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.
Prayer as Rebellion Against Status Quo
"Prayer.......is rebelling against the status quo of a world going awry. It is refusing to come to terms with an unjust, dark and evil world, as if it were all we were meant to have, as if there was no one or nothing that could change it; prayer is standing in the light of a God who comes in flesh to say otherwise. But in so doing, prayer remembers not only that the world as we find it can be changed and that it should be changed. The significant piece for the abolitionist to... remember is that while I am not going to be the one who brings an end to the world’s suffering, there is indeed...
God Must Enjoy Banana Bread With Pecans, Too!
From the ecstasy of victory to the agony of defeat.....I had posted about last night's roast. After dinner I mixed up two batches of banana bread and popped the loaf pans in the oven, having preheated the oven, and noted the time. I then set about doing some laundry and came back in a bit to finish cleaning the kitchen. I did not think about those loaf pans again......until 4pm this afternoon when I went to unload last night's dishwasher load and reload it. Suddenly I looked at the mixing bowl coming out of the dishwasher and thought...THE BANANA BREAD! I dashed to the oven...which was off...
Just Like Mama’s Roast!
8-21-16 Mama’s roast Shades of "Mama's roast"! It only took me 44 years to accomplish it, but Bill said last evening that I had cooked a roast "just like Mama used to cook!" (and gravy to go with it!) Is there a higher compliment a wife can receive? My Daddy had loved to eat roast at Bill's parent's house, too. For years after her death he would say, "Marilyn sure could cook a roast!" I must say, she did have a way with a roast. I remember what she said were her keys to success....don't cook it too fast and don't check it more than once. Leave it alone! Sounds easy, but I guess 44...
When Jesus Doesn’t Speak Softly
Jesus' words do not always come to us in seeming gentleness and with hope, but convicting and with warning.......unless we are able to read with hearts that are open to his own heart, with minds that desire to know his own mind. I'm preaching on this text Sunday. Over and over again he called the religious elite hypocrits...... I'm preaching on how the Pharisees lost sight of the promises to and purpose of the Chosen people of God. Part of the covenant was to bless all the families of the earth with the blessings promised to Abraham, but the religious elite wanted a preferential status,...
The Medal Winner Is……..
James MacDonald’s message on 8/2/16 at Walk in the Word” How to live by Faith”, was very apropos, given the Olympics in Rio: Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. It was such a simple illustration. MacDonald detailed the "medal winners" of faith in 2 scenarios: 1. Someone harmed you. Bronze medal faith- Not seeking revenge- not paying evil for evil. Instead, trusting God’s goodness and justice. Silver medal faith- Forgiveness. Write it off. Release the person from debt, nothing required in return. Gold...
Spiritual Disciplines Summary
Christianne and Kirk Squires, in their weekly "Still Forming" spiritual directing online letter write this: "Science is affirming the reality that incorporating consistent sacred rhythms and spiritual practices into our lives literally creates new neural networks in the brain and regulates our disordered energies. Ironically, many elders of our wisdom traditions — including the Desert Fathers, but most importantly Jesus himself — have known this for ages, and without science.... Consistent spiritual practice makes a great difference in our health and quality of life. This brings to mind the...
Trains in the Night…
The trains on the trestle next door run through Birmingham all night long. It was disconcerting the first time I visited our daughter's home and discovered they had built next door to a train trestle. But now it's a comforting reminder that life is going on, that business is continuous, that people's needs are being met even while I am resting. Some time in the night I heard two passing trains mimicking and echoing one another's whistles....a game the engineers play in the wee hours when the schedule is slower and borders on tedium? It made me smile. I could envision the two individuals on...
Watching Grands Grow….
Aren't grands wonderful??? Just love seeing them grow and as grandparents we have so much more time and awareness of the joy in doing that than we did with our own children.....This morning I was driving my grandson to basketball practice and glancing at him as we drove, realizing how tall he's gotten and how his jawline is taking on a more angular look, losing the sweet baby face he's had. I realized how very beautiful this 11 year old's eyes are! I asked him if I would embarrass him if I told him what I was thinking. He said no. So I told him, "You have beautiful eyes, Brady, and they just...
The Depth and Height of Gratitude
Christie Purifoy (in Roots and Sky) writes: "I have always imagined gratitude as a kind of discipline. It is a practice. A choice. I still think this is true. However, I begin to glimpse a long-buried and misguided assumption. I have believed that the practice of noticing good gifts in my life would widen some sort of divine exchange. As if noticing the gifts and giving thanks for them could bring me more of what I noticed." Then her writing....journaling the seasons, and this..in November: "These days are dark, and I sometimes think I glimpse floodwaters rising. Yet because of November's...
The Truth….Here and There, Old and New….The Same
The more time one spends in the Old Testament, the more the New Testament speaks to us more eloquently and convincingly. Jesus was continually speaking the Word of the Jewish people to them……from the Law and the Prophets. In Luke 7, Jesus has just raised a widow’s son from death. Two disciples of John the Baptist (Jesus’ cousin) who is in prison, come and ask Jesus while he is in the midst of healing in a crowd a question from John, “Are you the Messiah or are we to expect another?” Jesus says to them, “ Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame...