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.
Habits of the heart….
I've heard it said that "if you can do it once, you can do it twice. If you can do it twice, you can make it a habit." Well, tomorrow will be my "twice". This is the second time in a month I've been assigned to duty in the Chapel worship service. This time, though, I'm not assisting, I'm conducting the order of worship. I'll do everything except the sermon itself. And since it's the first Sunday of the month, my friend Leslie and I will also be doing a duet for the special music. It's a new thing for me to be contemplating invocations, pastoral prayers, and benedictions for the worship...
More of hearing God…..
I was teaching a class recently. In the curriculum, a quote by C.S. Lewis was referenced:"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." -from The Problem of PainMany of the individuals that I teach have known pain. Many bear deep emotional scars from childhood and have self-inflicted wounds from their years of addictions. It is generally the case that, in their pain, which finally has brought them looking for recovery, they have begun to yearn to hear God's voice. They've listened to so many tempting...
Hearing God…..
There's an interesting essay at the internetmonk blog site about "hearing" God. I encourage you to read it.http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/V/voicehead.htmlThe author refers to the way in which evangelical Christians will say that they feel "led by God" to do this or that of that "God told me.."I have heard God speak to my heart on a number of occasions. Sometimes it was like a sudden and startling "voice" in my head, a comment or command that came out of seemingly nowhere and was so unexpected, I knew it wasn't my own thought. Some examples.....1.) I was standing in a book store looking...
How We Grow…..
"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52 One of the topics that we cover in Purpose Driven Life class is the "How We Grow" topic. Come to think of it, we cover that same topic in Boundaries and I discuss it with each student as I do case management. So the "how" of becoming a mature adult is covered several times in the course of one's time in our addictive recovery/discipleship program. Sometimes I show them the series of photographs I have of lifestages of a Monarch butterfly. Sometimes we talk about oak trees or cedar groves. Occasionally we talk...
Another heartbreak…..
After successfully introducing our newest little kitten to the household just over a week ago, on Thursday evening his bigger adopted "brother", Diego, went out about 7:00pm and didn't come home, like he usually does about 9:00pm. Now we're pretty sure that something is getting neighborhood cats....a fox, coyote, hawk, something. I talked to the neighbor across the street and her dog that stays inside was really upset one night last week, she said....maybe the night Diego disappeared. She told me she'd heard reports of other neighbors hearing coyotes howling in the woods near us. Once again,...
It just took talking it through with myself……
This morning I met with a pastor friend whose educational and candidacy process I have observed and cheered for ten years. She is now being appointed as a candidacy mentor for me as I begin my journey toward ordination as a deacon in the United Methodist Church. I was talking to her about why I had made the decision to pursue ordination - in order to counsel under a pastoral license - instead of electing to continue with additional graduate school classes and internships in order to be eligible to obtain a state license as a mental health counselor. My intention from the first moment I...
Another feline in the family…..
After our 10 month old female feline, Dora, disappeared a few weeks ago, her brother, Diego, seemed lonely. Our two older outdoor cats would come and go and basically ignore him. He'd wander around the house, at times seeming to be looking for her. It was sad. Last Friday I had a brainstorm and remembered that there are generally always kittens around at the mission. So I went by there and found that yes, there was a little grey male that they called "Little Bit", about 6-7 weeks old. He looked healthy and happy. I scooped him up and asked the guys if I could give him a new home. They agreed...
Holding on…..
I recall hearing that we should not place a comma where God has put a period. I think the reverse is probably equally true: do not place a period where God has put a comma. I was talking to a friend this week who commented that he'd been praying for God's guidance and was experiencing only silence. Circumstances in life had lead to what appeared to be one of those proverbial forks in the road, or more appropriately an acute turn. As I considered the circumstances, it seemed to me that he was being impatient and feeling the need to make a decision when actually delaying making a decision made...
Shoes, shoes, shoes…..wear what you choose
I am realizing that it is time to purchase a new pair of athletic shoes. I have a particular brand and style that has become my favorite. I buy a pair and wear them until they begin to look too worn for "good" designation, then I relegate them to "yard" pair and go buy another replacement pair, throwing the previous "yard" pair in the trash. I try to watch the ads and purchase my replacement pair on sale, but in a pinch, I'll pay full price.......I like this particular shoe that much.Over the years my taste for shoes has changed dramatically. There was a time I was a real shoe horse. I...
My grammar teacher told me punctuation was important…..
A woman, without her man, is nothing.A woman: without her, man is nothing.In reading a book, Flawed Families of the Bible: How God's Grace Works Through Imperfect Relationships (David and Diana Garland, 2007, Brazos Press), I came across these two statements at the end of a chapter on Tamar and her difficulty in seeking to secure her place of belonging in the Israelite family of her deceased husband.Regularly, I see women who operate out of identities defined by the first statement. They feel they have no identity separate from a relationship with a man. Self-esteem is non-existent because...