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.
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...
Ask. Seek. Knock. Going Deeper with Christ in the Word
Going Deep with Christ through Bible Study CBB 1-31-19 One of the first times I really had Scripture leap off the page and impress me with a deeper meaning was with the verses in Matthew 7:7 -8: (See also, Luke 11:9-10) “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. This was long before the notion of vocational ministry or seminary were in my mind. It was with these verses that the Lord introduced me to the concept of progressive movement in...
Women Like Us…..A Poet’s Look at Women of the Old Testament
Titus 2 received two copies of a wonderful book of poetry, "Women Like Us", biblically inspired poems about women of the Old Testament. I am so excited to read these beautiful poems by Sharon Sewell of Montgomery, AL. Sharon and I have become acquainted through her church's group that made quilts and blankets for people at Lynn Haven UMC. Sharon and I have chatted and know that we are "spiritual twins by the same Father." She writes: "I loved writing them. Jesus woke me up in the middle of the night sometimes with words pouring through me. If I didn't write them down, I lost the words. I...
When Loving Means Walking Away
One social media post urged readers to “Help others, even when you know they can’t help you back.” I don't expect anyone to help me back when I help them .....but it does make me wonder when someone I'm helping thinks it's okay to play me and other Christians for fools...…. take and take and take, all the while lying and faking how well they are doing while betraying me and others behind our backs. There are so many other places we could be making a difference while such a person is sucking up resources, including valuable time, while even stealing and lying to everyone, using people of...
Know When to Walk Away…..
Thoughts about another year of ministry with women in addiction: What in my demeanor or conversation or stated and lived beliefs would ever give anyone the idea that I would continue to give aid and comfort to someone living a double life of deception, keeping secrets, and being unaccountable to others and ungrateful to God for the time, resources, and relationships extended on her behalf? I'm hoping anyone who knows me would say: "Nothing!" Being a Christian does not mean I will enable you or make it easy for you to live a life that defies the very things to which I am called and for which...
What Does God Require?
I had a conversation with a lady several months ago about seeking God’s will in exploring her own Christian service endeavors and was reminded of Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Our conversation wandered into the area of social justice warrioring by some and I observed that God’s call is to 1.) do justly, 2,) love mercy AND 3.) walk humbly with your God. Too many get caught up in doing justly and loving mercy, but they are committed to doing what THEY THEMSELVES view as...