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.
Traveling Well: Returning Home Transformed
Written 9/24/2016 upon returning from New Room gathering..,,,,six years further down the road, having returned from another New Room, and the journey is still joyful: "I receive a periodical published by Baylor University called "Christian Reflection: A Series in Faith and Ethics". This month's publication is on the topic of "Traveling Well." The imagery of "journey" and traveling has long been associated with spiritual growth. Christ called discipleship to his teaching "The Way." The introduction to this month's collection of articles says, "As we travel about, we inevitably return home...
Assume Positive Intent
A sister-friend in Christ, Katherine, has a lovely thought on the top of her FB page. It made me stop and think today. Katherine’s header...... “Assume positive intent. Be kind. Learn something new everyday.” I think I’ve worked with addictive personalities for so long and was created by God perhaps with enough space for some larceny in my own heart to anticipate manipulation and deception so as to be able to stay just a half step ahead of most of their antics. It would certainly be nice to live otherwise. Scripture says Jesus knew what was in the hearts of people...... sadly, too often I...
“Good Day” or “Blessed Day”
What’s the difference between telling someone to “have a good day” and “have a blessed day”? Hmmmm...... A good day suggests a desire for another to experience a day with favorable circumstances and a positive outcome. A blessed day desires for another the presence and protection of God upon their activities, regardless of what circumstances come their way. Just pondering........ I think I’d fare better over time, day in and day out, seeking a blessed day over a good day. Good is open to a lot more subjective interpretation than blessed!
Why So Much Creativity By God?
What was the Scripture text for the sermon where you worshipped today? Ours was Psalm 71:12-18 "Do not be far from me, my God; come quickly, God to help me. May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace. As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise your more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long- though I know not how to relate them all. I come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to...
How Much God Does One Want?
We enjoy about as much of the Lord as we are willing to receive. “Discipleship requires staying power. We sign up for the duration. We do not graduate until heaven.” R.C. Sproul
God: “Tell Others”
Me: ( Mar 20,1997, exclaiming in early morning praise) “Surely, Lord, you have created the beauty of this world for your glory and my delight!” The Lord: (in a rather stunning, but gentle reply) “Tell others.” Me: “What am I to tell? To whom? How? Where? When?” The Lord: (silence) Me: (Three months later,again). “I am yours, Lord. What do you want me to do? Just show me what it is.” The Lord: “Just get up each day and do the things before you. I will bring them to you.” Me: (Today.) “Here I am, Lord, just doing that which is before me this day. Use me as you will.” Me: (To others). “Consider...
The Spirit of Jesus or The Love of Jesus
(8/21/22) A well known pastor has been known by many for his use of a phrase: “The Spirit of Jesus in me greets the Spirit of Jesus in you and brings us together in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.” This week I was listening to one of the podcasts he hosts and he used a different opening, "The love of Jesus in me greets the love of Jesus in you....." The change up was obvious and I wondered why. I am curious....... wondering if "Spirit of Jesus" is offensive to some? One person who knows this individual said, “No. He’s just getting to the age where he mixes and...
Vulnerability and Public Emotional Ambush
I had read my morning seedbed.com Daily Text Devo.... a reader's personal testimony about God's wonderful grace in reconciling a broken relationship with a daughter. It made me grateful that my own daughter, Charlotte, and I finally seem to have some peace after nearly two decades of contentions due mostly to lack of understanding one another. After that I was reading some news and opinions and an article about the way a group is transforming Georgia with nearly 100,000 new naturalized immigrants registering to vote. It just made me shake my head and pray for the Lord to give me peace...
Even A Cup Of Cold Water
It was of poverty of spirit that the Lord spoke to my heart in the midst of pain, hurt, and disappointment on a drive following what was to have been a joyful retreat with friends on a cruise ship in 2003 as I cried and prayed asking why such circumstances kept happening in my life. In the next few days the Spirit unfolded the map of the pilgrim path Jesus had laid out in the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount. I recognized that state of being in myself the second God spoke the Word. The revelation of the Beatitude path in my own life has proven to be a worthy guide over the last two...
Spiritual Leprosy
from Joni Eareckson Tada: "Spiritual leprosy: It is when your soul becomes hardened by sin's deceitfulness. It is when you spiritually lose all sensation of pain, especially things that pain God. It's where you become actually dull and deadened to sin--when your sensitivity to wrongdoing becomes so numb that you end up ripping your soul apart and don't even realize it. You sin--even blatantly sin--and you don't feel it. White becomes black, black becomes white (or at least gray), and you end up thinking that what others call rebellion in your life isn't really all that bad. Leprosy is...