Meet Annabelle Hasselbeck - daughter, National Champion Lacrosse player at Boston College, future news and sports broadcaster, and future best mom ever, and most important - Christ follower.
“Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities,
Forget about your worries and your strife,
I mean the bare necessities
That’s why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life.”
The Bare Necessities “The Jungle Book”
"Everyone knows this song, but I bet no one would consider it a song to absolutely jam out to.
However, I can recall a moment when I found myself dancing, signing, and absolutely rocking out to this song. This was during a season of my life where I was experiencing deep heartbreak, frustration, and disappointment – with no glimpse of a change in circumstance.
While walking home alone one day, I knew I needed to blast something in my ears other than my own thoughts. Clicking on the music icon, I said to myself, “Okay Annabelle, what is going to bring you joy in this moment.” Without hesitation, I hit play on the Apple Music Disney Throwbacks Playlist. Straight serotonin for a 10 year old trapped in a college kid’s body.
I must have zoned out for a good amount of my walk home, because when I brought my attention back to my surroundings, it was immediately clear to me that I had been jamming out to the song “The Bare Necessities.” A newly formed smile stretched across my face. My previously tense and stressed body was now swaying to the beat of the song. Suddenly, I had the urge to text this life giving song to my friends.
Thankfully, I realized my clearly crazed state just before sending a Jungle Book soundtrack song to multiple college kids.
At this moment, it hit me that my life was under construction by Christ’s Construction Company.
Over months of walking through heartache, disappointment, frustration and unfortunate circumstances I realized that Christ had been radically remolding my heart.
For an unpopular, old, and childish song to feel like a life anthem, you have to rawly and authentically relate to the lyrics. It became clear to me that the fires I was walking through had changed the posture of my heart.
In this moment, I experienced joy and contentment in my unwanted circumstance. In this moment, I believed Christ was enough and that He was the bare necessity of life.
I can confidently say that if I had not been walking with the Lord through the storms I was facing, I would have heard this song and pridefully clicked skip, labeling it as boring and unrelatable.
In this season of my life, God softened parts of my heart that needed my full attention and guarded other parts where He needed to close the door. Willingly singing “The Bare Necessities” chorus showed me that my eyes were definitely fixed on God during this difficult time.
Christ’s Construction Company is far from done with me, and I’m okay letting Him go to work. There is no sports championship game, academic degree, or social following that has the power to change your heart like He can.
Though the world will constantly try to convince you otherwise, God is enough. He is the REAL bare necessity of life."
Annabelle
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