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.
Easy Peace And Cheap Unity
"Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35 Or how about that time in Matthew when he dropped this bomb? “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies...
Jesus Paid It All… For Everyone
This was posted by a young friend of mine who certainly has worked through a lot that she never deserved and for which she never got an apology.....When I saw this it occurred to me that Jesus' death on the cross was a choice by him to accept the sins of all who've wronged us, as well as our wrongs toward others. In that sense, it is an apology to all who've suffered at the hands of others that they never got from their human abusers, as well as an act of redemption for the sins of all mankind. I never considered that side of the equation. Wow. Considering Christ's sacrifice from that...
Justice After Childhood Abuse
When a child is silenced by threats of harm to his/her loved ones by an abuser or a parent chooses to believe and stay with an abuser because of her co-dependent needs instead of her responsibility to her child's protection or even accuses her child of seducing the abuser, the child's soul is damaged and that torment of unworthiness and inability to protect others and betrayal is felt deeply. Healing can be brought through listening and providing the balm that love and acceptance in Christ brings...... in allowing the pain to be expressed, the grieving to be done, the anger and resentment to...
Ambition
Years ago I had to go through a psychological battery for consideration of employment in the business world. I got a call from the recruiter who said there was a problem with my test results. He said the examiner said I was either the most self-actualized, honest, and transparent person the examiner had ever reviewed or I was in some sort of major distress. LOL! I retook the test at the examiner's request 48 hours after the first battery and got the job offer the same day. I worked there for nearly a decade before I had the opportunity to move to something new and more satisfying. Isn't it...
Bigger Battles
Almost 30 years ago I was working on a project with a group of Christian women. Some personal issues arose in the group (not involving me at all) and I became disillusioned with the way I saw them handle it within the group. I was talking to an older, wiser, more experienced friend about the situation and told her I had decided I would not do any more such projects with this group, as the difficulty with watching such conduct that seemed petty and hypocritical was more than I cared to be involved in. She said to me, "So let me get this straight. Because of your disappointment with a couple...
Forgiveness
It is amazing how simply understanding why something that seemed so out of character and incomprehensible in the behavior of someone came to be gives one the freedom to finish the hard labor of forgiveness that has struggled to be born. Thank you, Lord, for your gifts of this day! “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” ― C.S. Lewis “True forgiveness is when you can say, "Thank you for that experience.” ― Oprah Winfrey “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” ― Mark Twain “I wondered if...
Be Alert And Of Sober Mind…
From a devotional today on 1 Peter 4:7..... This is wisdom I have come to know through personal experience, through family history, and through years of watching people try to live under the burden of chemical dependency, and seeing many compromise or lose altogether relationships, health, financial stability, self- respect, joy in living, Christian witness, and in far too many cases, their very physical existence as a consequence of their addiction. "Can we talk about alcohol? It is a sensitive subject, but it needn’t be. There are two groups of people who tend to get all the focus—the...
Do Not Despair
Psalm 27:13 "I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living." The alarming increase among children, youth, and adults of depression, suicide, and a variety of other mental health dysfunctions is so sad...... and unnecessary. Feelings of alienation, isolation, and desperation grip many in our nation..... pessimism and fear about the future are rampant. Yet God is still present, sovereign, good, and personally engaged with those who love Him and who are sincerely aiming at living into His will. God's goodness in their lives and in...
How Does One Answer, “What Is Prayer?”
In my morning devotional the question was posed, "What is prayer?" I quiet my spirit and await the stillness that precedes awareness of the Presence of the Father, while I abide in Christ, as I have since my profession of faith in Christ, and with His Holy Spirit within my spirit and soul. His Spirit guides me into holy communion, that may include conversation, with the Divine. On an aside: there was a moment many years ago that I wrote about in my journal.... I don't know if I was awake or dreaming or praying in the Spirit.... but I saw an image of two men standing who appeared to be the...
Poem: Breathless
Breathless It is as though time has halted briefly, Allowing me to reach back and grasp That which I thought forever lost. A sensation of standing at a scenic lookout, High up a mountain road, Leaning over the edge, Enraptured by the view. With my full weight resting against the rail Aware that I can step -or fall- across the rail And become part of that which I see. Imagining that I can fly into it and avoid the fall, Yet drawn back to myself by a brisk wind That gives me back the breath Such a thought would take from me. 5/10/90 CBByrd