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.
Transcending Sorrows With Christ
Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows, yet the bearer of joy to a weary world. Being in ministry reveals a small insight into the depth of His sorrow, not just on the cross but looking daily into the eyes and hearts of dead souls that don't even know they are dead....and the miracle of His overcoming it all through resurrection that gives us the confidence that, in Him, we can also rise above the sorrows and spiritual death and soul sickness of this realm even while still in the body. We don't have to wait to be released from the bonds of the body to be free and know eternal love, joy, and...
Winter’s Icy Breath
An interesting reflection today, considering conversations this week about the cold, the rain, the chageability of it all, etc...... It reminds me, too, of scripture that also says, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust." (Posted 2/4/2016) God's Icy Breath by Joni Eareckson Tada "The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He brings the clouds to punish men or to water his earth and show his love." Job 37:10 "Midwest winters between mid-January and early March are notorious for their lack of romance. God's cold breath is felt daily. The deepest lakes thicken...
Memory of Family Pets
2/4/2017..... Pet Memories "We have been medicating our little one-eyed kitty's "good" eye for about 3 weeks and have almost 2 more weeks of treatment. She then goes back to the veterinary ophthalmology office in Tallahassee. It seems to be much better. She appears to be seeing well enough to manage. We have felt like a veterinary hospital ourselves lately. In addition to the one-eyed kitty's treatment, we have a 14 yo cat that is getting subcutaneous fluids 3 X a week and an injection prescribed by Dr. Bo Bergloff that Bill and I are doing. Our diabetic dog, Winston, gets glucose monitoring...
Training on Baby Food or Meat of the Word
I have expressed a preference to see more groups take on direct Bible study instead of purchasing commercial lesson package plans with DVDs, books, and study guides one after another. We are training people to eat scriptural baby food instead of training them to chew the meat of the Word for themselves. Use of a devotional book is a pleasant experience and exposes us to a range of other's work in the Word, but it must be accompanied by discipleship teaching on how to mine the scripture's treasures for one's self, too. 2/4/2017 notes in journal: "Somewhere along the way the church started...
Cruciform Living: Ann Voscamp
Ann Voskamp in a video presentation 2/4/2017: "You are what your heart loves. .....Draw a cross on your wrist and ask, "What do you want?" And "Do you want what Christ wants?" Cross-shaped thinking, cross-shaped living...cruciformation. We are called to take risks to bring others to Christ. Be the Esther generation. Now is the time to be configured by your imitation of Christ......Get in formation and disciple a generation to live in cruciformation. We are in a crisis of discipleship...We are in a crisis of worship. We have loved safety more than we have loved the Savior. We have loved...
Cooking for Bill: A Memory
From 2/4/2018 Sweet Memory of Life With Bill I am so blessed to have a husband who is so easy to please with food. He will pretty much eat whatever I cook. He recently purchased an extra large T-fal skillet...really nice....to try his hand at cooking. I had not used it more than a time or two. Tonight I cooked pan seared flounder filets. I put a salad and small red potatoes with it. He said given a choice of steak, pizza, or fish, he'd take fish every time! I had not realized he was so fond of fish! I said, "It must be the new skillet." He said, "I think it's the skillet operator." Ha ha!...
Passionate Christ-Follower Or Spiritual Crackpot
Colossians 2:18- "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind." In a devotional message to other pastors a teacher was emphatic about not getting caught in the false Gnosticism of "super spiritual people and groups." Since I have shared some with this pastor , I wondered: Is that how I am viewed ? Overly religious and suspect. I have no special revelation that is not available to all who love Christ and His...
God’s Early Test Before The Call
There was a time I visited a large couples Sunday School class years ago at a church. Their prayer request time took up most of the session and the burdens were significant for some. It became so oppressive and overwhelming to me I had to leave the class. Later on a woman in the group became a friend. She opened up to me privately about some things in her life that were shocking and alarming. Over the next few years I walked with her through some very hard emotional grieving and relationship boundary work that reoriented her and strengthened her to set some necessary boundaries to stop the...
Missing Bill’s Support In Ministry….$
I have lived in exile from the world many years but it didn't seem so strange when Bill was here with me. I'm still adapting to this reality. But Christ is closer than ever all the same... the presence of the seedbed.com online community helps ...the people there I share in banded community with help. Isn't it amazing how this manner of reading and immersion in the Word can bring such peace while also separating one further and further from the world's opinions of what is important? Thank you, God, for your faithful servants who provide the encouragement and challenge many need. Bill made...
Hearts and Hands
It takes hands to build a house but only hearts can build a home. Anon.