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.
Positive Memories and Mental Health
When I was a young adult, my Mother noted that listening to me one would think I had a really sad childhood. Many of the memories I voiced were about hurts and sadness, not about joys and fun. One thing I have observed is that life recovery students often express the same preoccupation with the hurts, trauma, and losses of their lives. It seems that painful and traumatic memories have much more power of persistence in our minds than many of the positive ones. Or maybe it's simply that some people get stuck in a "glass half empty" view of life. What I observe, however, is that as we begin...
Pondering Fact Versus Truth
My friend and sister in Christ, Karen White, is a John Maxwell-trained life coach. Her blog on “fact versus Truth” this week has me thinking….. http://mymessywonderfullife.com/2016/06/03/fact-versus-truth/ The difference between “fact” and “truth” is a bit like the difference between “happiness” and “joy”……the former is subjective, dependent upon one’s personal perspective, the circumstances in which one finds herself, and is “subject to change on short notice”, as one might say. “Truth”, however, is...
The Rollerskate Theory of Counseling
When I was a pre-schooler and in primary grades during the late 50’s and early 60’s my best friend, Beth Palmer, and I would roller skate together. Her home was in a busy downtown area and had no sidewalk readily available. My family lived on a quiet street that, though it had no sidewalks, was safe for supervised bicycling and roller skating. Later my family lived on a main thoroughfare but with sidewalks that extended for several miles and we had a wide and long paved driveway. It was there that Beth and I perfected our roller-skating skills. Our skates were the adjustable metal...
Precious Memories
When my Father had a critical brain bleed in his early 70's requiring surgery, as he was recuperating one of the things my sister, Carol, and I did was sing to him. He told me his favorite song was "Precious Memories." I contacted my choir director and had him fax the music to me at the hospital in Atlanta. Carol, Mother, and I sang it to Daddy while he was still very ill after surgery. I asked him what his precious memories were. His barely audible response was, "my children". ...That and other times with Daddy are precious memories to us. Precious memories, unseen angels, Sent from...
Forgotten Good
Forgotten Good When I was a young adult, my Mother noted that listening to me one would think I had a really sad childhood. Many of the memories I voiced were about hurts and sadness, not about joys and fun. One thing I have observed is that life recovery students often express the same preoccupation with the hurts, trauma, and losses of their lives. It seems that painful and traumatic memories have much more power of persistence in our minds than many of the positive ones. Or maybe it's simply that some people get stuck in a "glass half empty" view of life. What I observe, however, is that...
Lift HIgh the Cross
Lift High the Cross of Sin and Shame We Bear I had a long ride today to deliver a Titus 2 student's children back to their grandparents. On the way over the kids and she and I talked about "nicknames" we'd had and how they came to be, as well as some of the names of God and how such names reveal things about who God is and who we are. We played an alphabet story game, books were read, stretch breaks taken, and naps enjoyed. Along the way back the student and I had some good discussions. One was about bearing one's cross. She shared with me how she and the other Titus 2 women pray for...
Fundamental and Sacramental Priesthood
If you are UMC, you know what time of year it is....it's appointment time. Moving boxes are stacking up and waiting for the Move Day. Many pastors and their families will make yet another of the many moves inherent in ordained ministry for Elders and others in our Church. My heart aches for some whose moves will have been assisted by congregations that want someone else, someone different, someone new. Pastors' children and spouses will start anew in building friendships and establishing community. As a child I moved four times between 4 and 12, though not part of a clergy family. It was...
Faithfulness: Doing, Being, or Staying Engaged in the Journey
Posted by The Upper Room @UpperRoom - 5/20/16 "Although we may not understand what God is doing in our lives, God is always faithful and wants what is best for us." -Paul E. Vander Wege In my years of teaching discipleship, mentoring, and working with women in life recovery I have often taught about the Fruit of the Spirit. I teach about the order in which the aspects of the Fruit are listed and how the list can be thought of as moving from easier to more difficult…….like from the “low hanging, easily gathered fruit” , like strawberries or blueberries or grapes that God pours out on...
Whatever You Bind On Earth…..
Just pondering this morning…. Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Jesus calls Peter (and his confession of Christ) the “rock” upon which the Church will be built. Giving Peter the keys to the “kingdom of heaven” suggests giving the Church, founded in the person and profession of Peter, the authority over how the Chu...rch operates in the world……..to determine how much “in the world” or “of the world” the Church will be. The Church IS...
The Only Thing That’s Changed Is Me
I have been a member of the Confessing Movement almost since its beginning. Below is its preface to a UMC post about The General Conference's vote to defer decisions about the sexuality petitions until a plan could be offered by a commission to be appointed by the Council of Bishops. I have to say I was initially disappointed , as many were by this decision that appeared to lack the resolve to do what we thought our elected delegates had been sent to do.......end this matter and let us move on, however the vote goes. After a few days of prayerful consideration, I believe this may be the...