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.
Teaching Talkers to Become Walkers
Virtually all of the women who come to us for residential recovery profess faith in Christ. Some have been baptized multiple times. They generally hope ( and some have assurance) that their profession of faith frees them from the penalty of eternity in hell. But somehow the victorious life of freedom from the power of temptation and sin in the here and now has eluded them. Our task is to help them come to know freedom from the power of temptation and sin by coming to know themselves better and to know Christ more intimately and personally through study of and obedience to the principles,...
“Only God is good.”
In counseling with a woman in relapse to drugs she said, “I’m a good person.” That is an attempt to excuse and justify her addiction. Every time I hear that statement the thought occurs, “Compared to whom?” The only standard of comparison for a believer is Christ. Just because you have no felonies, your family still speaks to you, you have avoided jail and have no severe medical consequences from your addiction does not constitute good. Jesus asked the rich young ruler who called him “good teacher”, “Why do you call me of ‘good’? Only God is good.” Jesus is in essence saying to him, for the...
Strangely Warmed Hearts
I have many times observed the dual nature of fire. Rightly controlled and contained to accomplish particular tasks, it is tremendous tool for humanity…….smelting iron ore, refining precious metals, cooking, heating a home, as well as in in the production of many products that make life comfortable, efficient and safe. When it is allowed outside of contained and controlled uses it can be a terrible, wide-spread destructive force. Refining Fire or Fire of Self Righteous Justification For several weeks God has been giving me little nudges and reminders to do a word study on “fire” and...
Smoldering Wicks to Flaming Fires
Pondering "fire"...... I was at a restaurant with a couple of Titus 2 ladies at lunch and a woman with her back to me at the next table had a tee-shirt that said, "Be what God created you to be and set the world on fire." It reminded me of a number of Scriptures....about the world ending in fire, about the fire of the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit being poured out on God's sons and daughters in the end days, about so many others and a thought occurred to me. What if God's Word means that the earthly realm of the flesh is going to be ended by the wild fire of the Holy Spirit coming upon...
How Will One Be Defined?
Like the unamed “rich young ruler” in the Gospels, anything one is unwilling to surrender for the sake of following Christ becomes the source and basis of one’s identity…….. and is her true god. It may be a relationship, material security, vanity, sexuality, career, or any number of other things one withholds from God for her own pleasure or peace that defines one’s identity. If that is the case, one will never know the fullness of pleasure or peace one can know in intimate relationship with God. The young ruler who came to Jesus had his own idea of what constituted righteousness….....
Whose Gospel?
A person came for Christian counseling and substance abuse care who immediately began to tell me about all of the religious teachers under whom she had studied, most of whom I did not know. She told me how she had been “in ministry” for several years and what her office, gifts and calling were…..and yet, here she was, asking me to help her with some profound issues. Among my first directives to her was to read selected sections of the Bible. After several days it was clear she was not doing that. As I talked to her about Christian principles from Scripture she lacked knowledge of some...
God in the Day’s Details
Give me a sign of your goodness. Psalm 86:17 "Our lives are stories built of small moments. Ordinary experiences. It is too easy to forget that our days are adding up to something astonishing. We do not often stop to notice the signs and wonders. The writing on the wall. But some days we do." Christie Purifoy (Roots and Sky) I am grateful for another day in which to observe God's goodness as God reveals himself in the small moments of life.
Habitual Offender or One Long, Sad Season of Sorrow?
"Why would we rush to defend God to a broken world and not race to defend the image of God in the world's broken?" - Ann Voscamp, The Broken Way Powerful! I was sitting in court for the second day waiting to give testimony regarding a woman pleading for rehab over a state offer of 4 years in prison for violation of probation for multiple drug charges over 4 years' time. I was there under compulsion from God, even though I only knew her through her application and a brief video interview at the jail the day before. When I indicated my willingness to take her into Titus 2, the public defender...
Pay to Stay
The reality of running any addiction recovery program is that there are costs involved. Titus 2, because of the small size and the commitment of its volunteers, has minimized the cost of operating a residential program. However, there is only so much one can get donated. Rent, utilities, vehicle maintenance and operation costs, etc. are not easily obtained by donation. So, there has to be income. Every rehabilitation program either solicits donations, sells goods, or charges a fee for the program. Secular for-profit enterprises simply charge what is needed to cover their costs or what...
Living From the Outside In or the Inside Out
Simple Hand Metaphor for Thinking About Three-Part Human Being and How Conscience Works. I found myself in a spontaneous spiritual direction session with someone this week. The directee was grasping for a way to understand the concepts we were discussing about the release of the power of the Holy Spirit through our spirit in a way that transforms us completely. I used my open hand. “This,” I said, "is me." Figure 1 I crossed my thumb across my palm. I said, “This thumb is my spirit. It is the operating system.” Figure 2 Then I closed my four fingers over my thumb. I said, “This is my...