Write this Down! with Dot Bowen

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! Episode RecapIntro (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 hello@dotbowen.com.Watch Write this Down! on YouTubeFind Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook This Episode’s Scripture VerseLuke 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.'"

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 hello@dotbowen.com.Watch Write this Down! on YouTubeFind 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,”

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 hello@dotbowen.com.Watch Write this Down! on YouTubeFind Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook Scripture Verse: Matthew 6:25-30 (ESV) “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”Listen to episode 158: Is Fear Unbelief?

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 hello@dotbowen.com.Watch Write this Down! on YouTubeFind 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?”

What does it actually mean to be a child of God, and why does that understanding matter so much? In this first part of a two-part conversation, Dot and Cara dig into the theology behind spiritual adoption and identity, unpacking what Scripture teaches about being welcomed into God’s family. They explore the difference between being created by God and being a child of God, and why understanding that distinction brings security, freedom, and peace. Grab your Bible, a pencil, and a cup of coffee, and pull up a chair 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)Start by writing down Romans 8:15-17 (0:13)This truth changed the way Cara viewed herself (1:58)There is a distinction between being created by God and being a child of God (4:20) Sin creates separation from God (8:25)We are all walking around wondering, ‘who am I?’ (12:15)Child of God means accepted, adopted, and embraced in the family of God (17:39)This understanding changes everything (19:20)The Spirit in you is evidence you are a child of God (25:20)Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at hello@dotbowen.com.Watch Write this Down! on YouTubeFind Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook Scripture Verse: Romans 8:15-17 (ESV) “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”