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.
“No Patience for Anyone….”
“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not...
Praying for Children, Families, and All of Us
Pew Research Center on Family Structures Dec 2014 (Gretchen Livingston is a senior researcher focusing on fertility and family demographics at Pew Research Center.) “Less than half (46%) of U.S. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. This is a marked change from 1960, when 73% of children fit this description, and 1980, when 61% did, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently-released American Community Survey (ACS) and Decennial Census data. Less than half of U.S. kids today live in a ‘traditional’...
The Addicted Narcissist
In nearly 10 years of working with women with addictive behaviors, I have encountered fewer than a half dozen individuals whom I would consider to be bona fide "narcissists" according to the profile drawn here by Christine Hammond. When I have, however, they have been the most resistant to education and care, the most destructive to others around them, and the least likely to actually make any meaningful change in their lives. As she says, "It is far more loving to accept someone within their own limitations than to insist they become someone they are not." This usually requires that...
A Cycle of Holiness
There have been criticisms of Christian evangelicals as being so focused on personal holiness that they have been neglectful of social holiness....of acts of mercy, compassion, and justice. As I am studying this morning I am hearing the Apostle Paul speak to the Corinthians. He applauds their growth in personal piety- faith, exhortation, knowledge, earnestness in love...and also directs them to excel in the grace of giving and that their spirits be willing in the act. The point, as he references in verses 13-15, is not that one group should suffer (be hard pressed) so that others might...
Snarling Threats
WHEN THE LEFT SNARLS (By Dr. Bill Bouknight) "When liberals are a minority, they usually talk about diversity and tolerance. But when they form a majority they often snarl at their conservative opponents. Conversely, I cannot think of a single responsible conservative who disputes the right of liberals to state their points of view. But when liberals are in charge, as is often the case on college campuses, every degree of leftist is entitled to speak at commencement ceremonies but conservatives are routinely rejected. Tolerance is replaced by a snarl. The snarl of liberalism was on...
What’s Next?
Titus 2 Partnership, Inc. has had a wonderful first year. We have been grateful for the blessings we have observed. As we have reviewed the last year and contemplated the “next steps”, some have said, “Are you going to open a second home?” The answer is “No.” This is the size of ministry that I can manage with the limitations of an all-volunteer group. Although we have good support from a number of volunteers, they are, first and foremost, all volunteers, including me. That means that personal or family conflicts or priorities that arise take precedence. Classes have to be cancelled....
It Really May NOT Be What Happens To Us…But How We Perceive It
It May Not Be What Happens…..It May Really Be What You Think About What Happens It’s not what happens; it’s how you perceive and respond to it. We’ve heard this adage for years. At least with regard to one’s ability to persevere through trials and bounce back from difficulties or trauma, it increasingly appears to be true. As the scientific article excerpt below notes: “It is quite possibly the positive evaluation of potentially aversive stimuli that is the central mechanism which ultimately determines an individual's level of resilience.” (Another phrase used in the article for...
Pogo Was Right
Pogo was right. “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Matthew 16:13-28 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you...
Wildflowers In The Broken Road
Christianne Squires writes about attending a celebratory weekend with other spiritual directors. It’s theme - “Bless the Broken Road” - celebrating and gathering around a theme of vulnerability! She shares one participant’s story of having sat down in the middle of a stretch of her own broken road that lasted two and a half years. She sat down, she said, and began to notice the wildflowers. Squires asked herself, “What are the wildflowers along the path of my broken road? Where have I found unexpected beauty in the broken places? What sprang up with color through the cracks in the...
Sheep and Goats
Thursday afternoon I dozed off for a few minutes while waiting for a lady at an office this afternoon. I had one of those split second kind of dreams....more just a single "snapshot photo" type dream....it was a goat whose legs were being bound with blue painters' tape. As the tape was binding the goat, the thought occurred to me whether I was to cut the tape off or just tear it and whether or not the goat would be hurt by the tape being pulled off its legs. Good grief! Where did that come from at 4:00 in the afternoon? One counselor friend suggested that perhaps I feel restrained or tied up...