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.
Teach Your Children Well
In the mid-70’s my husband, Bill and I were friends with a couple whose children played with our children. They lived a few blocks from us. The husband and I worked at the same hospital in the same department. I was a medical technology intern and he was a physician in the laboratory. Our families lived in the same historic downtown neighborhood. They had moved to our community from the west coast and we shared a variety interests, family dinners and children’s sports activities. One evening after dinner at J and M’s gracious old historic home we were enjoying M’s delicious homemade cheese...
The Unanswerables in Life
The Unanswerables in Life 6/9/19 CBByrd Jill Carattini's devotionals at Ravi Zacharias International MInistries challenge me. Today she writes about unanswerable questions. I chuckled as I read, "more than a few of my plaguing inquiries were probably the wrong inquiries." God led me to that conclusion in mid-life and I learned to be more comfortable with the ambiguity of life and trust God more fully. I also learned to embrace Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of...
Dead Is Dead Is Dead.
There are three kinds of dead. Physically dead: no heartbeat, no brain activity. Returning to dust. Psychologically dead: no will to live, immobilized, depressed, incapacitated to one degree or another either physically or mentally, perhaps even vegetative. One can be physically alive, moving and breathing, going through the motions, spiritually acquainted with God, but emotionally miserable and tormented. One might as well be a zombie. Perhaps this is what has given us the sci-fi genre. What a terrible and sad way to live. Spiritually dead: having suppressed or rejected relationship with...
My Father’s Son
Bill sent this out today to his children, his best friends, and me. He had seen this youtube video. It reminded him of his Dad and his Dad's advice to him through the years. His Dad died when he was 23. Our son, Billy, was 1. To You; Billy Byrd; Charlotte Donlon; Peter Musgrove; Haley Byrd; Catie Byrd; Catie Byrd Kelley; Liam Byrd; Riley Donlon; Brady Donlon; Tim Donlon; Joni Byrd; Mike Seamon; Gary Huff; Ron Sharpe Started watching this and broke down into tears. The wisest man I ever knew was my Dad, a 7th grade dropout. A autoworker on the line. He always said “ I respect...
Food Thoughts Today
If it is the weekend, I’m probably in the kitchen. And I am probably making the same things….chicken salad and pimento cheese….family favorites. It is why I buy so much grated sharp cheddar and so many bags of chicken. Last week for Easter our two oldest granddaughters were home from Macon and Washington D.C. with husbands and their Mom was busy planning for her family’s fourth move on Panama City Beach this week since Hurricane Michael so we decided on a light brunch. I volunteered to bring chicken salad, pimento cheese, dill deviled eggs, and a veggie tray. She was to get croissants...
Loss of Fellowship or Loss of Love?
Sinful conduct separates us from fellowship with Holy God but never from the steadfast love of God. It may also separate us from fellowship with other people even though their love for us continues as well. I’ve seen this over and over in life recovery counseling where families have had to set boundaries and limit or even cease fellowship with another member due to choices made to violate family values and standards of conduct. There was s time when Bill and I had to ask a teenager to leave our (and his) home due to destructive, violent and aggressive outbursts. We gave him options including...
To Know and Be Known
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBBsNoC1D50&list=PL6Iow6LCHWcdVVgGrGqtkW4a17l1VStD0 Dr. Curt Thompson speaks on knowing and being known....the first of what I have come to know as valued and necessary components of community - "to know and be known, love and be loved, admonish and be admonished, celebrate and be celebrated, and serve and be served." Interpersonal biology says "we don't really see ourselves until we see ourselves through another's eyes." The most painful expressions of despair I have heard from others have come across in their cries over how utterly alone and unknown they...
Eyes to See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onN60HC-HBs In October 2013, I went to Blue Lake Campground near Andalusia to complete a project for what I thought would be ordination as a deacon in The UMC. Blue Lake held many fond memories for me. It was a beloved and sacred place. I had been called to new life in Christ there in December 1992 and had enjoyed many times of worship, fellowship, study, and growth on its grounds. This particular visit, however, I was in a profound grief over my Father's recent death. And I was coming up on a deadline for work that was due. I was welcomed there and...
A Vision for Living in the Light
Matthew 5:14-16 - "A Vision for Living in the Light" “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” I invite you to take a little journey with me, an adventure, if you will, into this Scripture…..not as tourists, but as explorers, adventurers, to discover some things that we might not have noticed before. We’re going to look at the what, where, who, how, and why in this Scripture……like good explorers, we’re going to give focused attention and test what we see against our experience and against what the...
What I Know
In about 2000 I was teaching an adult Sunday School Class. We did a series on spiritual gifts and took a spiritual gifts inventory. My primary gifts were faith and teaching. I was not particularly comfortable with the gift of teaching. I had no formal training in teaching and I had not done much of it. The whole notion of lesson plans, being viewed as "authoritative" about a topic, managing a classroom, etc. was foreign to me. All I did was study, attempt to listen to the Holy Spirit's instruction to me, share it with others, and facilitate the conversation. But as a part of that SG...