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.
No Escape
"Every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." Perhaps it will not necessarily be by sweet fellowship and peaceful evangelism..... Maybe God has something else in mind based on humankind's historical unwillingness to learn any way except by the hardest....... When the end of the rope is all one has left to grip to pull oneself out of the pit, that is the point that often reveals that it is God Himself who holds the rope. If people will not yield to the will of God in peace and prosperity, will they yield to the will of God when the enemy has ransacked them and taken...
Squandered Righteousness
All righteousness of mankind is "as filthy rags"... only the righteousness of God- His grace, mercy, justice, and favor poured out as a blessing to all people of all nations- will provide the safety and nurture every child, every family deserves.... Amen, Brother. Amen. That was the hope on which America was born... the virtues of God's righteousness and justice.... lived out in the lives of men and women.... We have allowed it to be squandered and been unable or unwilling to wear the righteousness and justice of God symbolized by the white and red stripes of our flag. We have sought to...
Desires of Our Hearts
In December 2021 I visited an elderly lady, Jo Pate, in a local assisted living center. She and my mother had been friends 2decades ago. Bill and I had known her husband, Stan, when they lived in Selma and we had each called on him when he was a buyer for a wholesale warehouse in the 70's and 80's......While I was visiting her she told me she is 102 and that she has her site set on making 105. I did not know that when I wrote the following four years ago today on May 30,2018: "In the last month or so I’ve had all my medical updates...... you know the routines. Gastro/ dermatology/...
Aging Well
Written in response to the April 12 Seedbed Daily Text on membership in the "elder class:" I am 68. I have a few arthritic joints and my eyesight isn't the best (but I look forward to when my ophthalmologist tells me my cataracts are 'ripe' and we can proceed with surgery!). I remember the testimony of an octogenarian who was invited to speak on aging to our "20-30 something" Sunday School class. ( I was one of the 20-somethings.) She was a delightful elder, in the most positive and literal sense of the word. I remember one thing in particular she said, "My body shows every bit of my 8...
Tea Time
So, I decided I'd binge on Season 1 of All Creatires Great and Small. As I'm watching the promo for it I spot something rather incredulous.... a character in the series holding a teacup.....a Wellington China Longton teacup.....just like the 4 antique teacup and saucer sets Bill gave me for Christmas in 1975!!!! I rewound the scene six times before I could get a screen shot of it off the TV! Such a sweet blast from the past.....
Equipping For Battle
Nothing's changed... from 5/30/2015 "Safe."There are some people who actually consider me "safe". They call to ask me questions that they might be reluctant to ask others....because they know I care. Because they know I won't laugh or dismiss their inquiry. Because they believe that I have enough experience with the matters that concern them that my thoughts on such matters are deemed trustworthy. It is humbling to be sought out for counsel....even when I'm not their counselor, but simply a friend. And they know that I don't have all the answers, but I am willing to join them in seeking the...
The Standard and Measure of Faith
Every single person has a “measure of faith”. Faith is a human capacity to believe in something, anything. It is the object of one’s faith, the thing(s) in which one believes that define and mold one’s faith. We are all “people of faith” in something. Some objects of faith are more enduring and trustworthy than others. What does one do when the object(s) of her faith prove to be fallible, temporary and untrustworthy? Romance, wealth, intelligence, looks, health, a person, a sense of personal strength and invincibility? An emotional emergency often ensues. But that can lead the way into...
Why Spirituality?
People often believe that anyone talking about “religion” is proselytizing others into accepting her own religious beliefs. That’s not necessarily the case. Some of us simply recognize the value of heightened spiritual consciousness, the benefit of identifying one’s values and living into them, and have confidence that if individuals begin that journey that God, in his faithfulness, will guide them to himself. Spiritual connectedness has many benefits to the individual, to families, and to society. We are, fundamentally spiritual beings living in a physical realm. But powers of this world...
Sunshine After Storms
From 5/30/2019, after Hurricane Michael Lord, How did I miss them? I was so busy five minutes ago crying in the prayer garden, wailing out in grief, lamenting all the weeds, how they seem to be the only things really flourishing, bemoaning how the trees are struggling, how the annuals are all too brief in their glory, how the blooms of the roses last only a few days when I need more to sustain a sense of beauty around me. I'm struggling, Lord. The drought is challenging me to keep grass green and pots looking fresh. You know how that keeps my spirit lifted. Then just as I I sat down...
Mental Health and The Church
Mental Health and the Church: “Jesus didn’t wait for a crowd of perfectly well adjusted disciples to turn up; he appointed a real mixed bag of personalities, in spite of their weaknesses and struggles. There’s a place for everyone in the Church and it breaks my heart when I hear of people who’ve been stripped of responsibilities with no explanation or discussion, and all because of their mental health. In all circumstances there are ways of doing things that are honoring and encouraging, so be a kind church. Make sure everyone feels valued.” A struggle doesn’t mean a diluted or broken faith....