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.
Prayer of St. Francis….
First, a bit of history.....The Peace Prayer of St. Francis is a famous prayer which first appeared around the year 1915 A.D., and which embodies the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi's simplicity and poverty. According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis's Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis. This prayer, according to Father Schulz, Das sogennante Franziskusgebet, Forshungen zur evangelishen Gebetslitteratur (III), in Jahrbuch fur Liturgik und Hymnologie, 13 (1968), pp. 39-53, first...
Self disclosure…
In the process of getting to know a new class or group, a teacher often has to be somewhat transparent and reveal things about herself in order to allow the group to get to know her well enough to feel comfortable and open themselves. I have done that a bit as I've been teaching the Friendship Class (our adult seniors) over the last few months.Today our topic was about our responsibilities as members of the church, including the responsibility to correct and encourage one another. I shared with them some of the times when discerning Christians have corrected or admonished me. Like Linda...
Now and again….
I realize that it's been six weeks since I posted. Graduate school has proven to be more time consuming than I had expected and I have been seriously reconsidering whether the time and effort to blog were worthwhile. A Christianity Today online magazine article revealed that there have been more people who have departed the blogosphere than those who are actively blogging today. It is a time consuming venture. And one which, apparently, many have decided is no longer worth the time or effort.Since my years of journaling have been characterized by weeks, even months of lapses at times, I have...
Subtleties mean something……
Today I was rereading lesson 7 in the Beth Moore study, Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Life a Reality in Christ. This lesson is on obedience. Psalm 119:105 was part of the lesson's reading. "Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." She reminds us that in this couplet the first part, "lamp to my feet", speaks of the present step- this moment. The second part, "a light to my path", speaks of the immediate future, the steps just ahead of us. God's word is designed to give us guidance for now and the immediate future. And, of course, God tells us what the ultimate goal is. But...
Idolatry…
"Idolatry is the universal human tendency to value something or someone in a way that hinders the love and trust we owe to God. It is an act of theft from God whereby we use some part of creation in a way that steals from honor due to God. Idolatry conflicts with our putting God alone first in our lives, in what we love and trust (see Exodus 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9; Romans 1:21-23). In idolatry we put something or someone, usually a gift from God, in a place of value that detracts from the first place owed to God alone, the gift Giver. That thing or person is an idol."This quote is from a Loyala...
Hungering and thirsting…..
I have been utilizing a popularly advertised mail order diet program for a couple of months and have lost 13 pounds. I am getting close to breaking a barrier that I crossed nearly five years ago! But I am feeling a little less confident, fearing that I'll bump against this barrier as I have several times in the past and get stuck there again!A friend called my attention this week to an online Bible study weight loss program. As I was reading the website I had a realization about something that had not occurred to me before.For years I have known that I had security fears that manifested...
Imagine a country……
As part of a graduate school course in counseling multicultural populations, I have been reading from an anthology of essays on various aspects of diversity. There is an essay by Holly Sklar, a Knight-Ridder op-ed columnist, entitled "Imagine a Country" written in 2006 and published in this anthology under the section on The Economics of Race, Class, and Gender. Sklar spends eight and a half pages inviting readers to "imagine" a country with a variety of social and economic ills, never describing the country but comparing it very unfavorably to a number of other countries- Jamaica,...
The enemy within…
"The enemy within" is the title of a book recommended to me by my daughter in law. She and I compare notes regularly on things we're learning in our respective journeys of faith.As I was preparing for teaching at a Friday night Celebrate Recovery! event, I was reviewing Genesis 3:6 (Eve's temptation in the garden), Matthew 4 :2-10 (Jesus' temptation in the wilderness) and 1 John 2:16 (John's summary of the nature of sin, characterized as "lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life"). One of the challenges with people in a recovery program is getting them to see that the...
Compressed semesters…..
I have gotten started in a masters program at a local campus of an out of state university. The semesters are compressed into 9 weeks and the year consists of 5 semesters. It will enable me to complete my desired degree in less that a year and a half. But what a price one pays for this fast track! I am swamped with required reading and weekly papers to be written and semester projects that have to be fast tracked, as well! Trying to juggle all the assignments and check off all the requirements for course completion has me really struggling to adjust my calendar and schedule to get it all...
The student attracts the teacher……
For a number of years as I was growing in my faith, Dr. Charles Stanley's teaching spoke to me with such power and conviction that it seemed he was reading my thoughts and preaching to me and me alone. It was eerie to me then that he always seemed to know just where I was and what I needed. I wrote to his ministry at one point to thank him for his teaching and expressed that sense. I received a polite response for someone on his staff and was told that they hear regularly from people who have that sense of very personal instruction through his teaching.Then I began to use the devotional book...