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.
Looking for an Elf on a Shelf or a Babe for a Manger?
Speaking of crèches and Christmas traditions, one person told me that instead of “Elf On A Shelf” her family would hide the Jesus figure from their creche’ daily until Christmas morning when He would be found in the manger on the mantel! What a great Christian interpretation of the family tradition of EOAS! This is the 20th anniversary of the Elf. Let’s some of us Christians interpret the tradition through the lens of our faith!”
Kingdom Work
I watched a video recap of the 2025 Summit by CCPL (Center for Christianity and Public Life) where our middle granddaughter is now employed, having transitioned from 9 years of working as a reporter and editor with several news organizations in D.C. covering the U.S. Congress. In the video one statement stood out to me: “Our ethics are not only to be effective, but also to be affective, to be relational.” This resonates with me. As a type A ‘doer,’ I can often get so focused on the goal, the destination, the outcome, that I overlook the miraculous daily ways of God working...
Curing Loneliness
Ten years ago I was posting about loneliness at holiday season and organizing “Neighbors’ Cookie Swap event in Lynn Haven. It seems to be a perpetual and pervasive experience in our culture today. A mere five years later I was widowed. The next year our daughter published a book on loneliness, “The Great Belonging.” She just celebrated its 5th anniversary of publication….. “The dis-ease that plagues contemporary society is isolation….feeling disconnected from one's own heart and that of others. People live next door to one another and may never even know one another's names. Many families...
Grannies and Quilts
When I was a teenager, my paternal grandmother crafted a quilt for each of her grandchildren, with the help of her sister, Aunt Omi. She hung a large quilting frame from the ceiling in her cozy den area adjacent to her spacious kitchen. I fondly remember seeing them sitting around the quilting frame, laughing, chatting, listening to music, and passing the hours in warm camaraderie. Some quilts were delicate pastel feminine Sunbonnet Doll patterns, butterflies, or intricate geometrics. As I recall, all of them were made of soft cotton fabrics except the one I received, which is a vibrant...
Whose Applause?
Seems to me we should aspire to be post-resurrection Peters regarding faith in Christ but Doubting Thomases regarding faith in man’s institutions—which means poking fingers in the sides of both liberals and conservatives. ……Be salt, not sugar. Report sensational facts with understated prose. Don’t suck your thumb: Pound the pavement. Strive for factual accuracy and Biblical objectivity. The heavens declare the glory of God, but the streets declare the sinfulness of man. Believe in a God who tells the truth and wants us to do the same. Don’t scream that the sky is falling: Remember that God...
Be A Friend To Have A Friend
A young woman I know wrote this poem. It was so poignant. I felt that pain in my 20s and 30s.I felt this great loneliness for many years then realized God was sending several people for whom I WAS to be that person. Problem was I didn’t WANT to be that person for them! I had to learn to be a friend. to the friendless before I could have that kind of friend. (CBB 11/12/19)
Myles Munro and Prayer
"The priority of Jesus was not ministry to men…." Myles Munroe, in speaking of Jesus' robust prayer life. His read on the story of the apostles attempting to cast out demons is very interesting. Why couldn't they do it? Not by shouting, not by using the name of Jesus, not by gyrations and ritual…but by prayer…..the apostles' prayer with God for their OWN strength, their own equipping, their own purity. Jesus prayed for hours in the morning with God, then spent a mere moment saying, "be healed"…. The power of humanity, the power of ministry lies in prayer. IF we spent time connected to God in...
A Hard Season
11/12/21: 8 years ago we had a difficult Holiday season My Dad had just died in August. My Mom was beside herself with grief. Our home remodeling had been underway since June and was taking far longer than projected. My locked chest with important belongings and my best jewelry was burglarized by a tile subcontractor who was eventually caught and prosecuted though my best jewelry and some cash in the chest was never recovered. Holidays can bring back memories of difficult seasons, but, thankfully God sees us through them and better seasons return. But other difficult seasons come and go...
Why “Titus 2” Ministry
I am asked from time to time where the name of Titus 2's ministry comes from……Here's the short story. Four women who have been involved in mentoring others were talking about the joy of sharing in the lives of younger women, either chronologically or spiritually, who are working to accomplish life recovery goals. I appreciate greatly the people who have sown encouragement snd wisdom into my life over the years and all who are sowing into the next generation of Christian women and me and fulfilling the biblical mandate given to us in the Apostle Paul's pastoral letter to his younger mentee,...
I Choose to Believe
"I see a gray-sky morning, but I know the sun is still shining and I believe a rainbow lies just over the horizon. I choose to live out of what I know and believe, not what I see.". CBByrd. 11/12/18