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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.
Undiplomatic Truth
From time to time I am called "mean" and "cruel" for speaking the truth I observe. People want to act like they are truth-tellers...they detest being lied to...… but you TELL them the truth and they bow up, call you mean, and have nothing more to say. (Ironically, they don't seem to have any difficulty lying to others, even when they don't want to be lied to!) They may acknowledge that what you have said is true, but just because it is, you didn't have to say it! Or they will disagree but refuse to even debate the point with you or challenge your perspective ..... more often they just walk...
The God Who Set You Free
When he sets you free, he decides how you will be known. He gives you your name...... his name..... and you are now free FROM the past, but also free TO live into the fullest of what he created you to be from the beginning.
Koinonia
One Sister-Friend heart to another: “Even though we hardly ever talk, I always feel close to you. We have been through a lot together! “ Her Sister-Friend’s reply: “Sister-Friends are like that. But Christ says those who are joined thru His Body enjoy fellowship that is “even closer than a brother.” The Jesus in us both loves and embraces the other.” THAT is the kind of unity we have in Christ Jesus! Nothing else in the world like it. A bond that transcends any distinctive or division you can list....male/female, slave/free, Jew/Gentile, nation/ethnicity, size, color..... Why wouldn’t...
WYSIWYG: For Real
2 components of extroversion: assertiveness and enthusiasm. I'm high in both. Which makes me a burden and a total "extra grace required" for many introverts. If I'd known this in my 20's and 30's and been more guarded about being true to who I am, worn masks better, "faked it to make it" more adeptly, I might have spared myself and others some awkward or painful moments, but God was present through it all and saw fit to preserve both traits, but with greater mercy for those who just can't tolerate either one! I'm good with that. Not all of us can be everyone else's cup of tea... some...

Bending Low In A Healing Flow
Oct 9,2016 Sermon at Carillon Beach Community Chapel by Cathy Boyd Byrd, UMC Provisional Deacon Today we examine a miracle, up close and personal. Naaman was a military leader of a powerful nation which defeated Israel. To his king, Naaman was a great man. He was brave and victorious, a man with position, reputation, and power. He was a winner, successful and wealthy, admired and treated as a hero. Then a tiny, little word in the text changes everything, "but." Instantly, we see that, great as he was, Naaman had a problem. He had leprosy. The man who had it all was at risk of...

Prayer of St.Columba and H.Ian
My prayer of St. Columba was posted on Wednesday morning as Hurricane Ian ambled toward the southwest Florida peninsula. It had popped up on my FB history for that date from a few years ago. What delicious irony and a brilliant red thread of history and grace God weaves...I knew nothing of Columba...I simply save prayers and had saved that one. He was 6th century UK monk. "He was not only a great missionary saint who won a whole kingdom to Christ, but he was a statesman, a scholar, a poet, and the founder of numerous churches and monasteries. His name is dear to Scotsmen and Irishmen alike....
20 Years’ War…… or 2000?
9/28/2022.... Taliban “refugees” sexually assaulting female US military troops ON OUR OWN bases here in the US. ….. Do you not see the degradation and disdain they are showing for our nation, everything about our way of life, including any professed faith in God, our view of justice, mercy, and their boldness in violating the rights of all women??? If our system administered justice in the rigid and merciless style of their own Sharia, they’d be dead or eunuchs by sundown. And there are some… here among our citizens who would be happy to administer it. Our justice system today is so wimped,...
St. Columba Prayer
Be thou a bright flame before me, Be thou a guiding star above me, Be thou a smooth path below me, Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me, Today - tonight - and for ever -St Columba (?521-597) Irish monk and missionary in Scotland
God’s Ways, Our Ways
Jill Carattini, devotional writer, reminds us that God's ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts.......I've had a revelation of sorts this morning upon arising. At first glance it was somewhat disturbing. But upon reflection, it seems just like what God would do......not what I'd expect, not even what I'd want.....but very much what God would do. I am humbled by God's revelation of himself to me and the privilege of serving God. "The parables draw pictures that, like Jesus, turn everything upside down, exposing idols that look curiously like us. It is in the light of his...
Sustainable Ministry
From 9/28/2016; There are some, I expect, who wonder why I, at 62, continue to explore new "vistas", pursue new goals, and continue going after ministry activities and opportunities with passion and energy.....because that's who God made me to be. God's not done with me yet. I'm not done with life yet. "Retirement" is not a word that fits easily into my vocabulary. Moses was 80 when God called him to his greatest and God-chosen work! For many of us, the opportunity to do the things in life that we really love and have been prepared for come only after years of working in other careers and...