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.
In Recovery: Mania
Watching someone struggle with manic symptoms and/or anxiety and attempting to help her feel safe and grounded can be a challenge. .....while waiting the few days it can take for meds to begin their work. Simply listening can be helpful. Attentive supportive presence, quiet activities and distraction can help. I remember the feeling and the kind people who were there for me once upon a time. Essential oils aroma therapy, teaching deep breathing technique, listening to soothing music, experiencing a peaceful ride through a country area, talking about loved ones from the past....some of the...
Iron Bowls
Nov 26, 2016 "Our children had other plans for Thanksgiving. Billy's family came today for a pre-game Iron Bowl Day lunch. Bill cooked steaks. Joni and I made veggies, twice baked potatoes, and fruit salad. Catie, Haley, and Liam were all home to enjoy the time with us. Billy walked in the saw the table set and said, "Are we having company?" LOL! Me: "No, it's just us." I stuck a couple of game shakers in the blue vase with orange flowers. The placemats each have AU tiger-themed embroidery and were gifts from my sister, Carol Andrews, as few years ago, along with blue/orange matching...
Shell Nativity
A sweet shell nativity crafted by our oldest granddaughter, Catie Byrd, a few years ago...about 2012, I think. She did a workshop for a group of us and we used it as a model and made about 30 of them. We sold a few of them. The rest were lost, it seems when the plastic tub I had stored them in was never located after I left Bethel Village. I would have loved to have given them as gifts. Pastor Pete Oliver, who is at Hiland Park UMC, had made pretty oval bases for them all at the wood shop at The ARK. I would have even paid for all of them if I could have gotten them back.
The Antidote To Self-Righteousness: Mercy
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to...
“Then Jesus said, ‘You feed Them'”
"Gratefulness is more than a feeling that comes over us when good things happen. It's an active search to notice and be present to the goodness already around us — gaining eyes to see and ears to hear the abundance God has woven into the world." ( Dan White, Jr.) JD asked, "How about it? Gratitude as the seeds of the fruit of the Spirit? What do you make of that? How are you expressing your gratitude today? Are you seeing the endless loop of flourishing from generosity to gratitude to generosity to gratitude to generosity to . . . ? The goodness and generosity of God's Love is the seed He...
Then In Fellowship Sweet
Each morning I stir awake, check the time projected in red digital numerals on my ceiling from the bedside clock, remind myself of what day it is, then reach for my phone to open the seedbed.com daily Wake Up Call devotional. Before Bill died our morning routine was to watch the morning message from David Jeremiah. But the Wake-Up Call has replaced that morning routine, especially now given my awareness of David Jeremiah's theology of end times, with which I am less and less inclined to agree. I had written before about how many mornings after Bill's death I found myself waking at 4:22. As...
Honesty and Healing
This is one of the primary principles of healing....Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed....as the Apostle James advises.... Honesty Outweighs Perfection - by Joyce Meyer We can care too much about what people think of us to the point where it totally immobilizes us and we are petrified about looking wrong. But do you know what? I think if we are more truthful, we will actually get more respect than we do by trying to hide everything, pretending we're perfect. I believe one of the main reasons people like to listen to me is that I tell all my junk....
Rear View Mirror: On Medications
From 11/21/2014 Allow me to editorialize about the reported new policy of a local recovery program of not allowing even commonly prescribed SSRIs for depression to be used by their clients in recovery.....This is, in my opinion, unfortunate and unnecessary and will lead to more people being unable to access needed recovery help. Is this a move to improve "success rates" to one's reported goal of 80% in order to secure more corporate and community financial support or is it a religious dogma that denies the power of God to use medical science as one of many means of grace and healing? What is...
Worship Anywhere, Anytime
Moments of worship can occur anywhere, anytime! one afternoon at a cookie swap, a young lady was sharing with me about a holy moment she shared with the Lord as she was getting dressed just that morning. We never know when Christ will choose to speak to our hearts and embrace us with his love. If we abide in him, however, we can experience his presence in all kinds of circumstances. Her gratitude and delight in the Lord, I'm sure, make Christ want to bless her with the gift of his special presence regularly! (11/21/2015)
No Longer At Risk
Reflection from this date in 2015... "I am tired tonight, but it is a good tired....The day was fun and productive. Students are happy and safe. One young lady who has been with us a week told me tonight as she and I went to get her some groceries that this is the first time in years she has felt "safe"....not waiting for someone to pick a fight or throw her out of the house, having tasteful food of her own choice, having clothing provided to her by the Christian Church of PC's Thrift Store, etc. When one feels secure physically, it is a lot easier to relax and begin listening to God's voice...