Rhonda Rhea spills the beans about her new release, Espresso Your Faith. Click here to read an excerpt.

NH: When did your love affair with coffee begin? Was it during finals in college? Earlier? RR: I’m not sure how to confess this, but up until about the last 10 years, I was not a fan of coffee. Isn’t that sad? It’s so weird. One morning I woke up and wanted to smell it. So I made a pot just for my nostrils. But then my taste buds wanted in on the action too. I argued with my taste buds but they’re persistent little rascals. Lo and behold, they were right. They won the argument so big that I’ve had boatloads of coffee most every single day since then. I’m still ridiculously and enthusiastically faithful. NH: What gave you the idea for relating God’s Word to coffee? RR: For several months it seemed I was continually running across verses in God’s Word that told me to “be alert” and to “wake up.” I love it when the Lord does that. It struck me that if He was giving special attention to things in His Word that we need to stay alert to, those very things must be oh so vital to a growing, lively, active, AWAKE faith. As I searched some of the “alert” words in Scripture, I got all the more revved up about those faith-life essentials. It was a little like a big, Bible-sized dose of spiritual caffeine. On top of it all, coffee is such a fun connector of people. And so many java jokes, just waiting to be made. How could I ignore them? NH: Espresso Your Faith is about applying God’s Word to your life to perk up your faith. What do you think the biggest impediment is to people taking in a dose of God’s Word each day, just like many people do their coffee? Is it busy-ness or something deeper? RR: I think busyness is a huge factor, though our crazy-busyness is most often a choice. Sometimes without even thinking, we choose to substitute something so much less important for the vital soul-connection God’s Word provides. It’s also true that we live in a culture that’s wired in every way. There are shiny distractions at every turn of the head that make it outrageously easy to substitute a million forms of entertainment for time in God’s Word. One of the reasons I wrote the book was to give us all a daily reminder (and I included me in the “us”) that starting the morning with a charge from God’s Word is infinitely more vital than even our morning coffee. His truths can change the shape of our day. His Word is trustworthy and radically life-changing.  NH: You’re great at merging spiritual depth with humor in your work, which is a refreshing combination that’s not seen very often. Why do you think people have the tendency to be so somber when they think and talk about God? 

Thanks. I do think people sometimes think—even hidden away in the back of their minds somewhere—that plugging humor into talk about the truths of God might be a little disrespectful. But God created us with a funny bone. And He created us in His image. When we laugh at healthy, appropriately funny things, I think there’s a very good chance that He laughs, too. Since the Bible tells us that laughter does good like medicine, I’m thinking a daily dose is just what the doctor ordered. So take two chapters and call me in the morning. NH: Did you drink coffee while you wrote? RR: By the gallon. It just would’ve been too hypocritical not to. NH: I have to ask: What’s your favorite coffee drink? Also, are you a coffee purist, or do you take cream or sugar? RR: Give me a mocha and I’ll have a creepy smile on my face for at least four hours. Espresso and chocolate. What else could we possibly need? When I’m not drinking mocha, I know there’s enough cream and sugar in my coffee when the spoon will stand up by itself. You practically have to chew it. It might actually be closer to dessert than coffee. And I’m totally okay with that. NH: You just published a book! What’s next for Rhonda Rhea? RR: I’m going to go to Starbucks! Cheaper than a theme park. And I can work on the next book there.