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.
Self Respect and Boundaries
From 8/24/2014. CBB Saw this on a friend's facebook this morning......"Just because I cut someone out of my life does not mean I hate the person....it simply means I respect myself." In recovery ministry we often have to help our recovery students grapple with the reality that unhealthy, toxic, unsafe relationships may well need to be relegated to the corners of one's life, where contact can be defined by her own willingness or ability to engage safely, or may need to be eliminated altogether...not out of spite or punishment, but out of self-preservation. One Boundaries chapter talks...
Measuring Energy
8/24/2016. CBB I went for a massage today and was telling the massage therapist about my muscle aches and fever last week and that several folks had suggested fibromyalgia. One person on Facebook, however, had said, “Don’t receive that word.” Today the massage therapist said one of her clients told her about envisioning it like only having a limited amount of energy allotted for the day…she likened it to having a fixed number of spoons in her hand that she can dole out a spoonful of effort at the time. When the spoons are gone, she’s done for the day. As I thought about that I decided...
Values and Boundaries
Our willingness to set or embrace boundaries is a function of the values we hold. It's important to know what they are, which are non-negotiable and which are permeable and may be superceded by higher-ranking values. Titus 2 ladies today reviewed an assignment from last week on values...They took a value survey to identify the things that are important in their personal value system. Then we looked at how those values are being lived out in their lives now, how they came to recognize the values they hold, and how other values may rise to a higher level of importance as one is faced...
Paul’s Audiences With Christ
"Hungering in my spirit is a testimony to the reality of my faith, a witness to the fact that I belong to God. Spiritual hunger is the requirement for your growth It will spur you on to growth in discipleship. Jesus consciously sought to divide his crowd, to reduce the number to those who were "all in," testing the perseverance and commitment of his followers."- David Jeremiah Paul was among the most blessed of men; he had three audiences with Christ. First, when he was accosted on the road to Damascus by the burning bright light of the vision of Christ; second, in Acts 18, 9-11 "And the...
People Can Change!
People do change! Maybe not always quickly, but eventually…I had gotten a call last week from a former student from several years ago who had completed all her work, gotten an associates degree while with us and had moved on with her life. The last time I heard from her a couple of years ago she was in jail again, but I had to tell her family we couldn’t take her back again. She asked me to meet her for lunch. She said it had taken her weeks to get up the courage to call me, but she wanted to apologize for being a brat! Lol! It made me laugh. That would be putting it mildly! Her life...
Why Empathy Is Important
"Some people think of empathy as a “soft” skill, but really it is the core of emotional intelligence, so it's absolutely essential to positive relationships in the workplace (and everywhere). This thoughtful infographic reflects how little we usually know about the people we interact with every day. We can see their “outsides” – their behaviours and interactions – but we really have no idea about their inner lives: their pasts, their losses, feelings, traumas, struggles, regrets, pains, or thoughts. Empathy, though, opens us to recognizing the complexity, the reality, and the humanity of...
Historical Perspective On Election Interference
Today I drove from Eufaula, AL (in Barbour County, where I was born and where I visited a cousin this afternoon) to Montgomery to spend the night with my sister. In rural Barbour County, near Midway, I passed an historic marker that reminded me of an election night riot by local white Democrats that suppressed black votes, "fixed" an election, killed a number of blacks, .....including the son of the white Republican county supervisor' ..... and winded many more, mostly blacks. Allegations of voter interference in America are not new. Nor are they always mere hyperbolic fairy...
Trusting and Following
CBB 8/18/2021 "True growth most often begins with a growing sense of dissonance. We are dissatisfied with the way things are. We are not the person we hoped we would become by now. Unheeded, this discontent can lead anywhere from a numbing affluence to a disastrous addiction. When we pay attention to this discontent it can lead to tremendous breakthroughs into the greater purposes for our lives. Paying attention means opening the vault of our quiet desperation and bringing forth our discontent that it might be named aloud and offered to God." Seedbed Daily Text today Two and a half...
Healthy Edible Weeds
I I'm saving this! The way things are going in the world, I may need it. At least it beats eating bugs! THEY ARE CALLED WEEDS, BUT ARE SO HEALTHY Did you know that some weeds we are always worried about in our yards and Gardens are actually good for you, and can be delicious if prepared properly? Be sure to identify the weeds correctly (The ones described here are easy to spot.) Avoid harvesting from anyplace you suspect pollution — such as from vehicle exhaust, lawn pesticide or doggy business. And remember that edible does not mean allergen-free. Here are 9 good ones: DANDELION...
Tides’ Tentacles Reach For Grassroots
I got a call for phone survey Monday night with a Navarre number. I had been studying and working for hours with a computer system I am now using and needed a break so I took his survey. It was a real mishmash of topics. When finished I asked the caller who was funding it he said he just asked the questions and didn't know who funded the survey. Are they all over the country or just FL? His answer "all over." Well, well, well...... this morning I saw a little news notification blurb about a mega billionaire donor seeking to crush the Chamber of Commerce because it isn't "green" enough in...