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.
Childhood Fantasies
"Identity to me is practical. It's a dramatic role that you play out in the world. And while playing that out, it has to furnish you with a life— which means that it has to be negotiated with other people. When you're a very young child, you first start to play with who you are; you live in a fantasy world. So that means identity has to expand beyond its egocentric focus and increasingly be negotiated in the social world. " Jordan B. Peterson Identity foundation and psychological integrity is a necessary part of maturity. Childhood fantasies, often retained in some way or another,...
IED Education
On this cold Sunday morning, I was reluctant to leave the warmth of blanket and heating system. As I lay there, having listened to and viewed several morning readings, the Lord was speaking. I was reflecting on how I've been wowed by all God's done in situations in my life, even during and especially in my relationship with Bill. We each had some hard to resist habits of communication and behavior early in our marriage, until we each fully embraced Christ and then we had several years of being "deconstructed" before being renewed in our marriage. It was painful for both of us. I have come to...
Responsibility “For” or “To”
A friend observed: "There is a simple, joyful rare belief that we are all responsible for each other." Because I have worked so long on boundaries issues in my own life and in the lives of many who have come to Titus 2, I have preferred to think about this in a little different way. I have found the phrase " responsible TO one another" a more helpful concept than "responsible FOR each other", at least as one reaches the maturing age and psychological development to accept for herself responsibility for her own actions.... Accountability to God and to one another still honors and expects of...
Healing Blessing
Healing Blessing by Susie Larson January 25, 2022 "May God heal your memories. May He minister to those places in your story that still stir up pain in you. May He bring clarity where there’s been confusion. Maybe you’ve always wondered about something and it’s left you feeling insecure. May Jesus speak truth and clear up what the enemy has distorted. May He clean up what the enemy has messed up. In Christ Jesus, you have a place at the table of grace. You’re not your past mistakes and you’re not who others say you are. You are cherished by God Himself. Redeemed by His grace. And renewed...
Joys of Aging….. (Not!)
From 12 years ago...... What was I thinking?? This had to have been sarcasm..... "....I just love the continued challenges and requirement for flexibility that the turn of the calendar page brings!" Ahhh, yes! This post was also 12 years ago, immediately before the other one! "....I paid the doctor an exhorbitant amount for the privilege of telling me I'm gettin.....ahem...."older" and that this kind of ocular change is not unusual for my age! Has to recheck it in 3 weeks just to be sure it's age related and not onset of a more problematic issue. Gr88888888t!"
The God Who Sees
The blessing of being seen: (and to have the hope that one, as a result, may also be known, loved, admonished, celebrated, and served.) Genesis 16:7-13: 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. 9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to...
Risks of Getting Old
A surgeon, planning to do surgery on an elderly gentleman explained to the man's daughter his use of "5 F's" to evaluate the suitability of an elderly person for surgery (beyond the obvious medical conditions and likelihood of surviving surgery itself.) They are: "Family" support and care. "Friends". "Faith". "Food" (described as having the desire and ability to enjoy hearty, healthy living including sill having a good appetite).- "Finances" (having sufficient resources to be able to care for one's self and provide a decent quality of life.) It made me think...,, Does that mean that if one...
God Comes to Women
"Have you ever noticed how in the scriptures men are always going up into the mountains to commune with the Lord? Yet in the scriptures we hardly ever hear of women going to the mountains. But we know why — right? Because the women were too busy keeping life going; they couldn’t abandon babies, meals, homes, fires, gardens, and a thousand responsibilities to make the climb into the mountains! I was talking to a friend the other day, saying that as modern woman I feel like I’m never “free” enough from my responsibilities, never in a quiet enough space I want with God. Her response floored me,...
Thoughts On Love….
Following is part of a sermon on Advent themes-hope, peace, joy, and love- that I wrote 12/6/19... as I have been pondering on how diversely, narrowly and even incomprehensibly some define "love." "Consider Love. What do we know about the love of God? 1 John 4, verses 8 and 16 tell us that “God IS love”. Ephesians 3:18 tells us that we must have the power that comes FROM God to even begin to understand “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” 1 John 4:10 reminds us that love originated with God and because He loved us, we desire to and are able to love Him in return. In 2...
Biblical Counseling View on Necessity of Suffering
Excellent reading on suffering from the Biblical Counseling Coalition...... In our ministry at Titus 2, the transition from avoidance of suffering to the willingness to engage with it and reframe it as purposeful is an opportunity to learn and grow...... This is the context that allows emotional emergency to give birth to spiritual emergence. It gives understanding and meaning to the experience of redemption. My introduction to this view of suffering came about early in my Christian renewal 30 years ago after reading Necessary Losses by Judith Viorst. The Necessity of Suffering By: Andrew...