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.
Guard Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "Guarding" one's heart (and mind)…..People immersed in an infatuation with the popular culture seem to be oblivious to how to do that or even that it needs to be done. I see time and energy spent on music that fails to uplift one's spirit, entertainment that is downright depressing, distractions in which God has said we are not to indulge like astrology or gambling or altered...
Racialism, Humanism, or Identity In Christ
from 6/13/2020. CBB Awwwww…..sweet children. What are we doing to our kids? Many of us believed that we actively worked at NOT perpetuating historically negative cultural stereotypes, unjust conduct, demeaning language, etc. The periodic racialist-incited violence that plagues our society and world appears to many of us to be political maneuvering to keep neighbor stirred up against neighbor. I share life and joyful fellowship with a number of friends from diverse cultural, racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds. We all get along with and support one another well, even more so now, given...
Faith: Power in Right Object, Not Size
The power of one’s faith is not defined by the size of her faith. The power of one’s faith lies in the invincibility of the OBJECT of her faith. Our faith may be as insignificant as a mustard seed. But if it is vested in Christ, that small faith is sufficient to accomplish even what seems impossible. As that seed is cultivated through trust in God, obedience, and gratitude to God for his faithfulness it will grow into the largest shrub in the field! From 6/13/21. CBB
Secular or Christian Graduate School for Counseling
When I went to a secular grad school for counseling I asked my advisor if my Christian beliefs were going to be disregarded. He said "no", that I was free to express my beliefs in context with the discussions. I told him I intended to be a Christian counselor from a clergy perspective and forego state mental health licensure. He said whether I counseled from a biblical or secular perspective, the principles are the same. He told me to "take from this program what you believe is helpful and compatible with your beliefs, and set the rest aside. God will guide you to know what you need for what...
Life Verse: Psalm 37:3-5
In 2001, after I was asked to be lay director for Blue Lake Emmaus Walk 137 in August 2002, I began praying for a theme and scripture. Almost immediately the word the LORD God pressed on me was “trust.” I searched scriptures about trust and nothing was clicking. Weeks went by. I met with my spiritual director, Ron Ball. We prayed, searched, and waited. Babble Mason’s song, “Trust His Heart.” came across my path. It resonated. The line, “when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart” gave me a visual for “heart and hand.” So I explored scripture with those words. Nothing clicked…. until I...
God’s Promise Witnessed
6/12/26. CBB The following is a recent messenger conversation over several months with a gentleman who had been in his 40’s when he came to Panama City around 2011-12 to a men’s recovery program with whom Bill and I had some contact. He did some small jobs for us while he was there. In 2012 he moved away, coming back again for a time in 2019- 20, after Hurricane Michael. He left in 2020. After that I didn't hear from him until this spring. (I just realized that I still have most of our messages from those earlier years!) 3/15/26 “R”:...
Angels’ Complaints 🤣
Note from a friend this week: “… and losing my phone later in the day drove me over the edge. BUT GOD heard my screams. How could He not? The angels were complaining of the racket!” That sounds like the definition of a lament…when the angels complain to God about the racket!! CBB 6/12/25
Quote Worth Remembering: A.W. Tozer
"To the child of God, there is no such thing as an accident. He travels an appointed way. The path he treads was chosen for him when as yet he was not, when as yet he had existence only in the mind of God. Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evil only because we cannot read the script of God's hidden providence and so cannot discover the ends at which He aims…The man of true faith may live in the absolute assurance that his steps are ordered by the Lord. For him, misfortune is outside the bounds...
Titus 2 Ministry Activities May 2026
-Gifted monthly $25 to Lorraine’s Bake Shop “pay it forward” fund to assist indigent downtown neighbors who may need a coffee/snack break, especially during inclement weather days. (5/2) -Provided 3 boxes of food and household items to a family previously mentored through Hope Inspired Ministries, now living in their own home after long-term guest housing with family members. (5/4) -Family support for woman in prison to maintain regular phone contact with her family. Reports that she is doing well. (5/4) -Attended annual Pregnancy Resource Center fundraising event in Panama City and...
“Go and Tell”
Our pastor pointed out this week that the shepherds....low lifes in the culture of their day...were the first to hear the news of the newborn Messiah. And when they found him lying in the manger, | then went to tell others. It is notable in Scripture, too, that women were the first to receive the news of Christ's resurrection. With each of these events, they ran to tell others. The woman at the well, when she came to the realization of who it was that was offering her something more life-giving and precious than H2O, ran to tell the townfolks. The final instructions to followers in each of...