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.
Spirit of Offense
The spirit of offense is rampant among our children….such evil, such tragedy. How many of them have heard and seen verbal and physical violence in the home? Disrespect? Rejection of authority? Have no skills for impulse control or conflict resution? No willingness to talk through differences, forgive, and move forward? No love of self or neighbor? No value for life? Have been trained in only the dichotomy of victimizer or victim, oppressor or oppressed? Some live like their world is a war zone and its either kill or be killed….. In news this week: “A 15-year-old boy allegedly gunned down his...
Zaccheus Character
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JYs8sMqAs9c#:~:text=https://youtu.be/JYs8sMqAs9c?si=FSPCWQ3jlM951HHh In the daily Wake Up Call devotional from Seedbed on Sunday, 11/2/25, JD Walt directed us to the story in Luke of Zaccheus. He stirred a bit of discussion in the readers’ Facebook discussion group by suggestions Zaccheus was not necessarily the low-life sinner tax payer we’d all been told growing up. I responded in the discussion group to several who took issue with JD’s read of the story. After a day and a half of people weighing in, we’d done a lot of back and forth. I gathered my various...
God of All Comfort, Thank You.
Deep peace of the running wave to you.Deep peace of the flowing air to you. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the gentle night to you. Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world, to you. Gaelic Blessing This is how I feel today. Last night I dreamed of Bill with me. It was a very real feeling of his presence.We were at home but the details of“home” seemed somewhat vague. It was perfect timing for such a comforting sense of his presence after quite a dry spell…… A few weeks ago I had wondered to myself if I would ever have...
New Respect For a Bumblebee
During this month of prayer and fasting we are focusing on the theme “Preparing the Way”. It suggests an active endeavor on our parts. And certainly there is a lot of activity underway in preparation for our move. And just as certainly, it is the consensus of our church that God has done the calling in this move. Therefore, we can rest assured that He is leading, preparing the way for us and guiding us as we explore the means and methods for accomplishing it. But today I want us to focus on what God has already done to prepare each of us individually for what lies ahead. Yesterday Stephanie...
Huckleberries
My reflection 11/3/25: “When the Lord puts something on your heart to do, you do it. It may not make sense to others. It may not even make sense to you at the moment. But the logic of the world has no bearing on what God has said to you. Others will not be accountable for your lack of obedience. You will. You can pause and ask if you heard or understood the Lord correctly. God will make it clear. If it is within what you understand of the character of God, the Word of God, the example of Christ and it is within your ability, don’t delay. At that point, you need to get on about His business....
Be Sanctified Spirit, Soul, and BODY
Be ye sanctified wholly…spirit, soul, AND BODY!!! 1 Thessalonians 5:23 I teach that people grow in six ways…the same ways Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus, in the fullness of His humanity, grew perfectly….The ways God created us all to reach full maturity.In wisdom (intellectually and emotionally) In stature (physically and morally) In favor with God (spiritually) and In favor with people (socially)! Physically means not just achieving full height and size, but also having knowledge about self-care and healthful living! God created us as tri-part beings, but many of us neglected the”body”...
A Life Defined By A Passion
Determination and perseverance defined by a life….. “She watched 146 women burn to death because factory owners locked the exits.Twelve years later, she became the most powerful woman in America.As a girl, Frances Perkins couldn't understand why good people lived in poverty.Her father said the poor were lazy or weak.Frances, even then, knew that couldn't be true.At Mount Holyoke College, she studied physics—safe, respectable, appropriate for a young woman. Then came a class trip that changed everything. Her professor took students to tour factories along the Connecticut River.Frances saw...
Losing One’s Mind For the Cause of Christ
I’ve been mulling over JD’ Walt’s comments in the seedbed Wake Up Call on YouTube 10/27/25 that if we feel burdened and joyless in Christian life, we aren’t doing it right. Even more-so, I think that applies to those in vocational ministry. In 2002, the year I started working in Christian education at my church, two friends and I started a comedy music trio to entertain at Emmaus Walks in our conference (“altar”egos seen tuning up in photo below, L to R: Cricket-tenor, Eula Lee-soprano and Maybelline-alto.) We worked walks at least 3-6 times a year from 2002-2016 or so, then we turned our...
“So That You Won’t Fall Away”
“If you are in a “full of sorrow, kind of moment right now,”know that sorrow is not the end of your story. John 16:20 is a reminder to stay faithful. God will turn your tears of sadness into tears of joy. A lasting and permanent kind of joy, a joy that the world cannot take away. God knows that you are tired. He knows you are doing your best. He sees you and He sees that you are not giving up. Remember, when life feels overwhelming, God’s peace is greater than your struggles. His love will carry you through every storm.” (Dottie Wilson’s text devo is the starto gnpl e for my reflection this...
Assurance of Salvation
Assurance…. A hallmark doctrine of Methodism….. yet do we really “get it?” Assurance is not “all about the heart”….. it’s only about the heart after one’s heart has been circumcised and healed by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit operating by invitation to Jesus to take control of one’s life…… Hebrews 6:19 (AMP) “This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence...