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.
People Users
This week was educational for me. It has been clearly demonstrated to me that addiction is not only, even not primarily, a matter of substance-use; it is a matter of people-use. To paraphase a trite old popular song, "People. People who use people... are the unhappiest people....in the world." I have witnessed deception by and use of others up close and personally by two people. Although they each have been professing a growing faith in Christ, there is an area of their lives which they have been unwilling to submit to Christ's authority -that of relationships. After several admonishments to...
Journey
JourneyI was on a journey, in a hurry,Not really sure of the destination,Knowing only that it was somewhere Other than where I’d been. I met and passed many along the way.Finally, one Traveler came alongside.He paced Himself to my stride.He engaged me in conversation. He told interesting stories.He asked challenging questions. Soon I realized that He was leading the way,And I was happy with that realization. It was no longer about where I was goingOr even about where I had been.It was about the Person with whom I walked. It was He who blazed the trail.It was He who set me on the path.It was...
Reverend
This week I received an email from a pastor who is in leadership in our denomination. She was inviting me to serve on a non-profit board operated by our denomination. In the meeting minutes that covered board nominations, I was listed as "Rev. Cathy Byrd." It was the first time I'd seen my name preceded by the "Reverend" honorific! It was a startling realization. I had been told when I passed board interviews that I could begin using it, but it wasn't something that registered with me at the time and it's not the kind of thing one just appropriates for herself. It started me thinking about...
My Conversations with God
3/20/12- My Conversations with GodFifteen years ago this week I began a new journey. I heard the voice of God. It was jolting, though an exciting and invigorating experience, too. He spoke to me in a moment of worship, an odd moment early in the morning as I drove up U.S. Highway 431 to an appointment three hours from my home. I was singing to Christian music and praising God for the beauty of the morning, as the sun rose over the rolling hills of the southeast Alabama landscape just north of Abbeville, AL, near the city where I was born, Eufaula. I was in rapt admiration of the beauty of...
Moments of Change
There are those moments in time in which one stands aware that there is a change coming. Perhaps it is not so much a change in one's circumstances, exactly, but more a change in one's perspective. I am on the eve of one of those moments. Tomorrow marks a day of decision.....not by me but about me. It is a bit daunting to know that all that I've been working toward for several years is going to be evaluated and determined to have been sufficient or not. There is satisfaction in knowing that I've done my best. But there is also the question - will my best have been good enough? As I visited...
The Means and the End….
When I began to feel the Lord moving me from one vocational arena to another in 2003, from sales to ministry, I began a journey of preparation. It required getting up to date, technologically, and learning to maneuver online learning. Columbia College's certification program in Christian Education was my entry back into the education milieu since graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1976 and certification as a Medical Technologist at Baptist Medical Center's School of Medical Technology in 1977. The Christian Education program took two and half years. Then, in 2007, with more clarity about...
New Testament Interpretation Research Paper for Asbury Class
PHILEMON: A GENTLE AND GRACIOUS PERSUASION By Cathy Byrd1. Introduction Philemon, a brief occasional letter authored by the Apostle Paul while in prison, provides counsel to specific people on the practical matter of dealing with Onesimus, a runaway slave. At the same time, it offers Christians today a model for engaging in advocacy and exercising personal influence. Paul’s persuasive rhetoric in this letter demonstrates strategies that are worthy of our consideration as we seek to influence others and demonstrates Paul’s general preference for persuasion over coercive exercise of his...
Laboring Long
I've been pecking away now for over three years at requirements for ordination as a deacon in the United Methodist Church. I have finally gotten within sight of the "light at the end of the tunnel" . It is a great feeling to know that it's almost done!
“Just in time delivery”
Years ago I was a sales representative with a major consumer goods corporation. At the time there was a new way of moving products from manufacturer to retailer, skipping warehousing. They called it "just in time delivery". The advent of large superstore retailers had made it possible. We were "drop shipping" loads of paper products directly to stores instead of to warehouses. I am at a point in my life where I am managing multiple demands on my time. I am juggling postgraduate classes in seminary that involve heavy duty reading and weekly papers, participating in a Clinical Pastoral...
Jesus Engages The Samaritan Woman in Theological Discourse (A Look At Wesley’s Quadrilateral !)
I was asked to read John 4:5-42 and prepare a prayer based on the text. So, I was reading with attentiveness. As a result I saw something in this conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman I'd never seen before. As Methodists, we believe that there are 4 commonly employed standards used for formulating and evaluating theology, 4 "tests" of truth- Scripture, Reason, Tradition, and Experience, commonly referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. As I read this familiar story, I suddenly realized that the Samaritan woman was employing all 4! In her first response to Christ's request for...