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.
Not All Ran Away……
Not all ran away....... In a sermon listeners were called to reflect on Jesus' sorrow as he approached Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44 at the beginning of the final week of his life. Just before that in Luke 9:51-55 James and John had asked Jesus if they should bring down heavenly fire to destroy those with Inhospitable, unreceptive or unrepentant hearts in a Samaritan village on the way to their destination in Jerusalem. Jesus promptly rebuked them and made It clear that even now, after three years they still didn't understand his mission in the world. In that sermon, at one point a...
Reprised…….A Church Observed
I wrote the post "A Church Observed", included below, in February 2009. What I saw then and what I see now is very exciting....people in congregations across our community doing great things! But the potential is even greater for certain functions if we bring various efforts together and meet the larger need in a more efficient and effective way. Here is one idea..... I have been pleased to see the birth of one new ministry that I think has HUGE potential for people in our community....the incorporation and setting up of CROSSing Paths, Inc. ...... This is an independent cross-church,...
Why vulnerability is so necessary in the healing ministry of counseling
It's been "one of those days" when everything on my calendar went smoothly and God was so palpably present that it was........sacred! Even a 25 minute car ride to take a young lady for lab work was precious..... conversation so intimate and powerful that I could just feel God leaning over the seat, listening in and smiling. : "Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 1 Thessalonians 2 It is during such times that I am privileged to hear some of the sweet revelations that God shares in the hearts of these ladies who...
Differential Diagnosis: Woundedness or Brokenness
Having referenced the difference between Woundedness and Brokenness in a previous post on Loneliness and Aloneness, I suppose I should explain the difference for those who do not know. Here is something I came across nearly 20 years ago that helped me understand the two. Maybe it will help others recognize their own or others' woundedness and begin to seek to have it transformed through relationship with Christ into the brokenness that is the beginning of becoming whole! Interestingly, those who have not yet made the transition themselves often mistake brokenness in others for the...
The Gift of Aloneness
Alone I stood upon a towering hill And all around the world was still And I was all alone. Then every friend I ever knew Passed slowly by and from my view Until at last there was but one Who did not laugh and turn and run And leave me all alone. It seemed so strange, but was not so, That you would be the last to go. For you had known me in the past And shared my sorrows to the last And you know why when day is done And shadows hide a setting sun That I am all alone. - Bernadine Shotts This beautiful poem is by my friend, Bernie, who is 88 years old. She had a difficult childhood marked by a...
The Paradox of Vulnerability
Or, consider another option: On more than one occasion, I was told by some of those examining me for clergy ordination that I was not “self-aware” or I “lacked discernment.” They said this as if to say I didn’t know how I was impacting others or how I was being perceived. In the classic Johari “window” terminology….I must either be blind to myself (though they seemed to clearly think they could see it!), I must be hiding my true self, or I simply don’t know myself. Every time I heard one of them say it, I laughed in my deepest soul at...
1 Samuel 19:9 “Tormenting spirit from the Lord”…..What’s Up With This?
“Tormenting spirit from the Lord” 1 Samuel 19:9 What’s Up With This? A friend asked me a question about King Saul having a “tormenting spirit” from the Lord….My first observation was that even the Lord’s Holy Spirit, at work convicting us in our conscience can be a “tormenting spirit” when our own spirit is resistant to the refining work of the Holy Spirit, battling for authority in our soul….. when we are not inclined toward obedience. It can make us quite miserable. So we shouldn’t get too wrapped around the notion of God sending a “demonic spirit” on someone (although as the...
Westeroff and Faith Enculturation
In the early 2000's, as I began my formal training in Christian Education, I discovered several models of Faith Developoment. One that resonated with me most was that of John Westerhoff, in the book, "Will Our Children Have Faith?" (New York: Seabury Press, 1976) JOHN WESTERHOFF ‘S Faith Development Model ( With excerpts from “An Evaluation of the Contribution of John H. Westerhoff III to Religious Education” - M. S. Bickford, Ph.D. https://www.religiouseducation.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RIG1.5-Bickford.pdf Westerhoff presented a four-stage theory published in his...
Singing The 23rd Psalm
3/24/17 Here is another Psalms song the Lord taught me. It is Psalm 23 to the tune of the Welsh Blessing. In one of the older UMC hymnals the tune is the same one for the hymn “Sent Forth By God’s Blessing.” The Lord put that tune in my mind at one point and I just kept humming it for weeks, then all of a sudden the words of Psalm 23 “dropped” into the tune. I wrote them down as I was singing it and I located the music somewhat through chance, when I heard a UMC children’s curriculum DVD playing in a children’s Sunday School class I was teaching with the song “Sent Forth By God’s...
Trust in the Lord…..Singing Psalm 37
3/24/17 I am reading a small book- Psalms Playlist – a Seedbed.com published book that I purchased recently when Dr. Sandra Richter was here for our Renewal Conference at Lynn Haven UMC. I am delighted by the concept that J.D. Walt and Dr. Timothy Tennent of Asbury Theological Seminary and his wife Julie Tennent have worked out in setting contemporary translations of the Psalms to music! I grew up singing Psalms arrangements in choir, many of which are no longer readily available. I have tried to find some of them to reconnect with those tunes as an adult for my private worship time. In...