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.
Lenten Examination and Repentance
Dr. Curt Thompson on Lent: "As I have been reflecting on and anticipating this season in the church calendar, it occurred to me how beautifully and mysteriously our observance of Lent maps on to our day to day experiences, as well as the whole of our lives. Not least in terms of how it connects us not only to our sin, but to our grief. And as it turns out, it is to our grief we must go if it is liberation from our sin that we desire. At one level, Lent invites us to examine ourselves to name those elements of our lives—our sin—for which we long to repent; to repent of those characteristics...
Mountain Top Experiences
Today’s (2/21/23) Wake Up Call from seedbed.com is an important word for us in our faith journey or pilgrimage. And one particular paragraph JD shares really speaks to me. I think it bears repeating. “Mountain top experiences cannot be contained. They must be received as holy encounters and then processed and pressed into pilgrimage. I love the way Oswald Chambers speaks of this, “It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18).” He adds, “The true test of...
No Need For Christmas Letters Anymore
From 2/22/2016: CBB "LOL! I just realized the reason I haven't been motivated to write an annual "Christmas letter" to send out to family and friends in Christmas cards the last couple of years, as I had been accustomed to doing for quite a few years! I do it day-by-day here on Facebook. I share events of our family's lives in the ordinary things that delight us. Saves a lot of trees and money and avoids the inconvenience and annoyance to those who could care less. But for those who care (or those who like to point and laugh or roll their eyes) it's worth the investment of a little time to...
ALMOST…..
Thank you Mary Nicholson Rue, for sharing this meme below. I was just enjoying the early bloomers yesterday and thinking this very thing!! “I love being a February Girl! February…..On the cusp of a new season,Revealing glimpses of something new,Restoring hope…… Creating anticipation for a future of light, warmth, and joy in being part of all that’s new! Lean into the lengthening day! Lean into this Lenten season ushering in new life!” CBB 2/21/26 Isaiah 43:19“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the...
Why A Snake?
2/16/26 I was looking as Facebook post memories and the one below popped up….. 2/16/23 CBB Perhaps why satan is portrayed as a snake in the garden????? Interestingly, as Dr. Curt Thompson talks about brain development, he describes the initial neurological development in humans as "reptilian"….it is the basic. elemental "lower" brain stem that controls autonomic reflexes- breathing, heartbeat, etc. and establishes our ability to survive physically. The tempter in the garden is described as a reptile. He appeals to the basic "lower" instincts to survive, to control one's own safety and...
”I don’t feel worthy.”
2/15/26. CBB Today in church, Wendy Askew, who does children’s ministry at Christ Methodist Church-Montgomery, shared about a time she was talking to children about the feast in heaven. She was having them imagine being in heaven at the feast, what they would be eating, who would be there. how they would feel, what it would be like to be at the table with Jesus.One little boy said he didn’t feel worthy to be there. She told of feeling the little boy’s pain and telling him that none of us are worthy. We all have done things that made us feel sinful, but that’s why Jesus came and died on the...
Forgive Myself?
I’ve told more than a few students at Titus 2..,. There’s lots of places where we are told to come to God in repentance, knowing he loves us unconditionally and ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. Likewise, we are to love and forgive others. But I can’t find any scripture that says I have the authority or ability to forgive myself. I need to humble myself before God, receive his mercy and forgiveness and be a conduit to extend his mercy and forgiveness to others. Forgive others as God has forgiven us. It is in truly knowing God and understanding the fullness of Christ’s sacrifice that we...
Exodus as Transition Metaphor
2/15/2020. CBB May I just say this metaphor offered by my friend, Deborah Ann Holstine, is RICH!!!! It is a beautiful biblical exercise in visioning one’s own transition from victimization and bondage in sin to victorious living in Christ! We use Bridges’ diagram on “managing transitions” to help women understand how to walk out their life recovery goals. This IS the Twelve steps and managing transitions as viewed through the long lens of the story of the people called ‘children of Abraham” ….. the chosen of God. And it includes all of us! “Consider telling the story of your life up till now...
Silence In Heaven
2/15/22 CBB The lame beggar and others by the pool waited and listened for the sound of angels stirring the water, hoping to be the first to respond and to receive the blessing of healing. Such is the way in the world. Always some waiting and listening for a sign and competing for God's favor…. But a time is coming when the angels in heaven will be silent….. themselves listening and waiting…… Mark Creech in an op-ed in The Christian Post this week writes: "Starting in Revelation 6-7, and the start of chapter 8, the Lamb of God, Christ, opens the seven seals of the scroll given to him, which...
No More Sitting Ducks
2/15/21 CBB ……. speculation is often the same after the fact. Any number of excuses might be applicable. But none of them are a good reason. “We still don’t know why he did it.” Because he’s shown a pattern of sadistic animal torture and killing?Because he’s a wounded, mentally ill child?Because he’s never gotten the help he needed,?Because in our culture some people are deemed “throwaways”?Because our culture tolerates and celebrates “diversity” that includes thuggery and terrorism?Because we’ve banned all teaching and celebration of godly virtues and lifestyles?Because evil is real and...