Latte for Life is a devotional written by Renae Brumbaugh Green. Renae Brumbaugh Green has written thirty-two books, is a best-selling author of twenty books, and is an award-winning humor columnist. Her book Latte for Life is a forty-five-day devotional written over scriptures from the book of Ruth. This devotional targets the female who loves coffee and Jesus.
I was walking through Ross Dress for Less and happened upon this devotional. It caught my eye because of its title, Latte for Life. I love lattes! I also love Jesus, so a combination of the two sounded like a perfect book to start my mornings.
I like Green’s devotional because it is set up differently than other devotional. All the devotionals I have read start with a scripture. Then, there is an explanation from the author’s point of view about what that scripture means to him or her. However, Latte for Life is set up in five parts.
The first part, What God’s Word Says, introduces the verse Green examines for the morning. In one of the daily devotionals, Green uses the verse Ruth 3:11, “and now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.”
First Cup gives a brief explanation of what the verse means in the twenty-first century. In explaining Ruth 3:11, Green says, “this verse shows the love God has for His people and that if our actions are noble we will find favor in Him.”
Cream and Sugar asks questions helping the reader apply the verse to her life. It also supplies a prayer to be prayed. In the devotional Ruth 3:11, Green puts the prayer “dear Father, thank you for Ruth’s example of godly living. Help me to live in a way that honors you and draws others to you.” Green’s prayer is important because it helps the reader apply what the author wrote in the devotional to her life.
Second Cup provides more Bible verses related to the verse in What God’s Word Says. Finally, The Last Drop is an inspiring quote from another author or famous person. My personal favorite is a quote from Dorothy Sayers, “if men do not understand the meaning of judgment, they will not understand the meaning of grace.”
This devotional is unique because, unlike most devotionals, it stays in one book of the Bible. Green wrote this entire devotional over the book of Ruth. This devotional being written over one book of the Bible instead of all of them is good because it shows the highs and lows of a biblical figure’s life, rather than skipping from one highlight of a story to another.
Though the way the author stays in the book of Ruth throughout the whole devotional is good, I do not like the message portrayed in many of the daily devotionals. Ruth is known for marrying a good man, Boaz. Green puts too much emphasis on this in some of her devotionals. Marriage is a good thing but emphasizing Ruth’s marriage instead of her personal characteristics and loyalty to God puts Ruth’s, as well at the reader’s, identity in the wrong thing.
This book is a good book for by women and young girls who like Joyce Myers devotional. Latte for Life is similar to Joyce Myers’s devotional, Power Thought, because it does not sugar coat what is required out of a Christian’s life.