Write this Down! with Dot Bowen

What does it actually look like to trust God when you have no idea what's happening around you? In this final episode of their Switzerland and France series, Dot and Cara tell the wild story of driving onto what they thought was a tunnel and ending up on a car shuttle train, flying through a mountain in the dark with no idea where they were headed. They talk about the difference between leaning on your own understanding and actually trusting God, why obedience sometimes comes before understanding, and what it means to put the car in park and enjoy the ride through whatever tunnel you're in right now. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: Proverbs 3:5-8, trust in the Lord with all your heart (00:00)
• Cara sets the scene, driving from Switzerland to France through the Alps with no idea what they're doing (03:35)
• A confusing toll booth and a wrong lane start the chaos before the real story even begins (04:45)
• The cars ahead stop, chains appear between them, and nobody knows what's about to happen (06:32)
• Turns out it's a car shuttle train, and Scott has to decide whether to actually obey the sign (07:46)
• Flying through the mountain at 70 plus miles an hour, in the dark, engine off, for 13 miles (08:54)
• Why leaning on their own understanding of "toll booth then tunnel" could have messed up the whole line of cars (16:26)
• Our job is obedience, God takes responsibility for the outcome (19:03)
• Trusting God was never about being perfect, it just takes a little faith in a big God (20:09)
• Even in the dark parts of the tunnel, God wants you to feel the wind in your hair and enjoy the ride (24:16)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

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Proverbs 3:5-8 (ESV) — "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."

Have you ever noticed how much your view changes depending on whether you're standing in the valley or looking down from the mountain? In this second episode of their Switzerland and France series, Dot and Cara pick back up on the porch overlooking the Alps and talk honestly about what it means to keep your eyes up even when clouds hide the mountain, or when you're the one sitting in the valley. They talk about the women at the tomb who mistook Jesus for the gardener, why gratitude has become Dot's lifeline through a hard season, and how one storm soaked afternoon ended with a double rainbow over Mont Blanc. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

Episode Recap

• Intro(00:00)
• Write this down: Exodus 19:3-6, God calling Moses up the mountain (00:00)
• Why Dot has always been drawn to mountains, and how this trip felt different (01:22)
• Meeting God on the mountain versus in the valley, and how faith can move mountains (03:34)
• Watching mountain climbers and thinking about what it takes to hold on when you feel like you're barely hanging on (04:59)
• Seeing Mont Blanc from every angle, and how that changes the way you experience a mountain, not just how you see it (06:19)
• Clouds can hide the mountain, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, and neither is God (12:41)
• The women at the tomb almost missed Jesus because their tears and their focus were in the wrong place (16:15)
• Gratitude as a lifeline, and how thanking God for small things opens your eyes to bigger ones (19:41)
• A storm hid the mountain completely, then gave way to a double rainbow as a reminder that God keeps His promises (27:52)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

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Exodus 19:3-6 (ESV) — "While Moses went up to God, the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.'"

Dot and Cara just got back from Switzerland, and this episode kicks off a new series on what the Lord showed them there, starting with a well they hiked a mountainside to find again. They land in John 4, the story of the woman at the well, and Dot makes a confession right up front: "I am that woman." Together they talk about the difference between things that satisfy for a moment and the living water Jesus offers, and what it looks like to get honest about what you're really thirsty for. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

Episode Recap

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: John 4:7-14, Jesus and the woman at the well (00:00)
• Cara welcomes listeners and introduces a new series on their recent trip to Switzerland and France (01:21)
• Dot says "I am the woman at the well" and Cara admits she has been mildly depressed since leaving the Alps (01:59)
• Behind the beauty of this trip was real hardship, and Cara opens up about the anxiety she carried into it (04:11)
• A rough itinerary turned into what could only be described as the perfect trip (04:47)
• The story behind the well, how Dot first tasted the best water of her life in Switzerland ten years ago and knew she had to find it again (05:48)
• Hiking a small mountain village to track down one specific well, and finding it exactly as good as they remembered (08:15)
• Dot connects the moment to Jesus meeting the woman at the well, and to a lifetime spent looking for love and validation in the wrong places (08:50)
• Why the things we chase to feel whole never quite satisfy, and how you can be thirsty for something you cannot even name (11:54)
• Jesus did not stumble onto this woman, He intentionally sought her out, the same way Dot and Cara intentionally sought out that well (15:34)
• What it looks like to be honest with God about what you are really thirsty for and let Him meet you there (22:01)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

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John 4:7-14 (ESV) — "A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.' Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'”

What does it actually mean to give God glory, and why should we even care? In this episode, Dot and Cara turn to John 17 and the prayer Jesus prayed right before the cross to talk through what glory really means, why we all default to putting ourselves in the middle of the circle, and how surrender and dying to self become the surprising pathway to peace and joy. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: John 17:1-5, Jesus' prayer right before Gethsemane (00:00)
• Cara's honest question: I know I should want to give God glory, but do I actually care? (01:22)
• What does glory even mean? Dot breaks it down to worship, honor, and bringing light to who God is (03:29)
• We were made to worship something, and God put desires in us that only He can fulfill (04:21)
• Why Jesus prayed this prayer before the cross, and what it means that He came to glorify the Father (05:13)
• The middle of the circle, why so much of our frustration comes from putting ourselves where God belongs (07:12)
• Being honest about the days you don't feel like you want God to get the glory (10:50)
• The only way out, recognizing it as sin, humbling yourself, and letting the Holy Spirit do what you can't (11:46)
• Dying to self isn't a one time thing, it's a daily surrender, and it's the real pathway to peace (13:29)
• Getting a front row seat to what God is doing, and why we don't bring God value, we just get invited in (20:07)
• Wanting the crowd's applause is its own kind of sin, and what to do when you catch yourself chasing it (24:05)
• A simple question to ask yourself this week: am I expecting life, people, or even God to operate the way I think they should? (27:43)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook 

John 17:1-5 (ESV) — "When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.'"

What do you do when Jesus stops to heal someone else while your own miracle feels like it's running out of time? In this episode, Dot and Cara sit with the intertwined stories of Jairus and the woman who bled for twelve years, two people desperate enough to fall at Jesus' feet and ask for what only He could do. They talk honestly about waiting on God, wrestling with faith versus fear, and what it means to want God's presence more than just what He can do for you. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro, Dot's signature invitation to grab a Bible, a journal, and a cup of coffee (00:00)
• Write this down: Luke 8:40-43, the story of Jairus and the woman who bled for twelve years (00:04) ⚠️
• The detail neither Dot nor Cara think is a coincidence, Jairus's daughter was twelve and the woman had been bleeding for twelve years (03:08)
• Jesus stops to heal the woman while Jairus's daughter is dying, and what it feels like to wait on God when time seems to be running out (04:58)
• The gut punch moment, word comes that Jairus's daughter has died while they waited (06:46)
• "Your faith has made you well," and why faith doesn't produce miracles, God does (08:16)
• A synagogue ruler and a woman who wouldn't have been allowed inside one, proof God isn't playing favorites (10:29)
• If something in your life feels dead or dying right now, this one is for you (12:08)
• What it means to have just enough faith to ask, even when you're scared of the answer (24:32)
• Why God will never give you something that would destroy you, even when what He gives is hard (29:19)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook 

Luke 8:40-43 (ESV) — "Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone."

Ever feel like you keep fighting the exact same battle, no matter how many times you thought you'd dealt with it? This week Dot and Cara talk about roots, the patterns, lies, and old wounds that keep resurfacing no matter how hard we try to manage our behavior instead of the actual cause. Using the picture of Dot's flower beds (and a seriously stubborn pile of leaves), they dig into the difference between trimming the fruit and getting to the root, why unforgiveness keeps us stuck, and how to ask the Holy Spirit to show you where a lie first took hold. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: Hebrews 12:14-15, guarding against a root of bitterness (00:00)
• Cara sets up today's topic: roots, not the kind in a garden, but the kind in our own hearts and patterns (00:35)
• Dot's leaf blower story on her deck becomes a picture of managing behavior instead of dealing with the root underneath it (01:08)
• Why behavior modification can slow things down without ever actually solving them (05:16)
• Asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the real root behind anger, anxiety, or fear instead of just trying harder (08:05)
• Dot's dead flower and the root that had spread everywhere it touched, a picture of how an unaddressed root never stays contained to just us (12:06)
• Looking back without staying back, and asking God where a lie first took root, even one planted by someone we trusted (18:23)
• The lie that we're not enough, and what it means to rest in being enough because we belong to God (22:43)
• Why telling yourself the truth isn't the same as believing it, and what it actually takes to get free (26:13)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook 

Do you want God's presence, or do you just want His presents? This week Dot and Cara sit with that question and trace it through the life of Moses, a man who saw God's power firsthand but still said he wasn't going anywhere without God's presence going with him. They talk through Moses and the Israelites, Mary and Martha, and what it actually means to know God's ways instead of just knowing what He can do for you. It's an honest conversation about desperation, entitlement, and the difference between serving God and simply sitting with Him. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: Exodus 33:14-17, Moses asking for God's presence to go with him (00:00)
• Dot and Cara open up on a truth they keep circling back to in their own faith (01:20)
• Mary and Martha's story, and how busyness for God can crowd out actually being with Him (01:20)
• Moses' journey from the burning bush to needing to know God is truly in it with him (03:47)
• The honest question so many of us are quietly asking, how do I know God is even here? (07:47)
• "Do I want your presence, or do I want your presents?" a question worth sitting with today (09:26)
• Knowing God's ways isn't about His power, it's about knowing His heart like you'd know a close friend (13:44)
• Obedience, trust, and why God's power alone was never meant to be what grows your faith (15:00)
• A simple way to start, just sitting with God and asking for nothing but His presence (22:02)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

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What's your golden calf? In this conversation, Dot and Cara dig into one of the most honest questions we can ask ourselves: have we quietly given something, or someone, the place that only God deserves? Drawing from Exodus 23, they walk through how to recognize an idol, why good things can end up in the wrong position, and what it really means to surrender something to God without the fear that He'll take it away. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

Episode Recap

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: Exodus 23:23-25, God's warning to Israel about worshiping the gods of the land they were entering (00:00)
• How do we even know if something is an idol? Cara asks the question most of us have probably wrestled with at some point (00:04:52)
• Dot's working definition: an idol is something you love more than God, depend on more than God, or find your worth and value in more than God (00:08:15)
• Cara shares how she realized time was her idol — not something she trusted more than God, but something that had quietly become the controlling factor in her life (00:08:29)
• Good things can become idols; it's not always the thing itself but the position it's holding in your heart (00:10:56)
• Surrendering an idol doesn't mean God will take it away — His heart is that you'd let go so you can actually enjoy the gift He gave you (00:12:11)
• Most idols form in seasons of waiting, just like the golden calf — the Israelites got tired of waiting for Moses and fashioned something to fill the gap (00:17:30)
• "I will become what I worship" — what holds your full heart and attention is quietly shaping who you are (00:19:36)
• What to do: ask yourself if you're willing to let it go, bring it to God, repent, and surrender it — He is the only one who can actually bring real value and purpose to your life (00:27:55)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

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Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook 

Exodus 23:23-25 (NASB 1977) — "For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them, and break their sacred pillars in pieces. But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst."

Ever feel like collateral damage in someone else's bad decision? That's exactly where Dot and Cara picked up this week, continuing last week's conversation about counting the cost, but this time turning to what happens when someone else's choices end up costing you. They talk through the real difference between discernment and judgment, and why grace means giving someone what they don't deserve, even when their decisions land hard on the people who love them. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

Episode Recap

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, the promise that God won't let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (00:00)
• Picking up where last week left off, but this time it's not our choices costing us, it's everyone else's (00:34)
• Cara names a feeling so many of us carry: being collateral damage in someone else's decisions (01:29)
• "Take heed lest he fall" isn't a warning about other people, it's a check on our own pride (05:01)
• Why it's not our job to decide what someone else's walk with God should look like, since there's only one Holy Spirit, and we're not Him (10:43)
• The hardest part of loving someone: watching them choose a costly path, knowing you can't stop them, and learning to pray and let go instead of trying to control them (16:10)
• Why God lets us choose freely, even when it costs us, because love that's forced was never really love (18:03)
• A funny detour about Cara's dad Howard and his no frills theory on grace, then back to the harder question of sinning on purpose versus sinning without realizing it (19:00)
• Why it's not "if" someone else's choices will cost you, it's "when," and a story about Stephen that proves God is paying attention the whole time (22:13)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

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1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (NKJV) — "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond that you may be able to endure it."

Every decision has a price tag, and most of us never stop to read it. In this episode, Dot and Cara sit with Luke 14 and get honest about the cost of following Jesus, the cost of our daily choices, and what we're quietly giving up when we say yes to the wrong things. From forgiving the unforgivable to waiting on a miracle you can't control, this conversation is for anyone who has ever felt the weight of a decision they couldn't quite make. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.

Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! 

• Intro (00:00)
• Write this down: Luke 14:27-30, counting the cost of following Jesus (00:00)
• Cara introduces the theme: every decision carries a cost and a gain, and sometimes we only look at what we're losing (00:47)
• What does it actually cost to follow Jesus? Dot reflects on the moment she realized salvation was free but discipleship is not (01:40)
• Every decision costs something, even neutral ones, and the question is whether your yes is leading you toward what matters most (04:19)
• On forgiveness: it costs you something to withhold it, and it costs you something to give it. Which cost are you willing to carry? (07:50)
• Cara shares her word of the year, miracle, and what it means that the cost of the miracle she is waiting on is surrender (10:59)
• Dot on waiting: being still is one of the hardest and most costly things women are asked to do (12:07)
• Dr. Stanley's principle: "You reap what you sow, later than you sow, and more than you sow" (14:11)
• Dot gets practical: her daily practice of asking whether her yes is leading her toward what she loves most, and whether she could tell Jesus about it at the end of the day (21:49)
• Cara closes the loop: counting the cost is not about controlling outcomes. It is about being honest with yourself and with God about what each decision is actually taking from you (20:55)

Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected].

Watch Write this Down! on YouTube

Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook 

Luke 14:27-30 (ESV) — "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'"