by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 8, 2015 | Calling, Ministry
In August 2008, just about six weeks after completing my master’s degree in counseling, I began my application for ministry candidacy and was preparing to meet for the first time with the District Board of Ministry. I was putting together a plan for attending...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 7, 2015 | The Church
Several times during the Annual Conference meeting of the Alabama-West Florida UMC Conference, as deacons were talking among themselves I heard references to “compassion”. Compassion is part of the specific ministry of deacons, according to our church’s Discipline....
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 6, 2015 | recovery
The philosophy presented in the link below, it has been reported, represents the basis on which some recovery programs deny any use of psychiatric medications, often coupled with a religious view that dismisses God’s participation in medical science’s...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 6, 2015 | Lifestyle Choices, recovery
Titus 2 students and I attended the Amy Grant concert at the Panama City Marina Civic Center last evening thanks to the generosity of donors who provided free tickets. The concert was a delightful evening for Titus 2. There were moments when each of us was singing...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 6, 2015 | recovery
When women first come into Titus 2, they are generally emotional, conflicted, broken, fuzzy-headed, and anxious. It takes time to feel “safe” in the midst of a new environment and new people. It takes time for the mind to begin to work again as it...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 5, 2015 | Suffering
The tragedy this week of a forgotten infant’s death in a hot car in our community grieves us all. I cannot imagine the pain this family, their friends, and others close to them must be experiencing. To lose a child by any means, at any age is grievous, but to have...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 4, 2015 | Assurance of salvation, spiritual life
Revelation 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 4, 2015 | counseling, spiritual life
One of my favorite Christian counseling educators is Edward Welch. Edward Welch, M.Div., Ph.D. is a counselor and faculty member at Christian Counseling Education Foundation. He writes about topics I deal with daily – addictive behaviors, depression,...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 4, 2015 | recovery
Cathy Byrd reports on a woman’s testimony: This is a personal text received this afternoon, June 3, 2015. It is from a woman who was a discipleship student in substance abuse recovery in Fall 2009- Summer 2010 under my care. “I am so amazed how God...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Jun 2, 2015 | Mental Health
“Sexual Addiction” among women with substance abuse is often a case of hypersexuality resulting from early childhood sexual abuse, devaluation of one’s own sexuality from sexual abuse and adolescent promiscuity, undiagnosed early onset bipolar...
