Nothin' But Fine: with Emily Trotter

“We are all experiencing life for the first time together.” If this isn’t the point of Let’s Talk and Nothin But Fine in general I don’t know what is.  I knew I was going to like Alex before I ever talked to her, but this quote on her website really sealed the deal.  You are going to love her.  She lets us all into her life with such honesty.  Alexandra Nolan's Bio: Welcome!  I’m Alexandra Ni...

I am a product of divorce.  I don’t think it created that many issues in my life.  I had a fantastic, happy childhood.  Sure, the older I get I become aware of emotional scars, but we all have them.  I was the only one in my elementary classes whose parents were divorced and a mother that had a career that required travel and long hours.  Brentwood, TN in the 80s was pretty conservative.  However,...

Someone always has to be the favorite.  Right?  Why do we do this to ourselves?  My children ask me all the time who my favorite is.  Like I would tell them.  I’m kidding.  I really don’t have a favorite because they all take turns being the golden child.  I know my brother is the favorite of my parents.  It’s fine.  It’s not like there is a prize.  You would think that this is a concept that the...

 Oh to be on the mountain as Jesus becomes JESUS!  Peter, James and John get this opportunity.  He changed before their eyes.  He became his full self.  What a moment.  I mean.  We know Jesus as fully divine. This is the opposite of what we know about Jesus.  We know he was God in a bod.  We know that he came to earth to live a perfect life, to be the unblemished lamb sacrificed for our sin.  Yet,...

Do you know what transfiguration is?  Now, if you are a fan of Harry Potter (I am, don’t argue with me about it.) you will think of changing things into other things.  Like beetles into buttons.  This is not what Jesus does on the mountain with Peter, James, and John.  I mean I knew that, but I decided to look at what the Greek word used in Matthew 17:2 to clarify exactly what happened.   Transfig...

So glad that I can call Jane Bertch my friend!  Not only does she have a great business that I really enjoy,  she also has really enviable, glorious hair.  My friend in Paris is so chic.   About Jane: When Jane Bertch was seventeen, her mother took her on a graduation trip to Paris. Thrilled to use her high school French, Jane found her halting attempts greeted with withering condescension by ever...

Jesus was pestered by the Pharisees over and over again to prove who he was.  Were they completely missing what all he had done?  Clearly, they had.  Every miraculous thing he did they just weren’t satisfied by.  They often said it was evil, blasphemous.  They were a distraction and Jesus warned his disciples about their teaching.  He likened it to yeast.  Yeast spread in the b read, eating up the...

There is a woman in the Bible that you probably don’t know.  I know that I had never heard of, or at least never paid attention to her story until a few years ago.  Do you know the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15?  (If any of you say absolutely, I’m going to feel a little dumb.).   Jesus and the disciples have travelled out of the Jewish area, probably seeking peace and quiet.  They come to the...

Imagine you are on a boat on the Sea of Galilee.  You know that this body of water is prone to storms popping up without warning, you’ve lived and worked around it all your life.  It’s the middle of the night and the wind has picked up.  Soon it is howling and there are waves crashing into the sides of the boat.  You are not afraid, but you are wary and certainly not able to sleep or relax.  As yo...

Marcia embarked on her professional journey in the editorial world at Parenting magazine. Her career evolved with roles as a producer at Women.com, a food editor for 7x7 magazine in San Francisco, and as a contributing editor and restaurant critic at Houston magazine. Her freelance articles and recipes have graced the pages of publications such as Cooking Light, Parenting, Houston Chronicle, Sunse...

It’s a Bible story we know so well. We’ve all heard it numerous times. Jesus feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. This miracle is in all four gospels. Honestly, you can’t help but be amazed by it. It’s pretty dramatic. Jesus takes a loaf, holds it up, asks the Lord to bless it and begins to break it. Voila. Everyone is fed. Everyone is satisfied. There are twelve baskets left over. The even cooler...

John the Baptist has been imprisoned by Herod Antipas.  We don’t know when exactly this happened, but it is mentioned in Matthew 11.  We do know why he was imprisoned.  You see John the Baptist had a problem with the “Jewish” ruler being married to Herodias because she was first the wife of his brother, Philip.  Now that sounds bad enough on its own, but it gets worse if you dig a little deeper. ...

The last verse of Matthew 13 does not mean that Jesus’s power has anything to do with us.  It wasn’t that Jesus couldn’t act in Nazareth.  He does not need us at all to be who he is or do what he can do.  It’s not like in the movie Elf when Santa’s sleigh can’t fly because there aren’t enough people that believe in him.  The belief is what makes the sleigh’s magic.  The people of Nazareth didn’t s...

Is there anything worse than having to practice what you preach? Of course, there is, but when you have been encouraging folks to just trust God and his timing, to keep the faith, pray about it then you actually have to follow your own advice?  Man that is tough.  Periodically I have to remind myself of what God has promised.  And that his definitions are not necessarily the same as mine.  When I...

This week on Let's Talk Emily speaks with Lauran Tuck! A philanthropist and education advocate, Lauran Tuck currently serves on the Board of Directors for Matriculate, a national nonprofit organization focused on college access. Over the years, Lauran has worked in the education sector from coast to coast in many ways; including as an elected official on the Board of Education in Fort Lee, NJ...

Confession:  I used to hate the parables.  Well, maybe not hate.  I would skip over them with an eye roll.  I mean they are kind of hard to understand.  I could never figure out how they pertained to my life.  Jesus was so much smarter than I am and wasn’t the point of reading his words to learn?  Why did he have to make it so difficult?  Even the disciples struggled with them.  They even asked hi...

Convicting things ahead.  Goodness.  I think the key verse of Matthew 12 is the second part of verse 34, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  Jesus spends this chapter talking to the Pharisees, but my oh my how this applies to us.  What we are seeing over and over is the Pharisees inability to see who Jesus was and what his mission was about.  They missed the point.  Really for...

This chapter of Matthew is hard.  I had to get out ALL the translations, commentaries, and text all my pastors and smart friends.  Each avenue taught me something new.  I love a productive rabbit hole.   John the Baptist makes a reappearance.  I missed the reassuring nugget here.  Glad for commentaries that pointed it out.  John is in prison and he has some doubts and he wants some affirmation abo...

It has been a minute since Helen and Emily have been in the studio!  2023 was a year and 2024 looks to be the same.  Do you make resolutions?  You know Helen and I don’t love it.  Nevertheless, we are setting some intentions/goals.  We want all of us to start using the word cahoots more.  Tell us how you incorporate this word in your daily vocabulary.  I guess we just made cahoots our word of the...

This week, we study Matthew chapter 10. Let's dig in! Now there were lots of folks following Jesus.  Some of them were following him because they believed who he was and others were probably just there for the spectacle.  But Jesus summons the 12.  These are the guys we know.  The famous, or infamous disciples (later apostles) of Jesus.  They had all left their lives behind and started follow...

Welcome back to this compelling second part of my conversation with Pastor Shane Green from Saint Paul United Methodist Church. We delve deeper into the nuances of faith, leadership, and personal growth. Pastor Shane shares the complexities of balancing his pastoral responsibilities with his personal life, offering a rare glimpse into the emotional and spiritual challenges faced by spiritual leade...

Matthew arranged stories of common themes together.  And here I am thinking I am so smart for seeing the connection amongst them.  Matthew Chapter 9 is full of miracles.  The testimonies these folks walked away with… Paralytic man healed – This story is better told in Mark 2, in my opinion.  A paralyzed man is brought to Jesus by his friends.  Jesus acknowledges their faith and forgives the man’s...

Today on Nothin' But Fine we're diving into a conversation that intertwines faith, community, and personal journeys. My special guest is the Reverend Doctor Shane Green from Saint Paul United Methodist Church in Columbus, Georgia.  In this episode, we explore the dynamics of modern-day church life and the essence of community in a digital age. Pastor Shane shares insights from his own sp...

This week on Nothin' But Fine, I share a wholesome conversation with Becca Snider! “Becca has a background in movement through Pilates and Yoga. As a Pilates studio owner and senior instructor, she has been teaching others how to discover what well-being means for them. There is nothing that lights her up more than to see people feel empowered through neuromuscular awareness and a connection...

If you're a long-time Nothin' But Fine follower, you know that we put on a FABULOUS Christmas Carols montage last year. Well, it was so good we are airing a re-run for you! It's our Christmas gift to you. Share this with your friends to get them in the holiday spirit! Subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can watch this week's episode and catch up on past episodes! --- Che...