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.
Surprising Factors in Longevity
From my social media posts 1/28/2023: After my serendipitously free iced decaf latte experience yesterday I visited with an elderly lady, Ms. Bernie Shotts, I see once a week to help with a few tasks that have gotten beyond her. I helped her pay some bills, took her to the bank and to the pharmacy. When we finished at the pharmacy she asked, “are you in a hurry?” “No,” I said. “Is there somewhere else you’d like to go?” “Can we just go for a ride?” she asked. “Sure. Where would you like to go- downtown, out in the country, or to the beach?” “To the beach,” she said. So we headed out Hwy 98,...
Incomprehensible vs. Incomparable Love
Following is part of a sermon on Advent themes-hope, peace, joy, and love- that I wrote 12/6/19… as I have been pondering on how diversely, narrowly and even incomprehensibly some define "love." "Consider Love. What do we know about the love of God? 1 John 4, verses 8 and 16 tell us that “God IS love”. Ephesians 3:18 tells us that we must have the power that comes FROM God to even begin to understand “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”1 John 4:10 reminds us that love originated with God and because He loved us, we desire to and are able to love Him in return. In 2...
Jonah and the Sign of Jonah Revisited…..
1/28/26. CBB Our Sunday School class at Christ Methodist Church Montgomery, AL, has been digging into Jonah. This morning as I read, I was struck by how Jonah knew God’s sovereignty over all circumstances AND he knew God’s goodness, compassion, mercy, patience, and lovingkindness. He was thankful for those things for himself. He also seemed fine with God showing mercy and compassion on the sailors. In spite of them having worshipped other gods, they came to know the true God through Jonah’s witness. He was willing to witness to them about God and to sacrifice his life so they could live....
God Reveals His Mission For One’s Life
CBB. 1/25/25 Shared by Dottie Wilson…. The longer I live, the more obvious this becomes….CBB “The struggles you face are not random; they reflect the weight of the mission God has entrusted to you. Every obstacle, every hardship, is a testament to the greatness within you that the enemy fears. God has filled you with resilience, strength and gifts meant to shine through even the darkest of times. Your life is marked by a divine calling the enemy cannot overcome. You are carrying a powerful, God-given purpose. God did not just anoint you for the task. He also anointed you for the challenges....
Science and Faith
A college student boarded a train and sat facing an elderly man praying the Rosary. The young man chided him for his ‘superstition’ and told him that science had rendered the beliefs of religion irrelevant. “How did you come to discover that?” the old gentleman asked… The young avoided answering directly and said, “I will send you some lecture notes and brochures. What is your address?” The elderly man took a business card from his pocket and handed it to the young man. It read “Louis Pasteur, Paris Scientific Research Institute.” Kaboom! I observed this story on social media. As a...
Poem of Holocaust Remembrance
My God, my God, I pray that these things never end,The sand and the sea,The rush of the water,The crash of the heavensThe prayer of Man. poem by a young Jewish martyr of Ww2, Hannah Senesh.
E.Stanley Jones: Loving Life In Christ
1/22/23. CBB Quote from In Christ, Devo book by E Stanley Jones "With our base established and firm, we are no longer afraid of this thing called life. “He who would love life”—some fear life, some distrust life, some retreat out of life, some hate life—and some love it! In Christ, we love life because we love Life. We can say to death: “O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). We can also say to life: “O life, where is thy sting?” Its very stings become our stimulus—they push us forward into the arms of Life. It’s fun to be a Christian—and to me it’s getting more fun all the time!". E....
Love Is……
1/22/25. CBB “Love is material investment in my neighbor.” Quote from participant in 2024 Summit of The Center for Christianity and Public Life (CCPL) I think that is the best definition of love I have heard. It’s not a feeling. It is a demonstrated commitment to actively seek what is best for another. That is agape, the love God has for all creation. Lord, let me always seek to love that way…..
Impact of People-Using
I don’t expect anyone to help me back…..but it does make me wonder when someone I'm helping thinks it's okay to play me and other Christians for fools……. take and take and take, all the while lying and faking how well they are doing while betraying me and others behind our backs. There are so many other places we could be making a difference while such a person is sucking up resources, even stealing and lying to everyone. CBB 1/21/19 1/21/26 The LORD God has really been pressing me, like olives in the Gethsemane press, squeezing out more and more understanding about myself, about others,...
Grace Across A Lifetime
Francis Chan and David Platt in talking about disciple making made the point that individuals have to stay focused on Christ….Keep pushing them toward relationship with him….Otherwise they will be tempted to become dependent on us as disciplers. Make Christ central!!! I see that again and again in recovery ministry. If an individual will not understand the gospel and move toward attachment to God, but rather wants to attach to me or others, the focus, motive, and attitude is not compatible with what we are doing here. As ministers of the gospel we are not about making individuals dependent...