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.
Too Much Honesty For Some?
"Be careful not to cover up your sins in order to look like a “good Christian.” Without recognition and confession of our sinfulness, we are unable to rely fully on God. It is only with this awareness that we can passionately seek Him, obey in His strength, and confess with repentance when we miss the mark." -- Charles Stanley Working in missions and evangelism with individuals who are frequently at the margins of society demands a certain amount of transparency and directness in order to establish and maintain trust and credibility. For some In other venues, that degree of honesty may be...
Awake from Dying……
There are times when something can really bring life into focus, like awaking from a vivid dream about one’s impending death. I went to sleep about 8pm and about three hours later I awoke, having dreamed that I had terminal cancer and was facing an unspecified time remaining in “life as it is”. What was on my mind in the dream was the process of dismantling the Titus 2 Ministry in keeping with the corporation’s” no conflict of interest” clause and tidying up personal aspects of my life that such circumstances would necessitate. There was no sense of distress or alarm in it. There was,...
Out of Season
There are "seasons" when one teacher seems more attuned to where one is in life than any other teachers. Joni E. Tada is one whose spiritual insights seem to be particularly helpful right now to me, as observed when I read her recent devotional entitled "In and Out of Season" reprinted below. Come along and join me today in the role of mentor and teacher to women in residential recovery. Imagine 5-6 spiritual babies or teens constantly requiring "bread" or "meat" or "water" (image: a nest filled with open mouthed newly hatched or fledgling birds squawking from the moment their eyes are...
Toward Sanctification
David Powlinson is one of the key principals in the Christian Counseling Education Foundation. He counsels and trains Christian counselors. I was reading an article recently on sanctification by him. And noted these observations: "In my twenties I was primarily changed because failure, guilt, and disillusionment led me to turn from sin to Christ. Birth into a new life, freely-given forgiveness, and justification by faith were truths that caught fire. In my fifties I was primarily changed because darkness, loss, and suffering led me to turn in trust to my heavenly Father. God's presence...
Sticking with the “One Thing”
Years ago, as God began to call me toward a life of ministry, at one point I was praising him in song....I stopped and spoke out of the joy in my heart, "Surely God has created the beauty of this world for his glory and my delight!" In that very moment, he spoke clearly in my spirit and said, "Tell others." It was the first time I'd heard God speak so clearly. I was surprised and wondered what I was to tell, how I was to tell it, and to whom I was to speak. That was 19...97. It would be a few more years and several interim course changes before the way became clear. Today I know what I am to...
Why the Cardinals Come….
Several people, knowing my affection for cardinals, have posted photos of cardinals to my facebook page. I am very fond of cardinals... God used them to speak to me during a difficult time in our marriage. I had a dream early in the summer of 1997. I dreamed I was a bumble bee and Bill was an eagle. I was hopeless and despairing that we were so unequally matched and incompatible. All I wanted was for us to be like a pair of cardinals in my dream. I awoke crying. Bill was with me. He was struggling in our marriage, too, and we were trying hard to work through it all. It would take a few more...
Still Night…..
3:30 a.m. at Deerpoint Lake: The night was so still, even the crickets were asleep. The dogs and I went out for a brief walk in the backyard. I looked at the night sky and wondered if it was that quiet on the hills around Bethlehem the night of Jesus' birth when, suddenly, the heavens exploded with the light and sound of the angels announcing Christ's presence on Earth. No wonder the first words uttered were, "Fear not." How startling it must have been! No wonder the sh...epherds all went as a group to see the child! Who would want to be left alone after such an experience? Did they simply...
Going Home…..
This Advent season has had me reflecting on the concept of "family" and "home", both on behalf of the Titus 2 women and for myself. I was reading a review of a book that stated, "The author of Keeping the Feast connects the metaphor of home that runs through the stories of our faith - the Prodigal Son, the Son of May has nowhere to call home, heaven as home - with the deep desire to belong and to feel wanted. The author turns discussions about food and faith into what it means to live in community, to create home, and to feel at home. One of the characters in Robert Frost's 'Death of a...
Words About God’s Will from the Past…..
From a Journal post 5/22/11: The last week has been a time of self-reflection. Last Tuesday we had a group of women from Port St. Joe United Methodist Church visiting at Bethel Village. As Billy Fox was talking about the proposed BV expansion, which has been delayed about a year, it occurred to me that maybe I am the obstacle, that God has been slow in answering prayers for this project because I was not sufficiently equipped to see it through or because I am too much operating in my own strength instead of His. Then yesterday while we were in worship at the AGRM conference, Doc Oberholt...
Defining Our Mission
We provide mental health support, including approved use of basic mental health medications and access to mental health services. We are not, however a mental health facility. When someone's primary mode of self presentation is to tell me how their multiple mental health diagnoses demand the use of anti-anxiety medications and other mental health medications with potential for abuse before they've even gotten sufficiently started in our program, I advise them promptly that such demands are beyond the scope of our continuum of care. Titus 2 is a community residence that utilizes cognitive...