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.
Why Empathy Is Important
"Some people think of empathy as a “soft” skill, but really it is the core of emotional intelligence, so it's absolutely essential to positive relationships in the workplace (and everywhere). This thoughtful infographic reflects how little we usually know about the people we interact with every day. We can see their “outsides” – their behaviours and interactions – but we really have no idea about their inner lives: their pasts, their losses, feelings, traumas, struggles, regrets, pains, or thoughts. Empathy, though, opens us to recognizing the complexity, the reality, and the humanity of...
Historical Perspective On Election Interference
Today I drove from Eufaula, AL (in Barbour County, where I was born and where I visited a cousin this afternoon) to Montgomery to spend the night with my sister. In rural Barbour County, near Midway, I passed an historic marker that reminded me of an election night riot by local white Democrats that suppressed black votes, "fixed" an election, killed a number of blacks, .....including the son of the white Republican county supervisor' ..... and winded many more, mostly blacks. Allegations of voter interference in America are not new. Nor are they always mere hyperbolic fairy...
Trusting and Following
CBB 8/18/2021 "True growth most often begins with a growing sense of dissonance. We are dissatisfied with the way things are. We are not the person we hoped we would become by now. Unheeded, this discontent can lead anywhere from a numbing affluence to a disastrous addiction. When we pay attention to this discontent it can lead to tremendous breakthroughs into the greater purposes for our lives. Paying attention means opening the vault of our quiet desperation and bringing forth our discontent that it might be named aloud and offered to God." Seedbed Daily Text today Two and a half...
Healthy Edible Weeds
I I'm saving this! The way things are going in the world, I may need it. At least it beats eating bugs! THEY ARE CALLED WEEDS, BUT ARE SO HEALTHY Did you know that some weeds we are always worried about in our yards and Gardens are actually good for you, and can be delicious if prepared properly? Be sure to identify the weeds correctly (The ones described here are easy to spot.) Avoid harvesting from anyplace you suspect pollution — such as from vehicle exhaust, lawn pesticide or doggy business. And remember that edible does not mean allergen-free. Here are 9 good ones: DANDELION...
Tides’ Tentacles Reach For Grassroots
I got a call for phone survey Monday night with a Navarre number. I had been studying and working for hours with a computer system I am now using and needed a break so I took his survey. It was a real mishmash of topics. When finished I asked the caller who was funding it he said he just asked the questions and didn't know who funded the survey. Are they all over the country or just FL? His answer "all over." Well, well, well...... this morning I saw a little news notification blurb about a mega billionaire donor seeking to crush the Chamber of Commerce because it isn't "green" enough in...
Deluge of Mercy
Spiritual awakening begins with a profound awareness of God’s awesome holiness on one side, our absolute sinfulness on the other, and our complete inability to bridge the chasm between the two. Only Jesus Christ can cover the gap. Revival always starts with the Father's reaching down to us—not in a trickle of blessing, but in a deluge of mercy through the forgiveness of His Son, which covers our past and welcomes us to begin again. Have you been awakened to begin again? {from James McDonald} 1st John 1:9 #cloudywithachanceofrain
Not Good Enough
An observation about a common “fear”- “Atelophobia is the fear of imperfection. It is a specific type of phobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. With atelophobia, individuals tend to fear any type of imperfection in their lives.” It leads to perfectionistic, “good person” longings that drive conduct, born of a sense of missing the “first” blessing and attempts to be “good enough” to measure up. Actually, it reflects a sense of self being not-good-enough that drives performance. It also fosters a set up for deep-seated anger,...
Entropy: Turning Toward Transformation
Entropy is a measure of disorder and affects all aspects of our daily lives. In fact, “we can think of it as nature's tax. Left unchecked disorder increases over time. ... “ Oddly enough, the Greek root of this word translates to “a turning towards transformation”. Essentially the concept is that transformation arises from chaos. We would desire that change would be planned, orderly, managed, and comfortable. But God seems to choose disruption and upheaval in order to make it clear that life and circumstances remaining the same is not an option. Such is the nature of God’s ongoing working...
Exiled
Alexander Solzhenitzen was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union with his writings, including "The Gulag Archipelago" in 1973. He was exiled from Russia in 1974 for his criticism in that book that outraged Soviet authorities. He returned in 1994 after the fall of the Soviet Union. And died there in 2008. His family had defied the Soviet anti-religious campaign in the 1920s and they continued as devout members of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, in his youth he abandoned Christianity for Marxism-Leninism,...
Child Of God
From 8/11/ 2020 Simply “created by God” or actually also “children of God”? Jesus said not everyone is a child of the Father.... some have another father. The father is the one who influences our life, provides and guides, the standard- bearer, the one whom we honor, reverence, and obey. Jesus called Him “Abba” (Daddy)! It incensed the religious leaders. By Dorcas Beth Andrews 8/11/2029 “We are all brothers and sisters and children of God.” Have you heard that lately? In this day of rage and offense and social upheaval, the idea of one big happy human family under the same...