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.
Does Any Desire Wisdom? Ask God.
I love how God gradually reveals things about oneself, little tidbits of information and insights gleaned here and there over years, then one day just hits you with it: "This is you!" This morning I was meditating on His Word. Suddenly in my mind's eye I saw Greek letters. Seeing Christ through the lens of Luke, probably one of the most educated among Christ's followers and a disciple under Paul at the time, a Hellenistic Jew from Turkey trained as a physician, this continuing-Christmas week morning God said, "This is you.". I knew immediately what He meant..... I spent years having tested...
“Forgetting Baby Jesus”
Forgetting Baby Jesus "The cast had taken off their costumes. The wise men’s crowns and capes and the shepherd’s cloaks were folded and placed back in the storage tubs along with Mary’s and Joseph’s garments for another year. The donkey and the cow and her calf were delivered back to the farm, and the sheep were turned lose in their pasture. The straw was removed from the make-shift shelter, leaving only the skeleton of timbers that made up the frame of a stable. Within minutes of the closure at the stable, everyone had gathered in the church, as the pews of the sanctuary were filling up...
Rough Days In Ministry
12/22/2012 Today was one of those days....the ecstasy of victory, the agony of defeat......(or something like that from an old television promotion for a sports program, I think). I had the privilege of watching the awkward but loving embraces of a family reunion, as ties between daughter and parents are being re-tied....tears by all, speechlessness, then so much to say after more than a decade of alienation. God working in giving second chances to father, mother, and daughter. And those of us who were on hand privileged to watch with a sense of awe and blessing. Earlier in the day Evelyn...
Bernie Shotts’ Love Story of Mary and Joseph
12/22/2013 Friday evening students, staff, and guests at Bethel Village were privileged to see a dramatic monologue by Proverbs 31 volunteer, Bernie Shotts (Hiland Park Baptist Church). Entitled "I Am Mary" we heard Mary tell her story and we gained a new perspective on the love story between Mary and Joseph. This tender monologue is something I will be hoping to reprise in another venue with Bernie soon!
Ubuntu: Desmond Tutu
What is "Ubuntu" "A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed." - Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop of South Africa in 1980's
Embracing God’s Priorities
from Charles Stanley: (\12/22/2015) "Satisfaction is found in a life that reflects God’s priorities—and time with Him comes first. Reading His Word, we become mindful of the Father’s great love, learn what He views as important, and experience the joy of belonging to Him. When contentment is elusive, it’s time to examine our priorities." I am content to be about my Father's business each day. I pray that I allow His priorities to be mine.
Spirit Kairos
There are days in which one is just more certain than on others that God has ordered one's steps in ways beyond her understanding because one has been found in places, with people, in conversations, or with thoughts having arisen that simply could not have come any other way. I want to live every day with such awareness and awe at God's presence and leading. When those kairos times occur I have the sense that Jesus lived with that kind of awareness from a very young age and that it is that "mind of Christ" that Jesus possessed that we can begin to experience as we surrender all of who we are...
Blessings In Disguise
Encouragement for today! Have experienced this truth again and again. It’s a blessing in disguise Wednesday, December 22, 2021 “Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory.” 2Co 4:15 MSG If you’re going through a difficult time right now, let Paul’s words encourage you. “Surrounded and battered by troubles…we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows…we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken” (vv. 8-9 MSG). Who was Paul talking to? Followers of Christ who were having a rough time....
The Kingdom
"Paul describes God as continually calling us to His Kingdom and glory. His calling on our lives is not merely occasional. It’s continuous, ongoing, and all-encompassing. God calls us to His glory in all the everyday details of our lives (1 Cor. 10:31). He calls us to His Kingdom as the first priority in every situation, the defining outlook, motif, and driving force in every aspect of our lives (Matt. 6:33). Many Christians understand this. They understand that God’s calling is total and unrelenting. He does not call us once in a while or every so often. He does not call us when a really...
Source of Passion In Service
"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Ephesians 6:7-8 .........No "Five Easy Steps to Serving Enthusiastically" will do the trick. Only when your focus is on Jesus can you put passion into your service. He must not only be the One we serve but the One from whom we draw power. Lord Jesus, in Your power I will serve You today! - Joni Eareckson Tada. (From Drc 21, 2014) I was preparing for my first interview for deacon ordination after 2 years as a...