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.
Days Of Our Lives
I’ve received two small calendars in the mail with Christmas cards. I love calendars! My youngest granddaughter asked for a special day book calendar and pen for her birthday. It delighted me to order it for her! In a time of my life in which one day seems so much like another, and there are fewer and fewer appointments to remember, it’s easy to get disoriented to day and date. My life has lost a lot of rhythm and routine without Bill. I found myself this morning right after I awoke jogging my memory, before I even got out of bed, reminding myself of today’s day and date. It is something I...
Facing Fears
From Dec 10,2020 A friend introduced me recently to another widow friend of hers. We had a good time getting acquainted and sharing something of our experiences with one another. My friend who introduced us keeps telling me we need to start a group for the growing number of widows in our circle of acquaintances. I was part of a weekly prayer and study group with 8 or so women when I was in my 40’s. All of them were a decade to 4 decades older than I was at the time. I was profoundly averse to the possibility of being left alone thru death or divorce and had that fear through out most...
Cleaving: Separating Sheep and Goats
Some ask, "Why is The UMC breaking up." It's being cleaved..... in my observation and my sincere opinion is that it is an act by none other than the hand of God. "Cleave- split or sever (something), especially along a natural line or grain; divide, split" Why? This right here.... The Son is the gleaming brightness of God's glory. He is the exact likeness of God's being. He uses his powerful word to hold all things together. Hebrews 1:3a 17 He was there before anything came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. Colossians1:17 When The UMC's liberal...
Facing Bullies
12/6/2014 I have been surprised by the behavior of some people who made a pretty good show of attempting to intimidate and bully me. Those who know me could have saved these individuals some embarrassment and wasted time by telling them that threats or coercion directed at me would not likely have the intended effect. When I believe that I have the Lord's clear direction and timing to go forward, there is little that can dissuade me, short of Jesus' return or me dropping dead. (Either of which could certainly happen, but at that point, it won't really matter, will it?)
Night Shift Duty
Dec 6,2016 I had a Samuel and Eli-esque moment last night at 2:30 a.m. Suddenly, I heard my name called out urgently, "CATHY!" as if by someone needing immediate attention. I thought it was Bill. I bolted upright and said, "WHAT!" That woke Bill up so he asked what was wrong. I said, "Nothing. I thought something was wrong with you." So, at 2:30 I'm wide awake. Bill went back to sleep. I tried to remember if I had been dreaming but couldn't remember anything. The wee hours were then spent in prayer over 4 specific situations, each of which was requiring action in the form of a letter to be...
Less Is More
Last year at this time we were evaluating our present Titus 2 residential facility utilization and determined that our utilization of bed/ nights had declined, stays had shortened, and fewer calls for long term care were being received. In the first quarter we made the decision to downsize from serving 4-5 women at the time to serving 2-3 at the time for shorter periods.... from 6-8 months to 3-5 months. It has been a sizable effort to scale all activities for the smaller workload, but it has worked well and we are now in the final stages of the transition. In first quarter 2023 we will be...
October Flowers…
http://youtu.be/onN60HC-HBs CAUTION! Open this link only if you are ready to take a few minutes and think about the way you wish to live today.......Breathe. Listen. Watch.
Like A Child…
Genesis 8:21 ……..every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. Ouch! At Christmas time we long to be like children again......and, too often we are exactly that.....selfish, bratty, demanding, not realizing the many blessings we have already received, wanting more, attentive for barely moments to whatever has caught our attention, then moving on and looking for something else to entertain us...... Then again, children can be sweet and innocent, appealing to the protective and loving part of our nature. The human condition is one of being capable of "double mindedness"....we...
Power of Testimony
From my journal 12/2/2018.... "With each opportunity to tell others about the wonders of Christ’s love as he has worked in our lives comes a greater degree of confidence that God has been bringing one through experiences which, when consecrated to Him and understood in the context of Scripture, He can use to touch others. Each follower of Christ has a story to tell. If we are obedient to God and consecrate our lives to Him, those stories become, in part, the means by which He touches other lives. I am grateful for the opportunity to tell the story, Christ’s story, and the small part that He...
Thoughts on Healing Ministry: Spiritual Therapeusis
"The Christian world view is revelational, Trinitarian and redemptive. It is within this world view and theology of faith, hope and love that Christian priests and lay people minister." "From the Church’s perspective, the crisis, the prompt and the point of contact with the Church, are often the individual’s suffering and dis-ease, with self, with God and with others. This personal inner dissonance is rooted in the unavoidable knowledge that all is not well, all is not reconciled and peaceful, that none of us is entirely healthy, physically, mentally nor spiritually, and none of us is an...