The Mirror Showed Me, Me

And the Fire Consumed What I No Longer Needed

Dear Sister,

The mirror told the truth. It didn’t lie. It showed me every scar, every compromise, every choice I made out of fear instead of faith. It reflected the weight I carried—physically, emotionally, spiritually. It revealed the woman I had learned to perform as, instead of the woman I was created to be.

For a long time, I didn’t want to look. It felt safer to keep moving, to stay busy, to avoid the confrontation between my eyes and my soul. But one day, God stood me in front of the mirror and whispered, “Look closely. This is not the whole story.”

I saw her—the strong one, the tired one, the one who kept showing up while quietly falling apart. And for the first time, I didn’t just see what she had been through. I saw what needed to be burned away.

Then came the fire. Not the kind that destroys, but the kind that refines. The kind that strips away shame, guilt, bitterness, and fear. The kind that consumes false identities, unhealthy attachments, and self-sabotaging beliefs. The kind that does not leave you in ashes—but reveals the gold hidden underneath.

The woman I saw in the mirror stepped into the fire, and what walked out was not the same. The residue of regret was gone. The heaviness of condemnation was gone. The labels given by others were gone. What remained was a woman unafraid of her reflection—because now, the reflection matched the truth.

Sister, the fire you fear might be the very thing that frees you. God doesn’t send flames to consume your worth, but to consume what has been dimming it. If the mirror has been showing you a version of yourself you don’t recognize—or no longer want to be—don’t run from the fire. Walk into it with Him. Let it consume the lies. Let it burn the chains. Let it reveal the woman who has been hidden beneath it all.

📖 Isaiah 43:2 – “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

Look again. The mirror is about to show you someone new.

With love and holy fire,
Dr. Anita