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.
Fear of Death
One observation about the last few years.... COVID seems to have revealed in some folks a pathological fear of death which also may have been expressed as a pathological fear of living.
Welcome To Our House
You put out the welcome mat of an unguarded, unboundaried heart that seeks the wrong kind of connection in the wrong places and this can be the result....( see picture) instead of extending hospitality, you will find yourself being trampled upon. We are told to guard our hearts, Proverbs 4:23; that the heart is decitful, Jeremiah 17:9; and that Jesus Himself trusted His heart to no person, John 2:24. We are to trust our heart, soul, mind and strength to God. He will guide our affections and teach us who is worthy of trust. We receive many such unguarded, unboundaried hearts at Titus 2 But...
Transformation
5/15/2014........ a month after starting Titus 2. This little framed glass butterfly with the word "transform" was given to me by a friend who has been journeying with me through the past seven months or so and has been aware of the obstacles and challenges of the past year, observing and offering encouragement. Oftentimes, I am telling others about my ministry to women and how transformation is occurring in those ladies. Seldom do I realize how much transformation is occurring in me at the same time. This week I had the opportunity to reflect on some things that have changed since February....
We Loved…..
5/15/2014 Bill has begun posting each day's corresponding Proverbs chapter on the Titus 2 Partnership website. I love the wisdom of the Proverbs. Many people find a daily chapter reading from the Proverbs helpful. We hope you enjoy having it handy to review. This little summary that incorporates some of Proverbs is something to think about, too!
A Place At The Lake……
5/15/2015 Seen today: Upon arriving home after a rain shower I spotted a turtle, about 7 inches in diameter, on the walkway by the porch. I went in for a moment then came out to find him hiding under a large hosta. Lots of others enjoying the yard along with me. Snails, cats, dogs, raccoons, possums, birds (including the occasional eagle, hawk, and owl), bumblebees, turtles, a wandering armadillo, moles, brown rabbits, even the occasional snake. Lake life is lively in the spring!
Kingdom Life
I had two students with me as we went to Walmart and we were talking about knowing God's will. One said something about 3 things pointing to confirmation of God's will and I said, "Nah, I want God to tell me straight up. Just tell me what you want, God...Like, send Gabriel and tell me what you want. Or speak in my spirit. Or direct me through your written Word. And I won't hesitate... Be it unto me as you desire!" God talked to Eli. He talked to Moses. He talked to Elijah. He talked to Solomon. He talked to David. And He has talked to me at times. That's how I want to know what God wants. I...
Mature Love’s Joy
5/13/2018...... "For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil that I would not, that I do." ….The Apostle Paul hit it on the nail. The Human Condition. Our double mindedness. The paradox of our carnal nature. That which bedevils our otherwise bejesus desires. We cannot do it in and of our own willful selves. Only by surrendering to the refining work of the Holy Spirit can we be what God created us to be. One can evict mischievous minions again and again but a vacuum will not remain empty. Something will refill the soul. The mischief will return again and again until one is...
End Time: What If……
Four years ago today...... What if.........I was at a restaurant with a couple of Titus 2 ladies at lunch and a woman with her back to me at the next table had a tee-shirt that said, "Be what God created you to be and set the world on fire." It reminded me of a number of Scriptures....about the world ending in fire, about the fire of the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit being poured out on God's sons and daughters in the end days, about so many others and a thought occurred to me. What if God's Word means that the earthly realm of the flesh is going to be ended by the wild fire of the Holy...
Deliver Me From Evil
An online devotional group was discussing deliverance from demonic influences this week. I have written about deliverance experiences in our women's life recovery program. Something I have observed is that Jesus didn't seem to go looking for spiritually harassed, oppressed, obsessed, or possessed people, He seemed to encounter them in the course of His day or they came seeking Him. (Except the disciples he called, and he knew what was in their hearts and later indicated that God had given them to Him..) People with problems came to Him, or some came on behalf of them, to seek His help....
Eben Ezer
This is a stone from a field on the homesite where my maternal grandfather's family lived in Barbour County, AL. I had discovered the significance of "standing stones" ( also called "Ebenezer"- stone of help) during a study 15 years or more ago by Ray Vander Laan - Crossroads of the World (Part of the Faith Lessons from the Holy Land series) that I led for several years at Lynn Haven UMC. When significant events happened among God's people, they would set up stones or piles of stones as memorials to mark God's work in the circumstances. In 1997 Bill and I were in the midst of a severe...