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.
Changed Strategies
I have a friend who is a retired AF JAG officer, retired private atty and former state regulatory administrative officer. He told me that he’d always been impatient with and dismissive of “spam” marketing callers….. until he found himself widowed. A devoted follower of Christ, he told me about the Lord nudging him to “take the calls.” Suddenly he found himself with a new way to serve the Lord and an evangelism opportunity. He sees the voice on the other end of the conversation as a human being created in the image of God and prepares to speak to them from that perspective. He has a...
Titus 2 Report May 2025
Titus 2 Ministry May 2025 Report 6/1/25-Assisted a family member of neighbors of many years, who immigrated to US over 2 decades ago, to complete necessary paperwork for application for naturalization as a US citizen. The other spouse had previously completed the process. -Assisted a mother of school age children in gathering together documentation and resources to assist her to pay off an out of state traffic fine and counseled development of a workable budget plan for securing a FL license, car registration, and insurance to secure a full time job. -Provided 10 gift cards to a Bay Co....
Cast: far more energetic than put or place or lay
(from 3/9/24, CBB) “Cast: [verb] to cause to move or send forth by throwing. direct. to put forth. to place as if by throwing. to deposit (a ballot) formally. to throw off or away. to get rid of : discard. shed, molt. to throw to the ground especially in wrestling. to build by throwing up earth." "Cast" is a really rich biblical word. As I reflected on Peter acquiescing to cast the net at Christ's direction (though not without some resistance and questioning of the value of the action!), there were other reminders:….of lots being cast, also, as a means of putting a decision or choice in...
Titus 2 Ministry May 2025 Activity Report
6/1/25 Titus 2 Ministry May 2025 Activity Report 6/1/25-Assisted a family member of neighbors of many years, who immigrated to US over 2 decades ago, to complete necessary paperwork for application for naturalization as a US citizen. The other spouse had previously completed the process. -Assisted a mother of school age children in gathering together documentation and resources to assist her to pay off an out of state traffic fine and counseled development of a workable budget plan for securing a FL license, car registration, and insurance to secure a full time job. -Provided 10 gift cards...
Going Out and Coming In
The Kingdom economy is very different from that of the world. The world economy is about meeting our own needs by the work of our hands. The Kingdom economy is about meeting the needs of one another with the resources God has put in our care as stewards of His kingdom. My husband’s spiritual gift was generosity. I learned from him how to hold lightly the things God has entrusted to my care. I believe this is what Acts 2:42-47 is describing. The Bible also speaks of “going out and coming in.” We can think about our being in the world but not of it in this way: we go out into the world to...
Rubber Ducks Diving Deep
I had a dream last night…. a vivid single-frame image dream. The kind of dream God often brings me that is a bit of a puzzle, a challenge, or sometimes a call to a think deeply and clearly. Sometimes they are accompanied by some brief word from the Lord that shocks my senses into a sudden realization that He is giving me a new instruction or insight. last night’s image was silent but potent in the contrasted mixed messages of its components. To the left of the frame was a small smiling yellow rubber duck, the kind of bathtubs and kiddie pools and Jeep dashboards. The left edge of the yellow...
Technologically Disabled
The last four and a half years have revealed a profound disability…… any new online digital demand outside my regular routine of comfort-level accounts throws me into a panic attack that lingers in a PTSD response for the rest of the day , including heart and mind short-circuited, rapid pulse and risk of hyperventilating , followed shortly by tears that can last for hours. I’ve always been a somewhat anxious computer user. But as long as Bill was around to answer questions or override a problem, I could carry on. Without him, because he was admin and owner of so much of our software,...
Living Out Ministry Calling
My view of ministry and benevolence is as a partnership, first with God as a steward of Kingdom resources placed in my care, then as a partner with others like myself, journeying through life who have recognized it is better accomplished in community. This week Titus 2 put this principle to work on behalf of a young woman in transition from homelessness to restored economic stability. We watched her work for 5 weeks after coming to shelter from another state with several school age children. I inquired of her case managers and chaplain about her circumstances and plan. I discovered she had a...
Speaking Truth To The Power of Your Own Flesh
In Florida I have been certified as a Recovery Support Specialist since 2008. It did not necessitate a history of lived chemical addiction. I did not hide my past, I just hadn’t thought it relevant so many years later. Others are certified there as Peer Recovery Specialists by virtue of their lived experience with chemical abuse. In seeking to extend my certification to Alabama, I was told I will not be allowed to certify in Alabama as a Recovery Support Specialist because of my lack of chemical abuse lived experience, as it is required for any recovery certification here. I almost accepted...
“….and Jesus appeared to Simon.”
On Saturday I had a text conversation with a friend about the feelings of such a dark Sabbath Saturday after the reminders of Jesus’ pain and suffering of Good Friday that the disciples might have been experiencing all those years ago on the day after Christ’s crucifixion. Here is the essence of that: “Saturday…Sabbath Day. “In between” Day…..Imagine the grief, confusion, disappointment, disillusionment, report of Judas’ suicide… disciples hiding out in the upper room with locked door… a quiet isolated Sabbath gave them some cover to absorb the shock. It’s good for people to feel their...