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.
Learning To Pray With Bill
One thing people commented on regarding my husband, Bill, after his death in 2020 was about Bill's quick and seemingly comfortable practice of praying with others..... Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." I attribute that to his mother's diligence in teaching him to pray as a child. The small candle holder seen here was a gift from Bill to his Mother when he was a young child. Not long ago Bill had told me that she taught him the Lord's Prayer before he started school.. As he recalled, she sat on his bed with him at night...
Ravines
Recently one of my morning devotional from Seedbed Daily Text was about God sending Elijah into the Kerith ravine for safety. He drank from the brook and ravens fed him day and night until The brook dried up in the drought and God sent him to the widow of Zarepheth. We were challenged to think about "ravine" times in our lives. The first experience of a ravine for me was as a child, but it didn't hold danger. Rather it was familiar and fun. Only as I look back now can I see spiritual ravine times where God had me in isolation yet secure. Even those are cherished times because I knew Ge...
For We Don’t Have To Grieve Like These…
Bill died two years ago today. The memory of that day is still very fresh thank God for my sister's presence with me during those days. I am blessed to have known Bill's devotion to the Lord and have assurance of his abiding with the Lord now. Not everyone has that comfort. Here are some excellent thoughts for those counseling individuals grieving a loved one without confidence of the deceased’s eternal condition- From Biblical Counseling Coalition: “Wise Words for Vulnerable Times ……… I’ve been reading the rich, pastoral letters of John Newton. I recently came across one where he offers...
Morning Prayers
Originally written on August 14,2017 "There is peace and stillness as I arise this morning in the little 1/2 acre that is our sanctuary. I pray God's peace for all the people and in all the places where God is known and welcomed.....and that those people and places will be salt and light to the rest of the world." Observed 8 days after Bill's death, August 14, 2020 about that prayer.... "still true." Today. August 14,2022....... I am in a different place, but the prayer is still the same. Amen. On August 14,2015 I had written this about a family member.... "My heart aches that the...
At Least Show Up
Posted August 14,2014.... Since moving to PC in 1994, I have experienced a number of disappointments with contractors, service people, and others who simply do not show up. There was, however, a cabinet maker who, on his truck, had the sign, "I SHOW UP!" It made me laugh. 90% of the results are accomplished just by showing up! Brene' Brown did a TED talk last year that started with this quote: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the...
Behold And Become
“Behold!” With each step of Jesus’ life and ministry described in scripture we are given revelations of the truth of who he is through the eyes of first one person after another - Mary and Joseph, shepherds and Magi, Simeon and Anna, John the Baptist, satan (in the wilderness), wedding guests in Cana, his disciples, those who were healed, the centurion, Nicodemus, the Syro-Phoenician woman, Saul the persecutor, and on and on and on. But when WE behold what manner of love He has given unto us and experience the transforming work of His Holy Spirit in our own lives, becoming holy as He is...
Character of God Experienced In Friendship
Today I spent a couple of impromptu hours on an otherwise unscheduled Saturday at the home of a close friend..... We laughed about neither of us having a prior commitment and being free, it being such an uncommon experience in our frequently over-scheduled lives. Having interrupted her in the middle of her own Saturday morning skincare routine, she gave me a luxury facial as Alexa played instrumental hymns on Spotify. And she taught me how to make cold brew coffee and how to froth milk.... all of it a very special treat! Our conversation came around to how the things we focus on become what...
Early Morning Worship Joy
One thing I have enjoyed in the years since our church began really growing and added a contemporary worship service back in about 2000, was our 8:00 am worship for those desiring a more traditional worship experience. Rev. Doug Pennington used to say that those of us who came for early worship at Lynn Haven UMC were the ones who liked to "get up and get it over with"! (He was only kidding..,,) This morning as I and another LHUMC worshiper greeted one another in the hallway before 8 a.m., we laughed together that we were either very excited worshippers who couldn't wait to get to church or...
Flawed Families: Judah and Tamar
Continuing a Sunday morning study series on "Flawed Families of the Bible", this week we looked at Judah and Tamar (Genesis 37-38). Judah is an interesting character study.....and the transformation wrought in his life by Tamar's move to force him to accept his responsibility to her, as widow of his eldest son, and the later evidence of his changed heart toward his family in his behavior in protecting Benjamin in Egypt, show that people can change......not always because they want to, but sometimes because another person believes that they can and acts in a way that demands that they do so,...
WYSIWYG*
Some people do not know how to take my directness. Others, even when they will not admit it to anyone else, tell me privately that they are grateful for the fact that I am as transparent as I am, that it helps them examine and clarify some of their own thoughts and values (even when they are different from mine), especially about matters related to spiritual formation and personal faith. Many people are so private with their faith and the struggles they encounter that they miss the opportunity to experience the Holy Spirit's work in interdependent community...sharing in one another's lives...