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.
Seeing Is Believing……. Believing Brings Seeing
This morning I asked a young lady riding with me to church to write something down. She didn’t want to because she said her handwriting was so poor. She talked about her grandmother’s beautiful handwriting and the fact that her grandmother even knew shorthand, which is almost a lost art in today’s technological, voice-to-text age. When she mentioned shorthand, it reminded me of something from over 30 years ago. I told her about a time when a friend’s husband had died. When she finally came to the point of moving out of the large Victorian home they had furnished and enjoyed together to move...
For Show or Blow
As a child I was fond of reading biographies of the famous and not-so-famous. It's a commendable practice for young people today. Here's one worth the read. From The Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust: http://www.crowthertrust.org/welles-story/ "….An article about September 11th printed in The New York Times (5/26/02) mentioned eyewitness reports of a mysterious man in a red bandanna on the 78th floor Sky Lobby of 2 World Trade Center when the second plane crashed into the south tower. This is where Welles was likely to have been at that time, since he was ultimately able to get down...
Running With Olympic Faith
(From a Sermon at Carillon Beach Chapel- 9-4-16 by Cathy Byrd) Olympic Medals in Faith’s Race 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian Christians and to us: “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to...
Realism, Hurdles, and Hope
I was listening to Mark Pollock on TED talk (he is blind and paralyzed), talking about realism and hope. He shared the story of POWs in Vietnam, relating that it was the realists who were able to persevere and who eventually came home. The optimists kept setting hopeful, optimistic timelines and expectations ("by this Christmas"...."maybe next Christmas"..... only to be disappointed again and again, eventually despairing and giving up, usually dying in their cells. There comes a time when optimism has to give way to realism. And looking at the realistic facts helps us accept what we cannot...
Quibbling and Questions
There was a time I was a quibbler....I quibbled about perceived contradictions in Scripture. I quibbled over words.....and over tones and implications that I could have little way of discerning from words alone. I pecked away at the texts to try to figure them out to make sense, given my own experience, reason, and tradition. Then one Sunday sitting in church, as our pastor preached on Romans, I surrendered the need to know everything about the Bible. I prayed as I sat in the pew: "Lord, I'm not sure I understand the impact of this, but I'm just going to ask you to show me what you need me...
“People of Faith”…… A Meaningless Phrase
Every person has a “measure of faith”. Faith is a human capacity to believe in something, anything. It is the object of one’s faith, the thing(s) in which one believes that define and mold one’s faith. We are all “people of faith” in something. Some objects of faith are more enduring and trustworthy than others, however. What does one do when the object(s) of her faith prove to be fallible, temporary and untrustworthy? Romance, wealth, intelligence, looks, health, a person, a sense of personal strength and invincibility, or a personal belief system? An emotional emergency often ensues. But...
Rethinking “Benevolence”
Adam Grant: "Generosity isn't saying yes to every request. It's helping when you can make a unique contribution." "Generosity isn't sacrificing yourself for others. It's helping when it won't exhaust you—and when it energizes you." (Although there may be times of broad-scale emergency or disaster when what is required will exhaust everyone....as in a hurricane or other disaster. But as a rule our generosity should be able to be part of our daily lives, make a difference for others, and not demand so much of us that we are unable to continue being available to others in a sustainable way..)...
Follow the Entire Instruction…….
I had a conversation with a lady this week 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 the...
Spiritual Posing
"Falling and getting back up because The Lord chastens after one of his is one thing but spiritual posing is another." This is an interesting comment this week by a person who is doing some deep work in spiritual journeying. It points to an understanding of Jesus' story of the Pharisee and the publican and their respective prayers. Luke 18:9-14 New American Standard Bible (NASB) The Pharisee and the Publican 9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a...
He Knows My Name
What's in a name? To call one by his or her name is a gift. It reveals a condition of familiarity, of knowing, of caring, of being in relationship with another. Our name is important to us. To have our name called by another means that we have value to others, as well. Yet the Bible contains a number of stories about unnamed women, as well as about unnamed men. Among them are….. the Samaritan woman at the well the Syro-Phoenician woman the woman with an issue of blood the widow with the single coin the woman caught in adultery the demon possessed man in Gerasene the rich, young ruler the...