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.
Discipler of the “Self” in Each of Us
I've been blogging now for over 12 years. Prior to that I was a regular journaler. I have a metal trunk full of journals filled with memories......far too many for my feeble brain to retain close to mind. But I cherish them, all of them, even the painful ones. They have been part of the way that Christ has discipled me....through reading the Word and seeking to understand God, myself, and my relationship with others. I chose the title " disciplerofself" for my weblog because it is the "self" within me that needed to be discipled and the best choice of mentor for one's "self" is the one who...
Why Do You Ask Me What Is Good?
I've been thinking about "good" today. As in Scripture when the rich, young ruler came to Jesus in Matthew19:15-22 "Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “All...
Gratitude: An Outward and Visible Sign of Love
On Gratitude 8-21-17 Bill and I have started a home small group….a “life group”….as our church now calls it, on Sunday evenings at 5:30. Bill and I cook and provide dinner to those who come. We have a devotional together first. As the basis of the reflections we are using reflections on Christian virtues (which are really the characteristics of Christ, the attributes of God, that are revealed in Scripture.) Our first one last week was on “Hospitality”. This week we focused on “Gratitude.” Our discussion of Gratitude last night brought out a lot of thoughts on the blessings we enjoy.....from...
Dimensions of the Cross: The Vertical Constitutes the Horizontal…..
The Divine Family.....when we talk about the church, we are not talking about a voluntary society of people who share compatible religious views or similar religious experiences. We are instead talking about those who are related by (re)birth into a new family. We are talking about the body parts of Christ. Our relationships to each other (the horizontal) do not exist apart from our relationship with God in Christ (the vertical). Indeed, it is our vertical relationship with Christ that makes possible our horizontal relationships with each other. The vertical constitutes the horizontal. -...
After Awhile You Learn….
But it's after awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul. And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning, and company doesn't mean security. And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises. And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead with the grace of a woman or a man, not the unresolved grief of a child. And learn to build all your road...s on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans, and futures have a way of falling down in midflight. After a while you learn that even...
Learning to Listen to God……
When I was about 7, it was my birthday, I believe. This would have been February 1961. Several friends were over. (I didn't get a record player until Christmas of that year.) We were on the back patio of our home listening to WBAM radio....Joe Rumore's program..... and dancing, I think. I reached to change the station and Joe Rumore's signature radio tag line blared out, "Unh, unh, unh...Don't you touch that dial!" I must have jumped 3X my height, backwards, toward the edge of the patio....It seemed to me as a 7 year old that Joe Rumore was "seeing" me through space to Cuthbert, Georgia from...
Philemon: A Gentle and Gracious Persuasion
Last week when I spoke at First Church of God, I opened with reading Titus, Chapter 2. In that chapter there is instruction not only to older women and men to mentor the younger ones (chronologically or in the faith is how I have always chosen to interpret it), there are also instructions to slaves: "9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive." I did not read those...
GO!
In every one of the Gospel accounts Jesus told his followers to GO! Go and make disciples....go and preach...go and proclaim the kingdom....go and bear fruit.... The Gospel is an action-focused imperative to GO. Matthew 28:19: Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Mark 16:15 He said to them, GO into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Luke 9: 60: GO and proclaim the kingdom of God. John 15:16: I chose you and appointed you so that you might GO and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so...
Not Martha Stewart……But You Can Still Be Well Fed
Wednesday as I drove home from a morning trip I heard a snippet on public radio about the book "What She Ate", by Laura Shapiro. https://www.amazon.com/What-She-Ate-Remarkable-Stories/dp/B073FZK55Y The book description offers this: " A beloved culinary historian's short takes on six famous women through the lens of food and cooking - what they ate and how their attitudes toward food offer surprising new insights into their lives." Hmmmm. I've known for years the power of food within families and among friends. It can draw people together. It gives a window into our childhood. But...
Sunrise, Sunset
Our house sits in the midst of a neighborhood with heavy oak cover. It faces east and backs up to Deerpoint Lake to the west. I cannot see the sunrise for all the trees to the east of us and towering over our front yard. But this morning as I left the house about 6:30a.m. I glanced out the back door to the lake and saw a lovely rose-colored hue on the cumulus clouds in the western sky that is our spectacular view. I was a little surprised to see the rose-colored reflectio...n on the clouds in the western sky at sunrise. The old phrase: “Red sky at morning, sailor take warning” came to mind...