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.
Ubuntu: Desmond Tutu
What is "Ubuntu" "A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed." - Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop of South Africa in 1980's
Embracing God’s Priorities
from Charles Stanley: (\12/22/2015) "Satisfaction is found in a life that reflects God’s priorities—and time with Him comes first. Reading His Word, we become mindful of the Father’s great love, learn what He views as important, and experience the joy of belonging to Him. When contentment is elusive, it’s time to examine our priorities." I am content to be about my Father's business each day. I pray that I allow His priorities to be mine.
Spirit Kairos
There are days in which one is just more certain than on others that God has ordered one's steps in ways beyond her understanding because one has been found in places, with people, in conversations, or with thoughts having arisen that simply could not have come any other way. I want to live every day with such awareness and awe at God's presence and leading. When those kairos times occur I have the sense that Jesus lived with that kind of awareness from a very young age and that it is that "mind of Christ" that Jesus possessed that we can begin to experience as we surrender all of who we are...
Blessings In Disguise
Encouragement for today! Have experienced this truth again and again. It’s a blessing in disguise Wednesday, December 22, 2021 “Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory.” 2Co 4:15 MSG If you’re going through a difficult time right now, let Paul’s words encourage you. “Surrounded and battered by troubles…we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows…we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken” (vv. 8-9 MSG). Who was Paul talking to? Followers of Christ who were having a rough time....
The Kingdom
"Paul describes God as continually calling us to His Kingdom and glory. His calling on our lives is not merely occasional. It’s continuous, ongoing, and all-encompassing. God calls us to His glory in all the everyday details of our lives (1 Cor. 10:31). He calls us to His Kingdom as the first priority in every situation, the defining outlook, motif, and driving force in every aspect of our lives (Matt. 6:33). Many Christians understand this. They understand that God’s calling is total and unrelenting. He does not call us once in a while or every so often. He does not call us when a really...
Source of Passion In Service
"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Ephesians 6:7-8 .........No "Five Easy Steps to Serving Enthusiastically" will do the trick. Only when your focus is on Jesus can you put passion into your service. He must not only be the One we serve but the One from whom we draw power. Lord Jesus, in Your power I will serve You today! - Joni Eareckson Tada. (From Drc 21, 2014) I was preparing for my first interview for deacon ordination after 2 years as a...
Bat-Craziness
SERIOUSLY????? I picked up a quarter and just glanced at it. It was a 2020 National Park edition. What did I see on it?? A fruit bat and her pup!!! You can't plan an irony this shocking and illustrative of the fact that there is something maliciously amiss in the whole way our nation was bombarded with a genetically engineered bat virus and our government PLANNED 12 YEARS EARLIER TO RELEASE COINAGE WITH A BAT ON IT IN THE SAME YEAR. The quarter and its story is shown below: "The obverse (heads) design features the familiar image of George Washington by John Flanagan, used on the quarter...
Religious Abuse
From Dec 17,2015 Question: What do a sci-fi horror B-movie and an individual employed in a local substance abuse program have in common? Answer: A reported covert, dark-of-night demonic exorcism in a church. Sadly, however, the apparent victim was in the throes of a full blown manic psychosis....not possessed. It makes me sad that anyone would be traumatized and confused by religiously abusive practices instead of getting the help and emotional support needed. If the details of this case are verified by investigation, this will be exposed and stopped. This is why we need a local discussion...
Just A Simple Phrase….
One never knows what simple phrase may be the thing that completely reorients a person's thinking. For me it was a simple phrase by a pastor over 25 years ago: "We give as much of ourselves as we can understand to as much of God as we can understand." That simple. It started me on a journey to understand both God and myself better in order to be able to trust God more fully. As a former student, Lisa Carter, notes, a simple concept in a quote by Zig Ziglar captured her imagination and gave her a paradigm for dealing with some challenges in her life. Dr. Mike Carns, a graduate professor of...
Anxiety Cure Is Not In A Pill
I am about to the point of banning the use of the word "anxiety" in my presence . It is a pervasive mental health diagnosis....with many DSM variations on the theme. As I pray about and explore issues with women in recovery either seeking medication or on medication for "anxiety", I am led again and again to see it for what it is....fear and impatience, worrying about things over which they have no control. They cannot have peace or contentment because they refuse to deal with the realities with which they are confronted. They are afraid of circumstances that may or may not ever arise or...