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.
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...
Battleships and fishin’ boats….
A Maritime Analogy for Responses to Conflict From “Leadership Essentials for Children’s Ministry” (by Craig Jutila). The author gives a simple analogy about responses to conflict. He describes them as follows: 1.) Battleship response- the conqueror; built to fight and win 2.) Submarine response- built to disappear; withdraws to reappear later 3.) Aircraft carrier response- deployer; built to avoid engaging enemy directly; sends others to engage and report. 4.) Canoe response- negotiator; built for compromise and balance 5.) Lifeboat response- drifter; built to yield; go with the flow 6.)...
From Image-Bearer to Child of God: Not hearers only……
I have come to see in the Scripture a number of names associated with people in relation to God. Initially, even soon after Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, as these Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus Christ began the separation from the synagogues of the Jews, they became known as “People of The Way.” As members were “added to the number,” they eventually came to be called “Christians,” meaning “little Christs” or “in the likeness of Christ.” According to Genesis, the first identity that humankind possesses in relationship to God is “image-bearer”, having been created by God in...
Empathy fatigue….?
Today a friend in an office I visit regularly was telling me that her grandaughter's baby died at birth today- a sad event for their family. It was her grandaughter's first child. Another couple that I know are sitting by their 7 week old grandaughter's bed in a hospital near here where she is fighting meningitis. Last week the 8 year old daughter of a couple who are known by many in our church died of a brain aneurysm. Such tragedies seem to be part and parcel of life, but lately there seem to be so many more of them. Is it a function of my life being intertwined with so many more people...
Happy Birthday, Baby Girl……
Thirty one years ago tonight I was giving birth to my second child, a girl. I can remember much about that night. There is one moment in particular when the doctor shouted, "Get in here stat, the heart rate's going." Detached as I was, with medication, I didn't realize the danger that my baby was in. I simply thought, "so this is what it feels like to die," thinking that it was my heart he was talking about. When they delivered her, it seemed to take a while before I heard a lusty cry. Then I asked what her Apgar score was. "A good 8 or 9," I was told. It would be what seemed like several...
Telling others……
March 20, 1997.....In a moment of ecstatic praise, I said, "Surely the Lord has created this beautiful world for His glory and my delight!" No sooner had the words formed in my brain than I heard, in my spirit, "Tell others." I knew it was God. But I didn't know what it was that I was to "tell" or to whom I was to tell it! It was the first lesson of many that I have experienced about the timelessness of God.It was not that phrase about beauty, glory, and delight specifically, that I would wind up "telling others". Rather, it would be, for the most part, things that had not yet happened to...
Update and correction….
I forwarded the timestamp post below ( See "Time in a Bottle") to a friend, a pastor, whose intellect I appreciate. And wouldn't you know it, he immediately replied, "Won't it happen again in a thousand years?"He's absolutely right.I get so caught up in the novelty of someone spending time on such minutiae that I don't critique the thought process very well. Oh, to have a mind that can see the flaws and catch wrongheaded thinking! A couple of years on the debate team and 25+ years in sales still haven't taught me to think as critically as I would like.There are those, however, who maintain...
Thinking about time….
I had the privilege today to review a new Bible study series entitled SALT-Seven Areas of Life Trainings, A Comprehensive Discipleship Series. It's a rather simple, straight forward, 28 lesson study that most anyone could work through in a day or two, with nothing more to distract her. The concepts are simple and supported with Scripture and applications to life are easy to draw.It was so simple I had to ask myself, does real discipleship seem this easy to some people? It has not been easy in the least for me. I struggle regularly with ongoing refining in key areas of my life. Sometimes I...