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.
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...
Assurance of faith: rare or common?
A Christianity Today online book review of the 2008 book, The Advent of Evangelicalism: Exploring Historical Continuities, edited by Michael Haykin and Kenneth Stewart introduced me to a quote from David Bebbington's Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, published in 1989:“Whereas the Puritans had held that assurance is rare, late and the fruit of struggle in the experience of believers, the Evangelicals believed it to be general, normally given at conversion and the result of simple acceptance of the gift of God."Assurance: full confidence; freedom from doubt; certainty. Did I possess it as a...
A way out of temptation….
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13Three times in recent days I have found myself involved in discussions that have arisen over the issue of temptation and this scripture has come up each time. In one discussion we were doing a comparative overview of the temptation of Eve (Genesis 3:6), the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4), and John's comment that "all that is in the world" is one...
Thinking about ministry….
When I began my certification studies to become a Christian Educator in The United Methodist Church, the first thing I was challenged to do was contemplate my "calling", to think about what it was to which I felt God inviting me. From there I had to articulate a personal "theology of ministry". It was a good exercise and helped me to clarify what I wanted to accomplish through that course of study. Now that I am involved in the candidacy process to become an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, with a specialty in the area of counseling, I have the same challenge again. Not in a...
“Go” missions…….
The Alabama- West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Chruch has a new email newsletter for missions. There are good articles about mission efforts in our conference and being accomplished by our UMC Christian brothers and sisters in the conference. Check it out!http://www.awfumc.org/newsletter_detail.asp?pkvalue=164From the newsletter for June 2009:Go! Jesus sent his disciples out many times. Take a look at Luke’s Gospel in chapter 10 (verses 1 -24) for one example. Jesus sent the 70 to cure the sick and proclaim the Kingdom of God. These were not the main 12 disciples, but others he...
Living out our commission…..
Today in Purpose Driven Life our students were studying the final few chapters on evangelism, our mission in the world to unbelievers. We were discussing the characteristics of a "worldly person" compared to a "world-class Christian". Rick Warren cites 4 areas by which the two types of individuals might be differentiated:Primary Focus: Worldly people are self-centered. Their focus is entirely on themselves. World-class Christians are focused on God and others.Time: Worldly people are interested in the here and now, this moment, and immediate gratification. World-class Christians are more...
Thoughts on Daddy…..
My mother, sister, and I have scratched our heads a little bit and laughed together about some of my father's perculiarities since his life-threatening hemorrhagic stroke seven years ago. I think he'd always had a little bit of an obsessive-compulsive tendency, but it seems to have been exacerbated by the results of the stroke. He is a compulsive saver and converter. He saves empty peanut butter jars and uses them to keep cereal in so that it doesn't get stale in an opened box, which is pretty smart. But most people use containers designed for that purpose. I think he likes the size of the...
God works in mysterious ways…..
Whenever I talk about faith and healing with students, I remind them that God uses a variety of means to accomplish healing and that healing itself can be of many types. God certainly uses the miraculous processes within our bodies that He designed and crafted into our DNA and all that it produces and directs. God can most certainly also miraculously and inexplicably touch us by His grace and make whole that which was not whole just an instant before. And God can use the wisdom and skill that He has called and equipped dedicated practitioners with and the technology that He has...
Sad, but true…..
My husband serves on the board of a local agency that promotes and provides educational opportunities for preschool children. He's been telling me for some time about the studies on how children who are read to from a young age develop language and reasoning skills compared to those whose lives are devoid of books and reading.Today I was with a young mother and her 2 year old child. I suggested that she read him a book to entertain and comfort him. She looked at me as if I'd suggested she jump over the moon. She said to me that she is not a good reader and had never read a book to any of her...