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.
Fellowship of the Unashamed
The Fellowship of the Unashamed I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed." The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love...
Reframed Thinking Based On Sources
When someone has attempted to control a person all of her life by berating her and calling her "stubborn" because she won't do what they want, how does she decide to give that over to God and what does God desire to put in its place? That was the question facing me and a young lady as we talked about her character defects. She has bought others' assessment of her and has struggled with how to be someone and something other than who she is in order to please people who have never been pleased with her. As she has embraced a personal relationship with Christ and grown in her knowledge of God...
Living In a Time-Limited “40-Forever” Mindset?
For those who have experienced the Emmaus Movement, I took away a sense of the "present" moment-ness of the Holy Spirit's abiding as we were introduced to the "Fourth day" concept ( for me in 1992) .... that while our experience of the three days at Emmaus was a once in a lifetime kind of spiritual experience for many of us, each day afterward God's mercies are fresh and new. Every day going forward is a fresh new 4th day of our experience of Christ with us, to us, for us, through us. As we've been reflecting on the significance of living into Pentecost is any moment where we feel afresh...
The Difference Boundaries Make
Boundary Setting in Relationships- There are occasions when meek, emotionally-controlled, wounded women come to Titus 2 who have been subjected to abuse in one or more forms- emotional, physical, financial, sexual, psychological, spiritual, or relational. They often have learned to be "people pleasers" at the expense of their own personhood. They are generally incapacitated, too, by anxiety and fear. Through prayer, Bible study, classes, counseling, and mentoring they discover their identity and value in Christ, learn how to set boundaries and say "no" appropriately, confront their...
Ladybug Wings
As a ladybug fan, this little news tidbit was interesting to me! Nah, it couldn't be God, right? Ladybug wings a marvel of engineering, design A team of Japanese researchers has solved a puzzle surrounding ladybug wings that has stymied scientific engineers for years. Until now, researchers have been unable to observe the wing-folding process of the ladybug. The versatile little insect can unfold its wings in one-tenth of a second and take flight for up to two hours, reaching speeds of 37 miles per hour and achieving heights over 3,500 feet. But due to hardened forewings, called elytra, that...
Train Up A Child
I am so very blessed to have been raised in a family in which a commitment to being in church/VBS/Sunday School was made by our parents. There was a spiritual foundation that came from my early training that I was able to build on as an adult. (Hmmmmm, I think God said that would happen! "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6) I have far too many conversations with young women with little or no spiritual foundation. There is a great deal of deception that is perpetrated on people by our culture when they have no training in...
Throwing Stones
I love, love, love Jill Carattini's devotionals. At Titus 2 we work a lot on understanding the human condition that plagues us all, as part of Step 1 and our powerlessness over it, as Paul says in Romans- "For the good that I would I do not, but the evil that I would not, that I do." Any of us can assume the role of Pharisees at times. What would Jesus write in the sand that would cause us to drop our stones? From Jim Carattini 6/7/2017 Throwing Stones Each of us, in an instant, can drudge up a snapshot of humanity at its worst. Images of genocide in Germany, Rwanda, Bonia, or the Sudan...
Pharisaism and Jesus
In Scripture we do not observe Christ serving the Pharisees...except in the dark of night when one came to him to acknowledge that he recognized Christ's authority and to ask questions....Mostly we see Christ, as he was in their presence over meals, in the Temple, and walking the streets challenging the Pharisees for their judgement, their ignorance, their lack of humility, and for using religion to control and take advantage of God's people. They repeatedly asked him legalistic questions in public in an effort to trip him up and bring charges against him. What he preached and the miracles...
Driving Discipleship
From June 7,2017: Not all of what we do at Titus 2 happens in the classroom. In fact, much of it happens in the day to day coming and going and doing of life. One Sunday as we traveled to church, a young lady said to me, "Being a friend of Jesus is hard. No wonder so few are called God's friend." My response was that there really are quite a few who were God's friends.....Moses, David, Job, Joseph, Elijah, Joshua, Noah, Abraham, Esther, Mary Magdalene, John, Paul, and many more. They are characterized by their obedience to God. It doesn't mean they never made mistakes, never lacked...
Missional Minded Ministry
From June 7, 2017: ( Pentecost Sunday 2022 our church heard the witness of a young family called to missions, living among orphans in a facility in Ecuador. They have been foster parents already with 30+ kids in recent years. They leave in August from their years of living among us and leave a lasting g mark of living life on mission!) “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8 This verse expresses the philosophy that I see lived out by Jesus, his disciples, in missional endeavors, and among...