By Bishop Barlow
“Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
You’ve probably heard this quote from the movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It comes from the wicked queen, who believes she is the fairest of them all. However, the mirror gives the queen an honest reflection and tells her that Snow White is the fairest. When we look at ourselves in a mirror, we too get an honest reflection of ourselves.
When I was 9 years old and in third grade, I looked at myself in the mirror. The night I did this was different than others. I had to come to an honest reflection of myself and had to accept that my new appearance would somehow be used as part of my story to bring God glory. What happened?
One morning in the spring of 2008, I woke up to something that left me in shock. I saw pieces of hair scattered on my pillow. Frantic, I called for my parents. As a third-grader, I expected to wake up, go through my normal routine to get ready for school, and then spend most of the day learning math, English, history, science, etc. However, my day started as a nightmare. How could I go to school with a patch of hair missing in the back of my head? What would others say?
Little did I know, that day in 2008 would change my life to what it is now. My appearance would never be the same. My hair did not stop falling out, and I started to look different from my classmates. As my hair kept falling out, the number of doctor appointments on my schedule grew. Yet no doctor in Jackson could tell me what was happening to my hair. All they could tell me was, “Try putting this cream on your head,” or, “We can inject 30 shots into your head to possibly stimulate hair growth.” It was not until a specialist in Birmingham looked at my dad and said, “Your son has alopecia, and I do not know the cause or cure for it,” that I accepted my new appearance.
Even though God has not healed me, I am confident that He has not abandoned me. If you are reading this story, let me encourage you that your life has purpose because God says it does. If God can tell Jeremiah that He knew him in the womb and gave him purpose (Jeremiah 1:4) then God can do the same for you.
Since losing my hair, I have been grateful for the opportunities God has given me to minister to others. Part of that comes through Know Ministries, the nonprofit organization I started as a senior in high school to provide Bibles to children in unreached and underprivileged areas so that they know Jesus loves them.
To read the rest of my story, you can purchase my book “Look in the Mirror” now. Always know that your story can be used for God’s glory.
Bishop Barlow is the author of “Look in the Mirror,” content creator, and founder and president of Know Ministries. He lives in Madison.