Family

Today was day three of being at home since I moved back and while I still miss it back in Olympia I am definitely loving being here with my family. I have been blessed with a great family!! I can't thank God enough for them! Tonight we were sitting at the dinner table and talking about things, my brother mocking my mom & I, and enjoying each other's company when something made us start laughing. We laughed so hard I couldn't breath, and as soon as we would settle down someone would say one word and we would just starting rolling again. Needless to say it's good to be home & even better to be with family

I am posting this now that I have been home for a few days....it's been a little hectic but here you go!


I’m writing this from the road by the time I post this I will be tucked away in my bed for the evening but I thought you guys deserved to hear from me, haha. Anywho for those of you who haven’t realized it I am sorry that you didn’t hear it directly from me but God has brought a bittersweet transition into my life, moving back home to Illinois. I am on my third day driving back with some of my favorite Midwest friends!!! Thus far it’s been a blast we have been through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and are driving through South Dakota as I type this. We drove through Yellowstone & experienced Old Faithful, smelling the sulfer grossness, and seeing some amazing views along the way. The kind of stuff that makes you just praise God for the amazing job he did here on earth. And today we drove to Mt. Rushmore & saw the mountain in the rain & hail….. I could have done without the hail. Anyway we stopping in Omaha, NE tonight and then straight on to home for me. My fellow travelers have yet another day to their home in Ohio.

Before I leave you I thought I’d share with you a few things I’ve learned from our mistakes while on the road so here you go:

• Never let the car without cruise control set the pace

• Make sure the people with the atlas are leading

• If you think you have enough music to keep you occupied on the ride home, go get twice as much b/c you will end up hearing the same songs 9 times over by the second day………

• Cold Play’s new album is disappointing

• If it’s June and you see snow on the ground you MUST stop for a random guys vs. girls snowball fight

• If you find yourself in Cody, WY at 9:00 pm and are still headed on to Buffalo, WY do yourself a favor and just stop for the night…mountain driving at night is no fun and it’s takes at least twice as long

• Hotel rates go down after about 12:00 am so drive late and sleep in

• You can and will get addicted to Goldfish

• Once you’ve seen one buffalo you have seen them all so do everyone a favor and don’t stop every time you see one

• Mt. Rushmore doesn’t take anything but cash so stop at an ATM before you go

• Yellowstone is HUGE so add at least 1-2 hours on to whatever time you want to spend there…if you are on a time schedule that is.

• And finally…. make sure to stop and jump out for random photo ops throughout your drive you get some pretty rad photos from those

I love you all and miss Olympia already!

Two Weeks

It's amazing what can happen in just two weeks......

I know I haven't written in awhile and for that I am truly sorry I mean to write more often than I do but I would like to fill you in on the journey I have been on with the Lord for the past two weeks!

It started out with me complaining, haha imagine that, I was at my end spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I was tired of my job and my life wanting to give up and go home rather than stay on the hard path that God has set me on. But like he always does God intervened. Now I didn't advertise my desire to go home or the fact that almost every night I was on the phone crying to my mom that I couldn't take it so some of you may be shocked, or not. Anyway I happened to hang out with a colleague whom I rarely get to spend time, both of us were in a "mood" so to speak and we weren't up for much other than sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves, however despite our desire to do absolutely nothing we ended up with a group of 4 others on a hike in the dark! (As described in my post "Kisses From Heaven")

Anyway I left that evening feeling elated that the Lord would do that just for me, and with a renewed sense of dedication to the Lord. From that point on I was hungry for God, I made sure and did my devotions every night and prayed every time I was alone in my car. In the midst of this I finally sought out an accountability partner and even sat down to lunch with a woman I truly admire that I had been meaning to meet with all year.

All of this I know was God's desired outcome from that one evening! But that evening is not really what I'm blogging about. What I am blogging about rather is how much of a difference there has been in every aspect of my life since I have done my devotions daily and sought the Lord in prayer not just for myself and others, but truly sought him. I have always heard people say "the Lord has made such a difference in my life once I sought him" and I would try for a couple of days half-heartedly and then give up b/c "nothing was changing." I was so wrong in my approach and in my thinking during those times that of course it wouldn't work out I wasn't seeking the Lord I was following a system. Checking off a check list.

Now that I have been seeking the Lord and truly falling in love with him I have noticed the difference in myself and I am pleased! Things that I would struggle with and couldn't get over like "being more of a people person" have been coming easier now. I LOVE my job and my life once again, and am truly happy for the first time in a long while! I still can't believe it has taken me nearly 9 years since I was saved to figure this out (I would really like to smack myself upside the head) but no matter how long it has taken I'm glad I have figured it out.

My challenge to anyone who would find themselves doubting the power of reading you word every day and praying and seeking the Lord is that they would try it. For two weeks whole-heartedly seeking the Lord and his word and seeing the difference it will make in everything you do.

Narnia Rocks

As promised here is a rather "embarassing" picture of myself dressed up as a man. I did it for my small group girls!!! Just to clarify I was Trumpkin the redheaded dwarf, the other two are Nikabrick the black dwarf and Trufflehunter the Badger.

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

I have grown up loving ice cream! We had it at birthday parties, holidays, and just because. I never thought about how much ice cream I have eaten but I know if you are anything like me you have probably eaten tons of the stuff, however I think you should know this:


Experts say that in order to provide water, basic health & nutrition needs to everyone in the world it would cost 20 billion dollars which is the amount of money americans spend in one year on ice cream.

I don't think i'll ever look at ice cream the same way again!

Kisses From Heaven!

I don't know if you have experienced a moment where it just seems so orchestrated by God that you are there in that moment seeing, smelling, touching, and hearing the beauty that is surrounding you. When all the thoughts of your busy day or not so perfect life vanish and you get the feeling like God made this moment just for you, and everything seems perfect even if it's just for a moment......This kind of experience I find is rare in my busy schedule but when I do get them it feels like a "kiss from heaven"

Tonight I recieved one of those kisses. I was on my way out of the church when I ran into a co-worker whom I rarely see or hang out with and we decided we would go get some pizza and then go to the weekly gathering at the Cobler's house. The night was going ok but then we decided to join up with four others and "do something." I complained about it the whole way there but we ended up going to Burfoot Park to make the trek down to the beach. It was a messy process in the dark, we got turned around a few times and ended up going off the trail down steep hills where I fell on my butt in the mud a couple of times, and was overly scared of creeps or animals that could be hanging around in the woods. But in the end, and not a moment to soo, we made it down to the beach, and that was where i recieved my "kiss from heaven" The lake was so peaceful and beautiful, there were no other people but us, and as you walked along the shore photoplanktin lit up beneath your feet. And best of all there was no cell phone service so no one could bother my moment with the Lord. It was a moment of pure bliss and I couldn't help but stand in a silent awe of what God has put together. It was exactly what I needed in that moment, somehow God put together everything perfectly to give me a dose of peace in the middle of my hectic week.

It got me thinking about life and how many moments like this I have most likely missed because I haven't taken the time to get away and let God minister to me in a way only he can. But also how many moments like this I have missed because "I didn't feel like doing it" or "It was hard and messy to get there." I think sometimes God wants to know if he is worth it to us, if we are willing to go through some hard stuff to get to those "perfect"moments, because frankly if it didn't cost us something I don't think it would be worth much to us.

A blast from the past!

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending Tumwater High School's version of Little Shop Of Horrors. I have to say it definitely took me back to high school (which admittidly was only 2 years ago but still....) As I was watching it didn't matter that the acting wasn't great and the singers were a tad pitchy all I was thinking of was my times on stage and all of the memories made with the casts. Every once in awhile I think we all need to get lost in our memories, to revel in the "days of our youth" haha.

So in honor of my reveling I thought I would bring out a side of myself that I haven't introduced to many people in Olympia yet, Grace as a 16 year old writer..... The link below takes you to a site that I used when I was in high school to uploaded all of my work. I hope you enjoy it!

Oh yea, take a look at my profile at the top of the page i left it unedited so you can hear who I thought I was as a 16 year old. I got a pretty good chuckle out of it

http://www.fictionpress.com/u/344936/Lucy_Dowell

The Little Things

I was sitting in a meeting tonight, and a kind of revelation came upon me. Shane told a story about the moment when he figured out he was a leader. It wasn't a huge speech that told him but a mere statement from a respected leader "you're a leader." I started to think about that same moment when I came to realize my "leadership ability" and I realized much like Shane it wasn't a huge drawn out speech, rather a direct & intentional statement.

My revelation however wasn't about my leadership skill or anything of that it was about our words. I've been told a million times about how much our words mean but i guess i have never really thought about it and truly realized the power of that statement. Our words are so powerful, if one short statement can change a life for the better how careful & intentional should we be when we use them. This doesn't need to be a long blog because that would defeat the point but I guess I just came to the conclusion that we can get so sloppy with our words but we should be so careful & deliberate about our words.

If we can change a life for the better with a short statement we can certainly crush a life with a small statement. I want to become more intentional about what i say and who i say it to, this is my goal for now i'll let you know how it goes.......

The First One

Welcome, Welcome! This my blog a good friend and mentor told me that it took her 6 months before she got good at blogging so bear with me as I "learn how to blog."




Jason Castro, my favorite Idol contestant on Season 7, singing Chris Rice's Clumsy (If you are on Virb go to my blog to view the video gracefancher.blogspot.com)


Verse 2:

I’m gonna get it right this time
I’ll be strong and I’ll make You proud
I’ve prayed that prayer a thousand times
But the rooster crows and my tears roll down (again)
Then You remind me You made me from the dust
And I can never, no never, be good enough
And that You’re not gonna let that come between us

I had never heard this song until recently when I found it on you tube while searching my favorite Idol contestant, and then i couldn't stop listening to it. I don't know if you do this but i get a song that really gets at the core of me and i listen to it over and over until I find a new one.

I highlighted it above but the second verse stood out particularly, I know i have prayed a prayer similar to the first two lines about a few hundred times, and it's funny because usually about the time I say that, is when the walls come crumbling down. The most recent observation of this pattern is a few days ago, I was doing fine and had just come off of two retreats (one for the staff i work with at my church, and one for the junior highers in my ministry) my relationship with the lord couldn't be better and my passion for my job ablaze. I had settled into my daily life once again and had hit the ground running, but then it came, the cold from hell. Long story short i spent two days on the couch doing nothing because I couldn't move without becoming dizzy or nauseous, not to mention the agonizing pain in my throat and nasal passages. The funny thing is that with all that free time and my relationship with God doing really well, i didn't pray or read my bible or anything God related the whole time.....i didn't even pray for healing. And about the time I decided I was a horrible christian and should give up. God placed this song in my search results.

It's funny because this is a tale of the song's truth and the song breaking me of exactly what it's speaking. It reminds me that no matter what God is always looking out for me, and that I couldn't get away from God even if I wanted to. It's so true once God has his hands on you, you really can't get away. You can try but you'll always have him in the back of your head.

In the movie August Rush, Robin William's character "Wizard" made a remark that I just can't get out of my mind "You got to love music more than you love food. More than life. More than yourself." For me this quote reads "You got to love Jesus more than you love food. More than life. More than yourself." (and I love food alot lol) I think when you find yourself at the point of the "rooster's crow" with tears rolling down your cheek wanting to give up because you are so terrible you just have to remember to love Jesus more than food, your life, and yourself. Because that is the way he feels about you!