Select Page

About the Author

Cathy Boyd Byrd invites others to join her in considering topics of interest to those on the Christian spiritual journey…..discipleship, spirituality, mental health, Christian growth, and Bible study. Cathy enjoys working with others as they transition from emotional emergency and brokenness to spiritual emergence and abundant living! Many of the topics about which Cathy writes are interrelated as experienced in her own life and in the lives of those with whom she works in counseling, teaching, and case management, and in friendships. She believes that sharing our journey of Christian growth and spirituality helps us know God and ourselves better and connects us with others!

Cathy is a Christian Educator and Life Recovery Counselor, and an ordained deacon through Christian Leaders Institute. She serves as Community Outreach MInister at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church. She is a student (disciple) of the Holy Spirit and shares with her students (disciples) the things the Lord teaches her through Bible study and contemplation, incorporating experiences interpreted through the Word, cherished traditions of her faith, and reasoning that comes from seeking the mind of Christ in accountable community. She was widowed in August 2020 after 48 years of marriage to Bill Byrd, is mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. Her journey of faith has been lifelong and continues to be an adventure with the trailblazer and guide, Jesus Christ!

Cathy is the founder and program manager for a Christian women’s residential life recovery program, Titus 2 Partnership, Inc.(www.titus2.life) in Panama City, Florida.

Irredeemable?

Shaming evangelicals……. How recently can one repent and be forgiven by Christ and be accepted in Christian community, given the opportunity to begin living into a more righteous way of life? A minute? A day? A month? A year? 10 years? What measure of time, of "wait and see", of "pay your dues" standard shall we put upon someone? How long were you held at arm's length and scowled at suspiciously by other believers when you believed? Is it possible for a person to change? Isn't that the whole premise of "new life in Christ"? Does that mean one can never lapse into an old habit again? Does it...

REAL Words

"What people are really asking when they're asking if a word is real, they're really asking, "Well, how many brains will this give me access to?" Because I think that's a lot of how we look at language. A word is essentially a key that gets us into certain people's heads. And if it gets us into one brain, it's not really worth it, not really worth knowing. Two brains, eh, it depends on who it is. A million brains, OK, now we're talking. And so a real word is one that gets you access to as many brains as you can. That's what makes it worth knowing.Incidentally, the realest word of all by this...

Purging: Toward Sanctification

Francis de Sales"Purging the soul is a lifetime effort. There is no reason to be upset by our imperfections, for perfection is nothing more than fighting against them. How can we resist them unless we see them? How can we overcome them unless we face them?" Ancient view of our journey in sanctifying grace included three stages- purgative, illuminative, and unitive. They are not linear and progressive. Rather, purgative is something that has to continue all our lives as the Holy Spirit shows us those things in different areas of our lives that need to be eliminated, those temptations that...

Information Is Power

"Limiting information is how one leverages power." quoted from the government consultant who crafted a large government program and later talked about how stupid the American people are and can be hoodwinked into accepting anything if you can limit the information they need in order to grasp the reality of it. Secrecy, non-disclosure of facts, meeting behind closed doors instead of "in the sunshine", lack of transparency and honesty, making the process look overly difficult to understand, either withhold information altogether or "dump" so much that it's impossible to grasp, withhold...

Stranger Danger snd Spring Break

Why "no alcohol on beaches" is a good thing during Spring Break….. from a 3/14/2015 post: "I heard about a sad account of a young lady assaulted by two guys with intent to rape her yesterday at PCB. Everyone involved was drinking. She got away but was so shaken by the experience that she caught the next flight home, leaving behind those with whom she had ridden. She did not call the police. So many young people come here not realizing that it is not as safe as they think. There are predatory opportunists in the mix. If you're going to drink stay among "safe", known people. "Stranger danger"...

Shifts: Physical and Spiritual

After attending Seedbed's New Room Leaders Gathering in February, I realized that using the language of "personal surrender" had worn thin with me in talking to adult discipleship students….. The language of "consecration" of self (as we heard so often at Ridgecrest) and of integration of all of who one is "in Christ", (as our little Titus 2 Sunday@5 group of women has been studying in "In Christ" by E. Stanley Jones) is so much more energizing and focuses on an enlarging and unifying view of the goal and process of the Holy Spirit's work instead of a diminishing, suppressing view. We do,...

Reflecting on “Think Again” (by Adam Grant)

Reading Adam Grant's 2021 book, "Think Again.". The book is an "invitation to let go of knowledge and opinions that are no longer serving you well, and to anchor your sense of self in flexibility instead of consistency. If you can master the art of rethinking, you'll be better positioned for success at work and happiness in life. Thinking again can help you generate new solutions to old problems and revisit old solutions to new problems. It's a path to learning more from the people around you and living with fewer regrets. A hallmark of wisdom is knowing when it's time to abandon some of...

Avoiding Compassion Fatigue or “Empathetic Distress”

Adam Grant writes about "empathetic distress", also called "compassion fatigue"……It is common for people to experience, especially those who work in helping professions- healthcare, social services, counseling, ministry, etc. And it also escalates after multiple community traumas, such as was experienced with the disruption and damage of Hurricane Michael and its recovery, followed closely by Covid, then political chaos and widespread economic stressors…… Communities have any number of reasons why mental health and well-being of its population might be compromised. And why its helping...

From Lent Reflections

When have you felt God direct you to make a change in your life? Did you struggle with any doubt or were you confident in the change? In August 1992, my husband, Bill, had a job opportunity and was ready for a change of venue . After praying about the situation, he took the job and moved three hours away, commuting home on weekends for the next year and a half. In December of that year I attended a Walk to Emmaus at the invitation of a friend from church. It seemed like it would be a pleasant women's retreat. It turned out to be a major reorientation of my life..... One that would have...

Observed and Noted

Jesus is enough.Seen this week and posted:(words written on a torn scrap of brown paper sack) "Father, forgive me for the times I craved a seat at a table you would have flipped." Principle discovered in "downsizing:" While my physical territory, the footprint in a "place", grows smaller, the Spiritual Kingdom that is my true home, that is defined by purpose and people, grows .

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories