni.
Watashitachi wo yuuwaku ni awasezu,
Warui monokara sukutte kudasai.

SUBARASHII NE!
(cool huh?)

GENESIS

There's some messages that you hear from people

that don't really 'CLICK' in your life

until you're in the situation they're referring to.

Bible verses for example DEFINITELY reign true if you're IN the situation that the word references.

I used to always hear from pastors, "You can't have an encounter with God and still be the same".

I would then proceed to still living in sin....

However, the VOICE OF REASONING, seemed to be that much stronger in my life.

I'm at a time now where it's like the pinnacle of "you'll never be the same".

I believe that I have LITERALLY gone down every wrong path that you can go in life.

And those harbingers were right.

As much as I've fallen,

I've seemed to have fallen upwards.

my saving grace definitely has to be my connectivity with my church family.

there's nothing better than encouragement from a friend

or to hear from someone who's going through or has been through

the same ordeal(s) you're experiencing.

the Holy Spirit himself has pretty much "dragged me through the valley" as pastor Josh Turner would say.

recently, CELEBRATION CHURCH had 21 days of prayer and fasting called AWAKENING!

During the last 4 days, there was a revival that was simply amazing.

I deactivated my Facebook account to 'unplug' from the world and haven't gotten back on since.

This time "off the grid" has definitely helped me to see things as Jesus would see things...

not 100% but a greater percentage than before when I was captivated by things of the world.

It was an intensely amazing period of time in my life.

  

I'm seriously a crybaby during worship.

keeping it real...

The pictures in this blog post were taken by a truly Amazing photographer that's definitely an inspiration to me - http://stephowens.com/blog/

Praise God!