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.
Assisting in recovery……
When I chose to get state certified as a substance abuse recovery support specialist, I was essentially making two commitments - to develop and maintain a degree of professional competence through continuing education in addiction issues and to be available to those who are making a commitment to achieving sobriety as a supportive resource and accountability partner. In my work at Bethel Village Women's Addiction Recovery Pathways Program I do that everyday. I also do that in my role as a team leader with Celebrate Recovery, a Christian 12 step fellowship that meets at Lynn Haven UMC. But...
Beyond Blue……
It's been a while since I posted on mental health issues. I find that many people in my church and among my acquaintances, knowing of my experience with depression and of my having led a depression impact group for six and a half years, refer people who are needing help to me regularly. Yesterday I received a call from a person with a multitude of issues in life right now. There is not much that I can do, really, to address the specific problems any particular person faces, but I can listen and, as much as anything, that seems to be the greatest need most people have.It's a sad thing, but...
Tick, tock, tick, tock……
After what has been essentially a decade long journey, a good friend of mine finally received official notification yesterday that she will be ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church at our annual conference in June. She's been a minister now for about 4 years. It's been a long road. She and I attended a fundraiser last evening for a local charity and shared a moment of celebration over the somewhat anti-climactic news. We've prayed together, cried together, sought God's will together, and celebrated small victories along the way together. Now, just as she reaches the end of the...
Churches remembered…..
Yesterday I attended a wedding at First United Methodist Church in Clayton, AL, where my family attended when I was a fourth grader. It was strange being there after many years away. I remembered the stained glass windows. I think they are more beautiful now, however, than I remembered them. And above the altar is a stained glass picture of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.In the spring of my fourth grade year we moved to Shellman, GA, and my parents joined First Baptist Church there. It, too, was very traditional in architecture, including stained glass windows. They give the...
Biblical expressions of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the Christian faith…..
One recurring theme that I find myself teaching the women at Titus 2 is the Great Commandment - Matthew 22:36-39- "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." We talk regularly about the two dimensions of the Christian faith- the vertical relationship with the Lord and the horizontal...
Pursuing patience and other aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit….
It was one of "those" weeks.....a trial presenting itself from every direction I turned. It started last Sunday when, after 3 weeks of seeking a facilitator for Purpose Driven Life classes, I finally resigned myself to teaching the Sunday session and the Wednesday session myself. I guess I must have needed it. I decided to give this spring's participants as close to the same experience that we all enjoyed when our church did the original course in October 2003. So, we started with the one and a quarter hour simulcast video, which is a good overview of the entire curriculum. It was a little...
Spring returning…..
In the last two weeks I've noticed the signs of the season.....several blooming trees in my own and my neighbors' yards, the emerging green on brown branches, the red maples' firey early explosion, bulbs rising out of flower beds, and robins all around. After months of cold weather and cold viruses, I'm ready for it.A garden patch was tilled at our women's shelter site on Friday. Now we've got to get the seeds in the rows. I'm not exactly a green-thumbed horticulturalist, but I have had a few gardens through the years. This year, I hope, will be one of them.The photo here is my swing in the...
Blessed by Babbie….again
A week ago I wrote about Babbie Mason's song "Trust His Heart" in a post entitled "His hands, my hands. This weekend our church held it's 14th annual Hope for the Heart weekend for women and Babbie Mason and her songwriter friend, Donna Douglas, were the special guests. They wowed us with their wonderful musical talent and their own testimonies. I was so happy to hear Babbie sing "Trust His Heart".About 70 women in our church, including me, set tables for lunch, each with her own dishes and accessories. The variety of table settings was a visual feast! Some were whimsical; others were...
A church observed….
Tonight a young woman who works the night shift at the local mission told me she had seen a gentleman who is a member at the church I attend at the mission at 6:00am on a weekend morning helping some homeless men with an enterprise that he and another man have organized to give these men work. She was at our church for a weekly Christian 12 step fellowship meeting. While there she observed workers preparing for the annual women's weekend. Also, two men came in with a large cooler to get ice for a meal their small group was serving to homeless people at a weekly downtown feeding site. This...
His hands, my hands….
Lamentations 3:41a - Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.Hands have been of particular interest to me since the time that the Lord really got my attention and I rededicated my life to him in 1992. About that same time a song by Babbie Mason came to my attention, entitled Trust His Heart. The chorus lyrics are:"God is too wise to be mistaken.God is too good to be unkind.When you can't understand, when you can't see His plan, when you can't trace His hand,Trust His heart. "Next weekend our church's annual women's inspirational weekend ministry event will be held and Babbie...