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.
Slow down the clock……
It is amazing to me that it is already Mar 15th. We're halfway through the third month of 2006, almost a quarter of the way done. Wasn't Christmas just last week.....? My life seems to be more full now than ever. Is that what makes the time seem to fly? If I dropped 50% of my activities would time correspondingly slow by 50%? I have a stack of papers on my breakfast room table awaiting the annual tax preparation process. I have to make that a priority in the next week, as I have to allow time for the accountant to work his mysterious way with the data and let us know the damage in $$$$ in...
The prelude to grace….
One of the joys of my job is the drive time. It gives me abundant opportunity to listen to teaching on Christian radio or on tapes or CDs. I keep a note pad and pen by me in the car so that I can jot down scripture passages when a particular teaching is something I want to consider further. Some days I come home with hastily scribbled words or references that I put into a pile on my desk until I have the time to sit down and review and meditate on them. Today was one of those days.David Jeremiah never fails to teach me something new. Today he was teaching on the topic of grace, something...
Cruisin’…..
My husband and I had the pleasure of cruising in the Caribbean for 7 nights recently. This was the fourth cruise for us and the accomodations on the ms Westerdam (Holland America Line) were the best we'd experienced. I must say, however, that I was disappointed in some of the ports of call. The hurricanes of recent years have taken a toll on the various islands. Grand Cayman, in particular, was a destination I was looking forward to. I found it to be much less impressive, to say the least, than my expectations. H. Ivan several years ago apparently devastated much of the island. There are...
When analogies break down……
I read Bennett J. Sims' book Servanthood: Leadership for the Third Millenium for a class. In it he tells of one of his pastorates in Maryland where they undertook a construction campaign, using a well known architect. The architect planned a starkly modern sanctuary addition to their traditional Gothic campus. It caused division in the congregation. After much deliberation the leadership group polled the congregation and found that they were 75% in favor of the radically new plan, 25% against, while the leadership had been exactly the opposite, 75% against it and 25% for it. He said that in...
How very good God is…..
Last evening I was working on a paper for the Chrisitian Education certification class I am taking. My assignment was to write about my life experiences in molding my call to and practice of ministry. As I thought about my faith and how it developed, I realized that my preparation to take on the ministry I now have has been a lifelong process, guided each step along the way by God's providential hand.This morning I attended my Thursday morning women's accountability group at a local restaurant and we had our usual vigorous conversation about what the Lord is teaching us and how we are...
The Wounded Healer revisited….
I recently re-read The Wounded Healer by Henry Nouwen as part of a certification class in Christian Education. This book has been part of my personal bookshelf for about 8-9 years, since an experience of "woundedness" that profoundly affected my view of myself, my ministry, my life. This book helped me when I first read it. I had felt that what I had experienced somehow would be detrimental to my Christian witness, an obstacle that would keep others from relating to me. Through Nouwen's explanation I came to understand that for each of us our "wounds", our scars, can become that which...
How little I know…..
Today I began a new adventure. I had my first preparatory session that initiates an online Christian Education paraprofessional certification program that I enrolled in. In 1977, when I completed my postgraduate internship in Medical Technology, I'd said I'd never go back to school. Actually, I've had a lot of ongoing education since then- some required training for various jobs, other weekend seminars that I chose to take. But this is the first real "class" since that time. As I wrote in our family Christmas letter for 2005 "It just goes to show how God will change your mind and your heart...
Merry Christmas….
This year, as in recent years past, there is a lot of hullabaloo over the use of the traditional Christian greeting "Merry Christmas". The politically correct forces have rallied from Madison Avenue to the county courthouse to assure that no one would have to endure such a coercive religious message anywhere they happen to be. But Christians, it appears, are finally awakening to the facts and are demanding their rights to express their faith. It'll be interesting to see how the tide flows with this issue.....In the mean time, Merry Christmas!
The more things change…….
In the last two weeks I've been notified that my boss of eight years, who also hired me for my current job, has accepted a promotion to another position. I am feeling some anxiety as I wait to meet my new soon-to-be boss. I've enjoyed a good relationship with the current boss, having found many similarities in our beliefs not only about work but about faith and family matters, as well. While confessing to some anxiety, my modus operandi is to 'expect the best'. I am trusting that I will find similar compatibilities with the new boss. I hope that in the year ahead we will become comfortable...
Trust…..
The last couple of weeks' discussions at our depression impact group have centered around the issue of connection with other people and trust. John Ortberg had published an article that stated that healing begins with connection- to God and to others. We explored some of the various activities of daily living that demand at least a rudimentary level of trust in other human beings. Then we looked at various scriptures related to trust and discussed the advantages of being vulnerable in order to risk building trust with other people.This week, as I waited to visit with a physician- something...