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.
Shifts: Physical and Spiritual
After attending Seedbed's New Room Leaders Gathering in February, I realized that using the language of "personal surrender" had worn thin with me in talking to adult discipleship students….. The language of "consecration" of self (as we heard so often at Ridgecrest) and of integration of all of who one is "in Christ", (as our little Titus 2 Sunday@5 group of women has been studying in "In Christ" by E. Stanley Jones) is so much more energizing and focuses on an enlarging and unifying view of the goal and process of the Holy Spirit's work instead of a diminishing, suppressing view. We do,...
Reflecting on “Think Again” (by Adam Grant)
Reading Adam Grant's 2021 book, "Think Again.". The book is an "invitation to let go of knowledge and opinions that are no longer serving you well, and to anchor your sense of self in flexibility instead of consistency. If you can master the art of rethinking, you'll be better positioned for success at work and happiness in life. Thinking again can help you generate new solutions to old problems and revisit old solutions to new problems. It's a path to learning more from the people around you and living with fewer regrets. A hallmark of wisdom is knowing when it's time to abandon some of...
Avoiding Compassion Fatigue or “Empathetic Distress”
Adam Grant writes about "empathetic distress", also called "compassion fatigue"……It is common for people to experience, especially those who work in helping professions- healthcare, social services, counseling, ministry, etc. And it also escalates after multiple community traumas, such as was experienced with the disruption and damage of Hurricane Michael and its recovery, followed closely by Covid, then political chaos and widespread economic stressors…… Communities have any number of reasons why mental health and well-being of its population might be compromised. And why its helping...
From Lent Reflections
When have you felt God direct you to make a change in your life? Did you struggle with any doubt or were you confident in the change? In August 1992, my husband, Bill, had a job opportunity and was ready for a change of venue . After praying about the situation, he took the job and moved three hours away, commuting home on weekends for the next year and a half. In December of that year I attended a Walk to Emmaus at the invitation of a friend from church. It seemed like it would be a pleasant women's retreat. It turned out to be a major reorientation of my life..... One that would have...
Observed and Noted
Jesus is enough.Seen this week and posted:(words written on a torn scrap of brown paper sack) "Father, forgive me for the times I craved a seat at a table you would have flipped." Principle discovered in "downsizing:" While my physical territory, the footprint in a "place", grows smaller, the Spiritual Kingdom that is my true home, that is defined by purpose and people, grows .
Goal of Parenting
"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them." Frank Clark - Our German daughter, Ingela, who spent time in our home as an exchange student, sent this quote several years ago. She is stating something important here. Some parents continue to try to live vicariously through their children or control them to keep them close, or to protect them from the risk of being hurt in life, essentially stunting their children's lives. It does hurt, at times, to let them go, make their mistakes and find their own way. I have had more than a few women in...
But God
Had I but knownand trusted this truth. To wait.....Instead, I delightedin chasing every beautiful shiny or fascinating thing.But God is faithfuland does not let us miss His BEST!He faithfully waits …..and when we exhaust ourselves,He refreshes usand we continue together,on His time and pace.And with awakened eyesI see all that I would have missed.
Companionable Grief
Hi, Friends. I want to share something with you I discovered recently in my own grief journey.... But first, I'm going to share a poem I read today. (See photo.) Two weeks ago on one day I had two people who brought my grief full face before me. One was an older gentleman, long retired and caring for a disabled wife. I had not seen him since before H. Michael and he asked, "How's Bill doing?" Covid's chaos hid the fact of Bill's death from some who were busy getting through it themselves. He apologized profusely and expressed his sympathy. Then later in the day another friend I see several...
Fed At The Altar
Much of what we read about Jesus' ministry involves meals shared together. Sharing a potluck meal with strangers or entertaining at home is like placing a sacrifice of something of one's self on an altar…. the shared table spread before us. We offer something of ourselves, something special, a favorite dish, something quick and without personal effort or attachment, or something that means comfort and hospitality…… What will we bring? How will it be received? We place it before the body present and we trust all go away filled and satisfied. "…..the ways we pull back from what is different...
Living Life
I tore through my teens, racing eagerly to do "life!" I trudged through my 20's finishing college, getting married, having babies, starting a career…… all the things that "adulting" demanded and, at 29, believed I was a failure at "adulting," knowing I was not as smart, competent, or happy asothers believed me to be. Unfortunately, I tramped through my 30's with my focus on all the wrong things. In my 40's, thankfully,I found my footing and glimpsed what God had in mind for me. In my 50's I cultivated roots and shoots, leaves and branches, and grew into the "me" I hadn't known was there. I...