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.
From Hearing To Repenting To Doing
T.M. Moore of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview writes about the "third fruit" of hearing the Word of God......good works: "John Calvin wrote that a true church exists where the Word of God is preached and heard. Just because people are listening to preaching and teaching, or even participating in a Bible study group, or just because they are celebrating Christmas each year, does not mean that they are hearing the Word of God as God intends. In many ways, the famine of hearing God’s Word, which the prophet Amos foresaw, has settled on the evangelical Church in this country. But how...
Laughing Again, Even In Grief
Inspirational humorist, Patricia Lorenz is a writer and speaker who entertains an audience and packs a wallop with her take-away messages. Readers of her thirteen original books and many contributions to the Chicken Soup series enjoy her unique perspective on life, love, and laughter. She writes in a book of quotes "I always tell my writing students, 'In order to be a good writer, you must unzip your soul and expose your foibles." I realize that the moments I have been most touched by others - whether in a sermon or a testimony or a book - have been those moments when I have been given a...
It Takes Two
Observation from seven years ago: "It seems that a number of young men who have provided the biological material to young women to procreate have decided that the American people by default have graciously agreed to raise their children. Once the young woman declines to get an abortion, the attitude from young men seems to be, "Not my problem. Raise it yourself." I have heard from more young women or someone calling on their behalf lately who are looking for public agency or private charitable support - free housing, transportation, diapers, and everything else. What are young people today...
Listening to Summer
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. It is clear to me that summer is part of God's plan to teach us how to carve out more rest time, more solitude time with him, reflecting on his goodness and the assurance of his presence in the midst of life's trials. While one can seldom see the "why's" in the midst of them, God is faithful to show his plan in his time. Thank God for the slower summer pace that gives us time to not only listen, but to understand and grow in trust.
Depression Vs. Anxiety
Truth can be found in lots of places because truth is truth. I have become convinced that depression and anxiety are flip sides of the same coin.... Depression arises from being emotionally stuck in the past where regrets, resentments, and fading hope reside; anxiety arises from emotionally anticipating a future one can't see and where fears loom large. Living in the present.....on the thin edge between the two is our challenge. That is where Christ invites us to experience the balance that his strength and provision offers.
Communitas
Loneliness is not a function of being alone, but rather, a function of how socially connected you are to those around you. Grace Kim, Architect Kim designs "co-housing", where families live in close community and share a common area for evening meals and activities. Communitas is a fancy social science way of saying "spirit of community." For Kim, the measure of communitas is: How frequently do people eat together? She said that she knows some people in co-housing who have eaten together every single night for the past 40 years. Others have an occasional potluck once or twice a month. From...
We Are All Missionaries
I have often told my students that God will use all of us.... some will be good examples. Others will be horrible warnings.... Eric Liddell's experience as an Olympic runner was told in the movie Chariots of Fire. “We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ.” —Eric Liddell, 1924 gold and bronze medal Olympian from Scotland. "Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God's plans, but God is not helpless among the ruins. God's love is still working. He comes in and takes the calamity and uses it victoriously, working out...
Wisdom from Dr. Henry Cloud: Enablers
Dr. Henry Cloud writes about addiction, enabling , and conflict. He cites several biblical principles. There’s one glaring one related to not enabling I want to add. Luke 15-19- “….the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, BUT NO...
“And”, Not “But”
Loving conversations leave out the “BUT”…. “ I love you AND……. (not BUT)…… I want God’s best for you. “ I will be available to listen whenever you are ready." I will help you anyway I can. “ We can work through this with God’s help.” There is always a way through whatever is in the way of you being happy and at peace.”
Examen: 50 Years
2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? I am struggling tonight.... not in the same way as some have acknowledged suffering tonight with temptation to relapse in addiction. I struggle with how to face this day with joy. I have, since the first week of July, been in anticipation of today.... the 50th anniversary of marriage to my husband who died 2 years ago on Aug 6, 2020. I thought I was pacing my grief leading to this day, keeping...