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.
What Determines One’s Success in Recovery?
When women first come into Titus 2, they are generally emotional, conflicted, broken, fuzzy-headed, and anxious. It takes time to feel "safe" in the midst of a new environment and new people. It takes time for the mind to begin to work again as it is intended...sober. We give them time to settle in, begin slowly, expose them to new people and ideas for a while....After a few weeks they are feeling more relaxed and secure. When they begin to be able to express their feelings honestly and ask for things they want or need, it is a joy. At that point, we are able to give them more...
By My Hand
The tragedy this week of a forgotten infant’s death in a hot car in our community grieves us all. I cannot imagine the pain this family, their friends, and others close to them must be experiencing. To lose a child by any means, at any age is grievous, but to have it occur due to one’s haste, neglect, oversight, or failure to anticipate the possibility of such an occurrence seems too great to bear. While statistically the percentage of parents who experience such a loss, due to their own accidental and unintentional actions is small, the actual number is probably more than we realize…....
He Knows My Name
Revelation 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. I have pondered Jesus giving Simon a new name, “Peter”. This is the only case in which I see Christ actually, literally, giving someone a “new” name. It was done publicly to make a strong statement about Peter’s changed identity and the purpose to which God was calling him. As I have reflected on this idea of Christ giving...
Ed Welch on Sanctification
One of my favorite Christian counseling educators is Edward Welch. Edward Welch, M.Div., Ph.D. is a counselor and faculty member at Christian Counseling Education Foundation. He writes about topics I deal with daily - addictive behaviors, depression, co-occurring disorders, family relationships, God's purpose in the midst of pain, etc. Here he writes about Sanctification: What the Church Really Believes about Sanctification By: Ed Welch Published: November 18, 2012 Each generation of believers develops its own weird convictions about Scripture....
A Woman’s Personal Testimony June 3, 2015
Cathy Byrd reports on a woman's testimony: This is a personal text received this afternoon, June 3, 2015. It is from a woman who was a discipleship student in substance abuse recovery in Fall 2009- Summer 2010 under my care. "I am so amazed how God is working in my life, I got a promotion at work, I'm now the Trainer and shift lead for Honda, if someone would have told me 6 years ago that I would be drug free, living on my own,without a man, paying my own bills with a great job, my family restored back to me and being able to bless others, and I would be having a deep personal...
Hypersexuality and Bipolar
"Sexual Addiction" among women with substance abuse is often a case of hypersexuality resulting from early childhood sexual abuse, devaluation of one's own sexuality from sexual abuse and adolescent promiscuity, undiagnosed early onset bipolar disorder, lack of healthy boundaries, and low self-esteem driving a need for affirmation through one thing over which one feels power....her body. Programs that disregard the connection between these factors in hypersexuality and bipolar disorder and ban bipolar medications, may be undermining the very thing they profess to be addressing. Short...
Thinking About PTSD…What Would Jesus Do?
Thinking About PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)…..What Would Jesus Do? Another Christian counselor and I were discussing PTSD recently. We were observing how often it tends to be thought of in the context of combat-experienced veterans. But, as he and I talked, it was clear that there are a number of other situations in which PTSD is observed…..particularly among victims of childhood sexual or physical abuse. But any number of other traumas can be responsible for setting up the psychological/ emotional scenario for it to manifest. Information on the Mayo Clinic website notes:...
Widows and Orphans
Two weeks ago I walked into the office at Lynn Haven UMC on Sunday morning as I do most Sundays. I checked my mail box and greeted those who were making their copies of class handouts or taking care of other business. I was assigned to preach in the Chapel at the 11:00 service and was speaking on overcoming the loneliness of solitude. A random thought suddenly occurred to me- one that was, oddly enough, related in a way, but which had not been incorporated as a part of the sermon. I realized that of the seven women recently or currently in care at Titus 2’s residence, three had lost a...
#NotaCalvinist
I've posted several things by Charles Spurgeon recently. Also, I refer to various Baptist, Presbyterian, and other theologians/pastors from time to time. Just to clarify, I'm not a Calvinist, but align with Wesleyan Arminianism.... And, like Wesley, too, I do not view differences such as that particular tension to be reason to part ways.....For many, even some of the more contemporary divisive issues are also not necessarily reason to part ways, if, as Wesley noted, people can "agree to disagree".....to "think and let think". As long as the essential tenets of Christianity are intact. With...
Day One…..From The View Ten Years Later
I will have been blogging for 10 years this summer. It began after Lynn Haven UMC moved to the Transmitter Rd. location and Pastor Nic Gibson told me I needed to start a weblog, so I guess he's to fault whenever someone finds my random thoughts annoying. It was before I began graduate school, before realization of God's call to ordained ministry in the church, before seminary, before I even knew I was already being used in healing and recovery ministry. There are 416 posts on this blog. In addition to that, I have been a regular journaler for 25 years. This was my first weblog...