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.
Morning Moon Shine
From a year ago..continuing to adapt and appreciate my townhome ... (CBB 5/17/2022 ) "Full moon's light shining in my window at 4:20 am...... a reminder of God's goodness. It has no light of its own but reflects that of the greater light. Lying here, with morning hymns playing in my mind...... I used to enjoy beautiful views of the moon over the lake.. The moon is just as beautiful from any point where one happens to be taking it in..."
Megalodon and Great White Sharks
I saw a picture this week of what was reported to be the upper and lower jaws and teeth of megalodon compared to that of a much smaller contemporary great white shark and was reminded of some reflecting on the mystery of megalodon's existence and extinction from a few years ago: "Just pondering..... if megaladon was the largest shark species to ever live and went extinct over 3 million years ago, since no complete intact skeleton has ever been found, how do we know it was not just a great white shark that lived at a time when the oceans were rich and not highly commercially fished and...
On “Spiritual Experiences”
(A spiritual) "experience isn't a possession to be coddled and stored, it's an encounter with the indwelling Spirit that thrusts us further and deeper into the world........John Wesley often asked his friends this question: "Is Christ real to you? How? Tell me a story." Wesley paid attention to the encounters of early Methodists, eager to hear the strange things the Spirit was doing in their hearts. Though he handled these experiences with care, always testing them with Scripture, he was also always ready to be surprised by the ways that the Spirit was blowing scriptural holiness across the...
Why We Accept So Few in Titus 2
You know, I've learned so much in these 15 years of working with women saying they want recovery. That is NOT the same as wanting to transform one's life. If one can't clearly state that she's had enough of the old way and knows that she's had enough of the merry go round of misery, then I'm not really going to be able to help. I'm not dishing out bandaids. Healing is the work we help facilitate and it is not fast and it is not easy. It's boot camp and our volunteers are the training officers. It's spring training and our team members are the coaches. Put on the big girl pants and the armor...
Therapeutic Laughter Can Traumatize Pets
May 8,3021: Poor little Winston is on high alert this morning. He was sitting by my chair as I was reading an individual’s lengthy minute by minute account of experiencing the prep process for a colonoscopy. I was laughing so hard I was snorting and tears were rolling down my face. Winston started jumping up and down, barking and howling and obviously distressed by my antics. I guess he thought I was having a seizure or something and was trying to bring me back to reality or alert the neighbors that I was seriously flipping out! Poor baby. Even now, as he lies on the sofa watching me...
Worship in Spirit and In Truth
Speaking of worship..... John 4- Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in Sychar…. 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the...
Legalism and License
I quoted something in another post which JD Walt had observed ....that love which is defined by feelings and behaviors has a way of becoming all about license or legalism. I will give you an example: At age 22 I was in a medical internship shared by another woman, along with a dozen other folks. She and I often talked about our respective families, lives and faith. My impression was that she held God at a distance because of her extreme view of His demands for perfection, viewing God as stern, wrathful, waiting for her to make a mistake to punish her. And at times she felt unworthy and...
Inheriting The Earth
Our Almighty Heavenly Abba Father owns all the cattle on a thousand hills (and everything else). He tells us that the meek will inherit the Earth (Matthew 5:5). That means that when we are submitted to his will, listening and attentive, when we are teachable and pliable in his hands, making ourselves available to be used by him for his purpose and plans, we have access to all of the resources of his kingdom. Just like a child who inherits her parents' estate, we will have 'inherited the earth." His resources are then our resources. Whatever is needed for us to accomplish his purpose we will...
Google Daily Highlights
I get a chuckle out of Google's daily tributes to individuals or events significant on the day's date through it's search portal. On this date, May 4th, a few years ago the honoree was Jane Jacobs, a Canadian and American journalist, author, and activist best known for her influence on urban studies. Her influential book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) argued that urban renewal did not respect the needs of most city-dwellers. The book also introduced sociology concepts such as "eyes on the street" and "social capital". I love those two phrases "eyes on the street" and...
Aha Moments About Purpose
One of more than a few "aha" moments that have converged for me is this: I am not a "social justice warrior". That is the work of people with causes/issues for which to battle. I am an advocate whose task is to battle for a particular person in the midst of a particular issue.....Those are two very different things. That has freed me considerably from some of "the tyranny of the urgent" and helped me recognize what is really important for me in the present moment. And the issue(s) confronting the one(s) God brings to me are not always the same...so it demands a degree of flexibility. But...