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.
October Wildflowers: A Photo Video of a Weekend Retreat 2013
In October of 2013, three months after my Daddy's death, I took a weekend retreat at a campground in a National Forest in Alabama. It was a small guest house close to the campground director's home. I got there exhaursted, but with a big writing project to complete. When I arrived Friday, I unpacked, then slumped into a puddle of tears, wailing and lamenting over Daddy's death. I had been so busy after his death dealing with my mother, the continued construction on our house, and so much more, that I had not had time to grieve. So I cried most of that night and next morning. The...
At All Hallows Eve
Sometimes the simplest way to resolve a demonic presence is to simply listen to the person who is under its influence.... The Holy Spirit will reveal deceptions and give one the opportunity to combat the Enemy in ways that do not involve physical restraint, combativeness, or even disclosure of one's recognition of that demon's presence. When the individual under assault is gently and firmly guided into knowledge, understanding, and obedience to the Word of God, the demonic spirit will find itself attempting to abide in an environment that is no longer hospitable and will flee of its own...
“It’s The Little Things!”
I have often reminded discipleship students that, "It's the little things"..........They reveal where our heart and mind are focused. Sarah Westfall writes about this truth in her "Liturgy of Little Things" in her HUMAN TOGETHER blog, excerpted here: "Love often begins little. Instead of knocking down walls and breaking down doors, love works its way into the seemingly unseen, unnoticed corners of our lives, a kingdom of yeast and mustard seeds barely noticeable even when held in the human hand. Love comes gently, stepping into the brokenness not as a conquering king but as a fleshy baby....
“Be good!”
Have you observed situations in which "grace upon grace" preached and given led to indulgence and unrepentant excuse-making …..? Worth thinking about. “Grace doesn't free us to sin. Grace makes us despise our sin. Grace frees us to obey, and, when we sin, grace frees us to repent as we, by grace, rest in the perfect obedience of Christ.” This week I experienced a situation which, in my response to it I found myself despising my sin, felt the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, repented, and felt GOD's grace pull me back in close to Himself. I have teased some people who regularly tell me and...
Making God’s Thoughts My Thoughts, My Ways God’s Ways
I have listened again and again to several writers' reiterate multiple repetitions of the concept of the church only being or becoming the church (again) to the extent it is a house of prayer (again.) I had taken a day off to be at home to read, pray, and reflect. God directed me to Isaiah 55:8 in a round about way, taking me back to a word-by-word review of that verse's linguistics and logic. I have visited it many times, and always before I have come away with a vague sense that I was missing something significant there..... puzzled. But now it has clicked .... "For My thoughts are not...
Remembering Hurricane Michael
File under “ I don’t think insurance covers that”: A couple of days after the storm I was attempting to comfort our distressed young male disabled crippled cat. He was not having it and started twisting in my arms. I suddenly realized that one claw of his disabled paw was hopelessly tangled in my favorite zip-front blue gingham gown with big patch pockets and rickrack! The only safe way to disengage him was to cut my nightgown. Boo hoo! Now it has a 2” diameter circular hole. I’m considering a decoratively embroidered patch! We’ve lost a couple of dozen large flower pots with trees or...
Life Is In The Blood
Much debate has occurred over time limitations for legal abortion. Some states have adopted a 15 week standard limitation. Why is the 15 week limit on abortion so important? Because it legally defines and affirms the Judeo- Christian Holy Scripture’s definition of “life”….When does “life” begin? Just look in the Book for the answer. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life [which it represents].’ Leviticus 17:11 (AMP) Life of the flesh is in the blood……...
Exploding Grief
Last Monday I had to go over to the lake house at Deerpoint where Bill and I lived for 16 years. Though I thought I 'd live there for the rest of my life, after Bill's death during Covid, it soon became more than I could care for alone. When I went last week to pick up something shipped there by mistake, I was caught off guard by the rush of memories and longing. Tears and lamenting poured forth as I drove away and for several miles as I drove to my next destination. Eventually I recovered my composure. I never know when the grief will escape in a sudden explosion of wailing tears. For all...
The Heavens Opened
“The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God….” Ezekiel 1:1 The heavens opened for Ezekiel. “and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove” Matthew 3:16 The heavens opened for Jesus. “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55-56 The heavens opened for Stephen. “And Jesus said to Nathaniel, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven...
His Disciples Heard, Believed, and Obeyed
God has been writing on the tablets of hearts for millennia, but the watchmen have been asleep on the wall, the runners have been distracted. God has been writing on the tablets of hearts for millennia, but the watchmen have been asleep on the wall, the runners have been distracted. Habakkuk 2:1-14 Deuteronomy 5:25-29 Just as God spoke and the people heard in the time of Moses, but they did not listen and obey. Just as God spoke to Habakkuk and other prophets who heard and hoped, but the people did not listen and obey. So rather than speak through priests and prophets, God came to men not as...