Write this Down! with Dot Bowen

Faith and doubt have always gone hand in hand, and the story of Doubting Thomas might be the most honest proof of that in all of Scripture. In this Easter episode, Dot and Cara sit with John 20 and find something tender at the heart of it: Jesus didn't scold Thomas for his doubt. He showed up, scars and all, and met him right where he was. Together they unpack what it means that Jesus kept his scars, why eight days of waiting might matter more than we think, and how the resurrection isn't just something that happened 2,000 years ago. It's something God is still doing in us today. 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 — Happy Easter! (00:00)
• Write this down: John 20:24-29, the story of Doubting Thomas (00:13)
• The resurrection is the miracle of all miracles, but Thomas missed it the first time (01:56)
• Was Thomas doubting, in awe, or just someone who needed to experience it for himself? (04:44)
• God wrote Thomas into Scripture for us, so that those who haven't seen can still believe (07:38)
• Eight days later: why the timing of Jesus showing up for Thomas matters more than we might think (08:48)
• Jesus kept his scars, and the only man made thing in heaven is the scars on his hands (14:43)
• Our scars don't define us, just like they didn't define Jesus (16:23)
• The resurrection proved Jesus is God, and that changes absolutely everything (18:50)
• God meets us where we are, whether that's doubt, desperation, or somewhere in between (27:11)

This Episode’s Scripture Verse

John 20:24-29 (ESV) — "Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.' Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'”

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• "The Only Man-Made Thing in Heaven Are the Scars on Jesus' Hands" by B.J. Thomas

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 

When life feels uncertain or overwhelming, where do you run? This week, Dot and Cara explore the names of God and what they reveal about His character. He is our Shepherd, our Righteousness, our Protector, and our ever-present Emmanuel. This conversation moves beyond simply knowing God’s names to truly believing in them and the refuge they offer us. If you’ve ever struggled to trust who God says He is, this episode will encourage you to call on His name! 

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 down Proverbs 18:10, then go back and listen to last week’s episode! (0:18)
• Calling God “Father” is incredibly intimate (3:38)
• Dot uses different names of God when she is feeling different needs in her life (4:56)
• Memorizing these names is not important, knowing the character of God is (9:15)
• Calling on the name of God reminds us of our neediness (13:40)
• If you ever want to feel loved, reflect on the name “Emmanuel” (God with us) (18:58)
• Why call on God’s name if you’re not going to believe in it? (24:56) 

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 

What’s in a name? In Scripture, names carry deep meaning, so when God reveals His name as “I AM,” He is telling us something powerful about his character. In this episode, Dot and Cara begin a new conversation about the names of God by looking at Exodus 3, where God introduces himself to Moses. Together they explore why knowing the names of God helps us draw closer to Him and recognize that He is everything we truly need. Stay tuned for next week, when they’ll dive deeper into specific names of God and share the ones that have meant the most in their own walk with Him. Until then, pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and join the conversation! 

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)
• First, write down Exodus 3:13-15 (0:18)
• In biblical times, your name was synonymous with your character (3:54)
• “I Am” is the name God calls himself (7:00)
• Why is it helpful to know the names of God? (8:44)
• Every need we have as humans, God is saying, “I am all of that” (12:05)
• Calling God by name makes it personal (17:14)
• Get a book on the names of God to use in your prayer time this week (20:30)

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 

Scripture Verse: Exodus 3:13-15 (ESV)
“Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.”

Feelings are powerful, but they aren't always trustworthy. In this conversation, Dot and Cara talk about the connection between our thoughts, our emotions, and the choices we make. It's easy to let our emotions define our identity, but instead of ignoring those emotions or being ruled by them, we can hold them up against Truth and let God shape how we see ourselves. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and maybe a cup of coffee, and join us for a conversation.

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)
• First, write down Romans 7:15-20 (0:18)
• Feelings make good indicators, but bad dictators (2:51)
• Feelings aren’t always true (8:27)
• Every feeling begins with a thought, which may or may not be true (8:48)
• The Holy Spirit allows you to better understand your emotions (13:01)
• We often pour out how we feel on others (16:29)
• Facing our emotions is uncomfortable because we don’t expect grace (20:03)
• God can heal our hurts and handle our negative emotions (23:07)
• Learn to pause and take your feelings to God before you act  (29:04)

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 

We’re talking about a sneaky idol that can feel “spiritual” on the surface: knowledge. Using Genesis 3, Dot and Cara unpack how the desire to know can quietly become the desire to control, and how that pulls us away from faith and dependence on God. If you’ve ever felt that internal panic of “I have to figure this out,” this conversation will help you put knowledge in its right place so you can let God be God. Pull up a chair and join 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: Genesis 3:3-7 (0:18)
• Many times knowledge replaces God for us (3:37)
• We think knowledge equals control (8:48)
• Knowledge is for transformation, not just information (9:42)
• The desire for knowledge can get out of balance (13:36)
• The older Dot gets, the more she realizes she doesn’t know (16:29)
• Nothing is more irritating than a child who thinks they know everything (19:53)
• Job’s friends illustrate that we don’t know what God is up to all the time (23:00)
• We have to stop and acknowledge we can’t be God (29:04)

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 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

Fasting isn’t a diet or a formula, and it definitely isn’t a way to get God to do what you want. In this personal episode, Cara opens up about her recent experience with prayer and fasting and shares how what began as a search for answers led to something deeper- intimacy with God. If you’re hungry for more of Him, pull up a chair and lean in with us. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and maybe even a cup of coffee as we write this down.

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)
• Start by writing down Isaiah 58:3-9 (0:18)
• Cara’s church did a 21 day fast together (2:45)
• Fasting became a consecrated (set apart) time (6:38)
• Cara was expectant she would hear from the Lord (10:26)
• Hunger is a frequent spiritual metaphor in Scripture (14:50)
• Fasting and prayer creates intimacy through proximity (22:15)
• In this season, God showed Cara He will come through for her (24:00)
• Fast from the things that you think give you life and let God step into that (29:10)

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 

Scripture Verse: Isaiah 58:3-9 (ESV)

‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
    and oppress all your workers.

Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,”

What if real strength starts with admitting we’re weak? This week, Dot and Cara unpack Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” and ask what true surrender looks like. Through their own stories of grief, forgiveness, and everyday situations, they discuss what it actually looks like to rely on God’s strength instead of striving in their own. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible and your coffee, and learn with us what it means to let Him be our strength.

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)
• Start by writing down 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (0:18)
• What does it look like to rely on the Lord’s strength? (3:41)
• God gives you more than you can handle, so you rely on Him (11:26)
• You don’t have to love what God’s doing to trust him  (15:22) 
• We have to take time to pause and re-center our minds on truth (20:41)
• “God, help me.” is always a great prayer to pray  (23:31)
• It all comes back to remembering who God is and letting Him do it (27:38)

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 

Today Dot and Cara dig into the subtle and sneaky ways control fuels fear, overthinking, and exhaustion. Using Jesus’ words from Matthew 6, they talk through what it looks like to take responsibility where we should, release outcomes, and learn to trust God with it all. If you’ve ever struggled to let go, this conversation is for you. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and a cup of coffee and join 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)
• One of the things that causes our anxiety is fear of the “what if” (2:16)
• Cara used to think she didn’t have a problem with control (4:25)
• There are areas of our lives we need to have control of  (8:15) 
• We have to leave outcomes up to God (9:39)
• Practically speaking, how do we “let it go”? (12:15)
• The bottom line is, am I trusting? (15:41)
• Trying to constantly control steals your enjoyment of life and people (19:01)
• Do what God tells you to and let Him own the outcome (24:00)

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 

Gossip often feels small, subtle, or maybe even spiritual, but Scripture paints a very different picture of it. Today, Dot and Cara take a hard look at gossip through the lens of Romans 1 and unpack why God names it among the most destructive of sins. Together they explore what gossip really is, how it harms us, and how learning to take it seriously can bring great freedom. 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)
• Start by writing down Romans 1:28-32 (0:13)
• We tend to categorize and rank sins (2:26)
• Gossip is speech about someone else that harms people (3:55) 
• Gossip is specifically listed as a sin that God hates (8:00)
• If you need to “get it out,” Jesus is the only person you can tell everything to (12:42)
• Is sharing something that’s public knowledge the same as gossip? (17:21)
• When you get in tune with the Holy Spirit, it’s easier to recognize gossip (19:01)
• We need to be very careful with the lives of people God loves (23:55)

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 

Scripture Verse: Romans 1:28-32 (ESV) 
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

Comparison doesn’t stay small; it’s a sin that grows and slowly steals our joy. Today, Dot and Cara are walking through John 21:20–23, where Peter looks at someone else’s calling and Jesus responds, “What is that to you? You follow me.”

Together, they unpack why comparison is a form of bondage  and how security in our identity brings freedom. If you’ve ever wrestled with comparing your story, your prayers, your kids, or your life to someone else’s, we hope this conversation helps re-center your heart on Jesus and reminds you where peace is found.

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)
• Start by writing down John 21:20-23 (0:13)
• Knowing we are loved by God gives us freedom from comparison (3:45)
• Why would God take time to warn us against comparison? (8:10) 
• Comparison doesn’t stay in its lane, it’s a sin that grows (9:42)
• God is at work in different ways in each of our lives (12:01)
• In comparing our lives to one another’s, we falsely give credit or blame (16:26)
• Comparison steals our gratitude and joy for what God is doing in our lives (19:26)

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 

Scripture Verse: John 21:20-23 (ESV) “Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers[a] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”