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.
Test Found In A Treasure
Found by a friend on her mother's Bible: A great thought......worth sharing. The Greatest Test Help me to walk so close to Thee That those who know me best can see I live as godly as I pray And Christ is real from day to day. I see some once a day, or year, To them I blameless might appear; 'Tis easy to be kind and sweet To people whom we seldom meet; But in my home are those who see Too many times the worst of me. My hymns of praise were best unsung If He does not control my tongue When I am vexed and sorely tried And my impatience cannot hide. May no one stumble over me Because Thy love...
Matthew 5:10: Taking Flack For Jesus
With appreciation for Rev. Adrian Rogers.....Love Worth Finding. Matthew 5:10: " Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If you are living a life that is poor in spirit, that mourns over your sin, that lives meekly through His strength, that hungers and thirsts after righteousness, that is merciful, pure in heart, and making peace...then you will be exceedingly glad for the persecution that comes your way. You see, the world is going in the opposite direction and they are trying to push you into their mold. Yet you are a twice-born...
The Pull Toward The Inward Self
Reflection by Jill Carattini, courage for living into who we are, the one God created us to be: "The pull toward self-reflection is clearly a trend among us. Spirituality, self-help, and memoir are all categories that continue to reach bestseller lists, while the pursuit of self-expression continues to lure us into self-absorption. There is reason to be concerned by the compulsion toward self and the privatizing of categories surrounding the individual. Likewise, there is still promise in a community of people willing to truly face themselves. The current multi-generational tendency toward...
Making Disciples…
"Willow's point is that they wrongly thought participation in their programs would inevitably lead to spiritual growth. Their survey showed that wasn't necessarily the case, so they're rethinking that approach (seeker-sensitive worship and programs). When they say that people need to "look beyond the church" and that "much of the responsibility for their spiritual growth belongs to them," they're not saying the church plays no role in people's growth; they're saying we can't expect to grow if we don't take an active role ourselves." This quote is a comment about Willowcreek Church's 2008...
Morning Call To Prayer
Sitting and reflecting on the day's possibilities, waiting for the fog of sleep to dissipate.....which takes a little longer when one drinks decaffeinated coffee! Praying for those I love, those who love me, and those who love those whom I love. Praying for those to whom the Lord will lead me to love with his love and for those who feel unloved by anyone. Praying for those whom I have difficulty loving and those who feel that God cannot possibly love them. Amen
Institutional Ministry Life Cycles
A former pastor friend of mine preached powerfully and prophetically, so much so that he got asked to resign from the church about 25 years ago. He said to me that one has to consider where one's loyalty is.....with Christ, with the people being served in Christ's name, or with the institution that presumes to represent both. In the bottom line, he said "church" as an institution generally has a limited lifespan. The progression (as I recall him saying) was something like this: (wo)man-> ministry -> mission -> movement -> monument -> mausoleum There may have been one or two...
Journaling With Purpose
Building Positive self- identity and resilience are skills we work on ..... From 2018: A conversation on resilience by Sharyl Sandberg and Adam Grant: Adam: There's research suggesting that journaling can be really helpful in this process (of building self confidence and resilience). Sharyl: Adam told me that I should write down every night before I go to bed three things I did well. I started doing it, even though at first I had nothing to put on the list. What did I do well? I made tea. I got through one meeting without crying, or at least without crying a lot. But these were the small...
Footwear Fandom
Thinking about shoes this morning ..... This morning in Phoenix I packed my new Merrell hiking boots and put on my canvas ECCO Mary Janes for this morning's 3 hours of car travel. My Florida daily Croc sandal footwear is in my backpack for downtime. I spent some time stretching my feet, ankles, legs, feet, back, neck, and shoulders and took Tylenol with the expectation of shooing away arthritis' intrusion on the day. Family is all loaded and en route for an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon. Although I've seen pictures, based on the beauty and striking landscape as we travel, I suspect...
Wooed Into Wilderness Space
Lovely Lenten reflection on wilderness space.... "Old Testament references hint at the fact that the wilderness is also a place of intimacy where God speaks to us very tenderly those things he has been wanting to say to our souls: ‘Therefore I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her…there she shall respond as in the days of her youth.’ (Hosea 2:14,15) And let’s not forget that Jesus’ wilderness experience concluded with the experience of having angels come and minister to him. Oftentimes we think of the wilderness as being a harsh and punishing place;...
And/Or
“.... there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Genesis 2:24: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." In the New Testament when Paul says,"no male AND female.." as opposed to OR when referencing Jew/ Gentile or slave/free, Paul is acknowledging the individual profession of faith required for each person, essentially stating that salvation through faith in Christ is an individual act of personal agency,...