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.
Revisiting mustard seeds…..
On January 19, 2005, I had written about mustard seeds in a post entitled "How very good God is..." I cited a devotional by Alison Thomas entitled "Tiny Beginnings". In it she quoted Matthew 13:31 " The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." Her devotional had been about the tremendous potential inherent in that tiny grain of mustard, that it could become something of...
All in a day’s work….
On Wednesday evening I talked to my Mother by phone. She said she was thinking of having a yard sale Saturday and why didn't I come for the day. I cleared the plans with Bill, then Thursday and Friday set about clearing out some drawers and closets, filling three boxes with miscellany to offer in the yard sale.I arrived in Dothan at 6:15am. We hastely set up tables and unloaded and set up my things along with Mother's and those of a friend of hers. It's a good thing, too, because eventhough her sign out by the road clearly said "7 am to noon", lookers started arriving while we were still...
Some mornings you just know……
This morning as I awoke I had a clear impression of an outline of a lesson for Sunday School. The thing is, I was already prepared to teach the first in a new video series so I thought, "Nice, but not today." Then I went to church, arriving by 7:00am, as is my practice. We have a group that meets for prayer at 7:10am to prepare for the day's events. When I walked in the leader had out his Bible and was reviewing the text for the day's sermon from John 8. When he read it, one of the verses fit right in with the outline that had been in my mind as I awoke. Again, I thought, interesting, but...
Time to move on….
A nearly nine year career as a pharmaceutical sales representative has come to an end. It was one I enjoyed and had sought for a number of years before finally getting a job in it. God allowed me to work at it for these years to "get it out of my system", I think. I don't think he wanted to listen to me wistfully say, with yearning in my voice, "I always wanted to do that" for the rest of my life. Now it's part of my past. I have learned a lot. However, I have been being pulled into a different direction for the last three and a half years. And now I believe that God is directing me there...
Spiritual temperaments…..
I've outlined and am teaching a class on spiritual temperaments- how we love and experience God- based on Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Pathways. As an introduction to the class we talked about some of the many personality typology systems that are used to map human behavior- Myers-Briggs, enneagrams, task/people-structured/unstructured grids, colors, etc. Someone in the class brought up the Gary Chapman book The Five Love Languages. Today we got into a brief conversation about individuals' love language preferences- words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, or...
Cracked pots….
The retreat this weekend had as its theme "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. " (2 Corinthians 4:7) There was much said about the redemptive work of God in using even cracked and broken "pottery". The implication seemed to me to be that the breaking of the pots was something that happened as a result of some "accident"- poor choices, life tragedies, hard knocks, victimization, etc. and that God was necessarily working redemptively, after the fact.I had been reading a little book entitled "Salt: A World History" and in...
Self awareness…..
Once again a month has passed since I've posted here. But this time, I haven't wanted to post. I've had some things going on in my life which have had me preoccupied and......I'll just say it, angry. I've been working out the anger, venting the adrenaline of it through long days and extra effort. Finally, after four or five weeks of it, I seem to have gotten most of it out.This weekend I participated in a retreat that, once again, has helped me confront the fact that I was acting too much out of my emotions instead of acting out of what I believe. And, although that is the case, it has not...
My, how time flies…..
I can hardly believe it's been a month since I posted here. There's been so much going on, I couldn't find the time necessary to organize my thoughts for writing. I'm not sure I have them organized even now, but at least I do have a little time. We've had grandchildren visiting for several days this past week. What a joy! They are getting old enough to really interact with. Their personalities and interests are so diverse! We are in love with each of the five! Each time they come we find they've changed in some small and not-so-small ways. What a privilege to watch them grow!Tonight I'd read...
Wishful thinking, hopeful signs…..
I was listening to a book on tape recently by Cloud and Townsend. In it John Townsend talks about the difference between wishing and hoping. Wishing originates in one's own desires and is purely a result of one's own wants or needs. It has no objective evidence or indications that it is actually possible. Hoping, on the other hand, has objective external signs that what is desired is actually possible. If not out and out evidence, then a promise that one can reasonably expect to come true based on likelihood, past history, experience with the One making the promise,etc.Townsend says that...
There’s apologetics, then there’s apologetics…..
I've been preparing for and teaching a class based on Ergun Caner's "When Worldviews Collide" (Lifeway). He has an interesting overview section on types of apologetics. 1.) Positive apologetics- as practiced by Barnabas (Son of Encouragement)- affirming, encouraging, finding points of agreement. 2.) Negative apologetics- as often practiced by Paul- challenging, pointing out the failings of other faiths' efforts compared to the way of Christ. Sometimes argumentative and fraught with potential for conflict.3.) Contextual apologetics- as practiced by Peter (and Jesus)- taking the moment and...