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.
Discipleship and Eternal Life
Without a doubt, this is the best description of discipleship I’ve ever heard! “John wants those who have believed in Jesus to understand the new truth about themselves: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Note where he goes next. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (vv. 14–15) John is talking about eternal life in the framework of...
Epiphanies
The day I had this epiphany, that my eternal life began the day I professed faith in Christ, was a day of such immense joy! It totally revolutionized my view of time and myself within and beyond time now! It was a transforming and transcending mental snatching of me out from being “of the world” to being “in the world but no longer of it.” It was the beginning of my understanding of the Kingdom of God being HERE, now-and-yet-still-becoming. Thank you, JD, for helping make the Word and Spirit such vibrant witnesses to the new vision of reality, time, and space to awakening eyes. This personal...
Loving God With All Your Mind
In 1997 my relationship with the Lord developed exponentially as I began to learn how to love Him not just with an affectionate heart, or an obedient soul, but also to love Him with a listening, contemplative, and discerning mind. As He led me more and more also into loving Him ( and His people ) with active vocational strength, I asked the Lord what He wanted of me, how He wanted me to move forward, with whom and where. His reply was prompt and clear, “Get up daily, attune yourself to My Spirit as I guide you and I will bring them to you. “. He always has. He continues to do so. The key is...
Changed Strategies
I have a friend who is a retired AF JAG officer, retired private atty and former state regulatory administrative officer. He told me that he’d always been impatient with and dismissive of “spam” marketing callers….. until he found himself widowed. A devoted follower of Christ, he told me about the Lord nudging him to “take the calls.” Suddenly he found himself with a new way to serve the Lord and an evangelism opportunity. He sees the voice on the other end of the conversation as a human being created in the image of God and prepares to speak to them from that perspective. He has a...
Cast: far more energetic than put or place or lay
(from 3/9/24, CBB) “Cast: [verb] to cause to move or send forth by throwing. direct. to put forth. to place as if by throwing. to deposit (a ballot) formally. to throw off or away. to get rid of : discard. shed, molt. to throw to the ground especially in wrestling. to build by throwing up earth." "Cast" is a really rich biblical word. As I reflected on Peter acquiescing to cast the net at Christ's direction (though not without some resistance and questioning of the value of the action!), there were other reminders:….of lots being cast, also, as a means of putting a decision or choice in...
Titus 2 Ministry May 2025 Activity Report
6/1/25 Titus 2 Ministry May 2025 Activity Report 6/1/25-Assisted a family member of neighbors of many years, who immigrated to US over 2 decades ago, to complete necessary paperwork for application for naturalization as a US citizen. The other spouse had previously completed the process. -Assisted a mother of school age children in gathering together documentation and resources to assist her to pay off an out of state traffic fine and counseled development of a workable budget plan for securing a FL license, car registration, and insurance to secure a full time job. -Provided 10 gift cards...
Going Out and Coming In
The Kingdom economy is very different from that of the world. The world economy is about meeting our own needs by the work of our hands. The Kingdom economy is about meeting the needs of one another with the resources God has put in our care as stewards of His kingdom. My husband’s spiritual gift was generosity. I learned from him how to hold lightly the things God has entrusted to my care. I believe this is what Acts 2:42-47 is describing. The Bible also speaks of “going out and coming in.” We can think about our being in the world but not of it in this way: we go out into the world to...
Rubber Ducks Diving Deep
I had a dream last night…. a vivid single-frame image dream. The kind of dream God often brings me that is a bit of a puzzle, a challenge, or sometimes a call to a think deeply and clearly. Sometimes they are accompanied by some brief word from the Lord that shocks my senses into a sudden realization that He is giving me a new instruction or insight. last night’s image was silent but potent in the contrasted mixed messages of its components. To the left of the frame was a small smiling yellow rubber duck, the kind of bathtubs and kiddie pools and Jeep dashboards. The left edge of the yellow...
Technologically Disabled
The last four and a half years have revealed a profound disability…… any new online digital demand outside my regular routine of comfort-level accounts throws me into a panic attack that lingers in a PTSD response for the rest of the day , including heart and mind short-circuited, rapid pulse and risk of hyperventilating , followed shortly by tears that can last for hours. I’ve always been a somewhat anxious computer user. But as long as Bill was around to answer questions or override a problem, I could carry on. Without him, because he was admin and owner of so much of our software,...
Living Out Ministry Calling
My view of ministry and benevolence is as a partnership, first with God as a steward of Kingdom resources placed in my care, then as a partner with others like myself, journeying through life who have recognized it is better accomplished in community. This week Titus 2 put this principle to work on behalf of a young woman in transition from homelessness to restored economic stability. We watched her work for 5 weeks after coming to shelter from another state with several school age children. I inquired of her case managers and chaplain about her circumstances and plan. I discovered she had a...