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.
Boundaries Wisdom: Having Hard Conversations
"Boundaries" is a key curriculum resource and learning goal at Titus 2 Partnership, Inc. One of this curriculum authors, Dr Henry Cloud, sends out periodic newsletter articles of value that give additional insights. We share some of those here. Wisdom from Dr.Henry Cloud: “Learning to have a difficult conversation helps you solve problems. Now, this seems obvious, but it's an important benefit of confrontation. Boundary conversations are geared towards addressing and resolving an issue that is keeping two people apart or is hurtful to someone. When things work well, a problem is solved and...
Judging and Healing At The Same Time….
Time and time again, as Jesus healed and restored bodies and spirits, he said, "Go and sin no more." Was Jesus making a judgement and loving at the same time? He showed mercy and gave the valuable gift of life- sometimes physically, always spiritually- and he did judge the sin while loving the sinner. Can we even get our minds around how to do that in life today? I have seen occasions of it among people I know for whom it became a means to restored life after failing miserably,,,,,In each case observed it occurred among people who truly loved the Lord and loved the person and who took the...
When I Envision Jesus…
I have shared photos of Jesus Zlaugging snd it often stirs interest. I have an entire digital file of favorite pictures of Jesus. A friend and I were talking about our speculations Snd she sent me this link: The Faces of Jesus http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4621991478559084&pid=1.7&w=109&h=169&c=7&rs=1 Jesus via scientific magazines based on ethnicity. The EYES of WONDER Jesus based on the shroud of Turin. The EYES of CONTEMPLATION Jesus based on a young woman’s memory followin a life-after-death experience. The EYES of LOVE. I don’t care what you look like,...
Prayer for Adult Children and Grandchildren
Praying for adult children and grandchildren… file:///C:/Users/cathy_000/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/SQKV0C2Y/Prayer-for-My-Adult-Children.pdf From Randy Carlson at Intentional Living: Lord, we gave our children a home to grow in; I ask you to give them a life to thrive in Lord, we gave our children an education; I ask that you give them your wisdom Lord, we gave our children food for physical strength; I ask you to give them the Bread of Life Lord, we gave our children clothes for their bodies; I ask that you give them a covering of your grace for their souls...
Fringe Facts
From the Fringes; "Author A.J. Jacobs admits that he was agnostic before he even knew what the word meant. For all the good God seemed to invoke, the potential for abuse was far too high in his mind for God to be taken seriously. In a book exploring religion and religiousness, Jacobs describes an uncle who seemed to confirm this for him. Dabbling religiously in nearly every religion, his uncle went through a phase where he decided to take the Bible completely literally. Thus, heeding the Bible’s command in Deuteronomy 14:25 to secure money in one’s hand, he tied bills to his palms. Heeding...
To Give The Source Of Your Hope
1Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," “There is an important difference between the common definition of the word hope as a wishful desire for better things and the Bible’s definition: confident expectation of a positive future. The reason for the Bible’s intensified version comes from hope’s basis on the character of God and the promises of God. With that foundation, hope is so much stronger than mere wishful desires.”...
Loss and Lament
Loss and lament bring opportunities to be drawn deeper into the loving heart of God the Father, into the mind of Jesus Christ Man of Sorrows, into the comfort of the Holy Spirit consolation.......who know both intimately. CBByrd 7/19/22
Parallelism in Scripture- Foreshadow and Fulfillment: 8th Day in Jerusalem
One thing that jumps off the pages of Scripture at me from time to time are parallels between OT and NT texts, between different events in Jesus' life........ Consider an event after Jesus' Resurrection, when he appeared to his disciples, particularly the encounter with Thomas: Jn 20:19-31- 19 Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, (which was Resurrection Sunday) and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” 20 And when He had said...
Unity of Believers- Mt. Hermon and “8th Day Parallels”
Sermon preached May 16, 2021- Unity of Believers…. at Carillon Beach Chapel We’re going to look at several scriptures this morning. The first is Psalm 133. It is short and evokes some strong imagery: Ps 133- (Summary- Unity among brothers is like an anointing with oil, like dew of Mt. Hermon coming down on mountains of Zion…..) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, Running down upon the beard, As on Aaron’s beard, The oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of...
Covenant Marriage In Christ
I happened upon a social media post by a young woman who said she is about to get married and bemoaning the fact of how many people had told her, "It is the hardest thing you will ever do!" She said those were not the words she needed to hear.... and I agree. There are definitely moments in some marriages where that feels like the case, but in those moments one has to remember why she fell in love with her beloved, what they are building together as a family, and have confident trust that God will be with them both in the midst of the hard times.... and some hard times will come. But so...