Advertise on podcast: Write this Down! with Dot Bowen

What do you do when God asks you to hand back the very thing he promised you? In this episode, Dot and Cara sit with the story of Abraham and Isaac, the moment when a father who waited decades for a son is asked to lay that son on an altar. They talk about the danger of writing our own narrative onto what God is doing, why Abraham's silence on that mountain says everything about his faith, and how trusting the process matters more than understanding the plan. 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 RecapIntro (00:00)Write this down, Genesis 17:15-19, God renames Sarai to Sarah and promises Abraham a son through her (00:00)Cara welcomes everyone and frames today's question, what do you do when God gives you a promise and then asks you to sacrifice it (01:10)A quick refresher on Ishmael, how Sarah's plan led to Hagar, and why Isaac, not Ishmael, was always God's idea (02:12)Writing the narrative, Dot and Cara's shorthand for assuming we know how God's story ends before he's finished telling it (07:15)Jumping to Genesis 22, Abraham walks up the mountain with Isaac and never once brings up the promise God once took from him (11:39)Why Abraham telling his servants we will be back might be one of the boldest statements of faith in all of Scripture (17:18)Abraham had never seen a resurrection in his life and still trusted God could bring Isaac back, an easy detail to miss (17:49)Knowing God versus believing him, and why that gap is exactly where our faith gets tested (20:20)A story about a train ticket that never comes early but always comes on time, and what it teaches us about trusting God's timing (32:26) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseGenesis 17:15-19 (NASB 1977) — "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall come from her.' Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and he said in his heart, 'Will a child be born to a man 100 years old, and will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?' And Abram said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before Thee.' But God said, 'No. But Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.'"

Ever wish God would just tell you why? In this episode, Dot and Cara sit with the story of Job and his friends, three men who loved Job deeply but got it wrong by assuming they knew exactly what God was doing in his suffering. Together they talk about the difference between speaking for God and speaking to God, and why letting Him reveal the why, instead of manufacturing one ourselves, is where real trust actually starts. 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 RecapIntro (00:00)Write this down: Job 38:1-7, God's answer to Job out of the whirlwind (00:00)Dot shares how Write This Down was actually born out of her deep study of Job's friends, and catching herself thinking "I would have said that too" (00:01:27)Job's friends genuinely loved Job and sat with him in silence for seven days, but the trouble started when they assumed they knew why he was suffering (00:03:14)We live in a culture that thinks it can know everything, even asking ChatGPT to translate a sign in a tunnel, and how easy it is to bow down to the god of knowledge instead of trusting God himself (00:06:07)Why the Book of Job never actually answers why, and what that means for anyone waiting on an explanation for their own pain (00:07:10)Cara opens up about her own season of wrestling with her trust in God being tested, and learning she could move forward without fully understanding why (00:10:10)The line Dot wants you to write down, Job's friends talked about God to Job, but Job talked to God about himself and about God (00:13:17)Learning to hold the fear and love of God together, and letting Him reveal what He wants you to know instead of stepping in to explain it yourself (00:16:23)The bottom line of Job's story, God isn't in the business of punishing you, He's shaping you stage by stage, so be careful of anyone who claims to know exactly what God is doing in your life (00:21:35) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseJob 38:1-7 (ESV) — "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements, surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?'"

What happens when your trust in God gets shaken, or even feels completely broken? In this honest conversation, Dot and Cara sit with Psalm 13 and David's raw prayer of doubt and praise, and open up about seasons in their own lives when trusting God felt like being led off a cliff. They talk through the real difference between a faith that's shaken and one that's severed, and why struggling with God is not the same as walking away from 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!  Episode Recap Intro (00:00)Write this down: Psalm 13:1-6, David's raw, honest prayer that swings from "how long, O Lord" to pure praise (00:00)Dot wonders if David has a split personality, until Cara points out the psalm is a perfect picture of being honest with God (01:32)Today's real conversation starter: a dear friend admitted out loud that her trust in God had been broken, and how rarely we say that in Christian spaces (02:15)Cara opens up about a season where she felt like she trusted God all the way to the edge of a cliff, and He let her fall (08:08)Dot's pool illustration, her husband Howard catching the grandkids mid jump, even in the split second before he lets them go under (10:05)The difference between a faith that is shaken and a faith that is severed, and why struggling with God does not mean walking away from Him (17:16)Dot shares how she prayed, even before knowing the details, that Cara would never mistake her hard season for proof that God did not care (26:57)Cara looks back at Psalm 13:5, written in her Bible years before this season, and how her past tense trust became her present hope (30:01)Dot tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God all night, and how whatever your circumstances are saying, the cross already proved God is for you (32:26) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VersePsalm 13:1-6 (ESV) — "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, 'I have prevailed over him,' lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me."

Can you actually force yourself into more patience, more peace, more joy? Dot and Cara dig into Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit this week, landing on something freeing: this fruit isn't something you manufacture, it's what grows naturally out of abiding with God. They get honest about what real intimacy with the Lord looks like day to day, from Dot's own prayer journey to what it actually means to walk in step with the Spirit instead of white knuckling your way through it. 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)Dot and Cara's throwback to a song they used to sing the grandkids about being patient, and why willpower alone never actually produces it (02:11) Dot's shift in perspective, the fruit of the Spirit isn't something you chase, it's what grows out of walking in step with the Spirit (04:24) What Galatians 5 means by walking in the Spirit, the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit, and why you can fake goodness for a while but it never lasts (06:10) What abiding and intimacy with God actually look like day to day, hint, it's not striving, it's resting (11:39) Dot's story of picking prayer as her word for 2025, and why being honest with God, even about the ugly stuff, is what actually builds closeness with him (16:09) Dot's habit of writing down what she senses God saying in prayer, and the moments of confirmation that have followed (23:12) Everyday ways to build intimacy with God, from a grandkid's God time to Cara's prayer walks (32:19) Peter's do you love me moment with Jesus, and why falling in love with God has to come before we try to produce anything for him (35:16) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseGalatians 5:22-24 (ESV) — "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

What does it really mean to be the light of the world, and whose light are you actually shining? In this episode, Dot and Cara sit with Jesus' words in Matthew 5:14-16 and ask the harder question underneath them, are we living to be seen by God, or to be seen by people? It's an honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about motivation, influence, and who you're actually representing every time you walk into a room. 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 RecapIntro (00:00)Write this down: Matthew 5:14-16, you are the light of the world (00:00)Cara opens with this week's question, what light are we shining and who's influencing it (00:39)Dot admits this is a hard conversation to have without sounding judgmental (01:09)Keeping the why nearby, and the difference between existing and actually living (01:47)What Jesus really meant by being the light of the world, and checking whether it reflects him or us (03:27)You're representing someone everywhere you go, even when you don't realize it (06:39)Resting in the Lord lets his light shine through without you having to force it (09:26)Peter rebuking Jesus about the cross, and what it reveals about chasing our own agenda over God's (12:50)Closing challenge, ask God who you're influencing and who's influencing you, then write it down (17:54) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseMatthew 5:14-16 (ESV) — "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Do you know something, or do you actually believe it? On this episode, Dot and Cara dig into the real difference between knowing about God and believing Him, from Dot's own journey with a prediabetes diagnosis to Cara's honest confession that she has believed God loves her but has struggled to believe He truly cares about the details. It is a raw, honest conversation about what it looks like to move from head knowledge to a faith that actually changes how you live, even when your circumstances have not changed at all. 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 RecapIntro  (00:00)Write this down: Psalm 9:9-10, the Lord as a stronghold for those who seek Him (00:00)Today's question: what's the real difference between knowing something and believing it (00:29)Dot on birthdays as a turning point, and asking God "what's next" instead of pulling back from life (01:12)Dot's prediabetes diagnosis, and the moment the knowledge in her head finally became something she believed (06:30)Knowing what you deserve versus actually believing you deserve it (08:31)Cara gets honest about a hard season, and the moment she realized she believed God loved her but not that He cared (13:53)Choosing to believe God is tending the hard places even when nothing about the circumstances has changed (18:01)Why God wants a relationship, not a five step formula, and the invitation to just ask Him for the faith to believe (20:05)The miracle isn't God changing your circumstances, it's God changing your heart, something only He can do (23:03) 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  This Episode’s Scripture VersePsalm 9:9-10 (ESV) — "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you."

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!  Episode RecapIntro (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]. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture VerseProverbs 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 Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture VerseExodus 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]. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture VerseJohn 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!  Episode RecapIntro (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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseJohn 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!  Episode RecapIntro, 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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseLuke 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!  Episode RecapIntro (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  This Episode’s Scripture VerseHebrews 12:14-15 (ESV) — "Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."

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!  Episode RecapIntro (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 Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture VerseExodus 33:14-17 (ESV) — "And he said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' And he said to him, 'If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?' And the Lord said to Moses, 'This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.'"

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]. Watch Write this Down! on YouTube Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture VerseExodus 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 Find Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook  This Episode’s Scripture Verse1 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."