So, you're intrigued by the idea of a hope chest and maybe you'd like to start one of your own. But, what does a girl in the 21st century fill her hope chest with? Here are a few ideas:
delight the next. After all, someone has spent years perfecting the recipe to make it what it is today. And there are many memories attached to Dad's favourite cake or Mum's signature casserole. So collect the old ones and hunt out some new so that you can bless your family, both present and future, with lovely culinary delights.
them from. So, when you find good, wholesome, quality books and literature, grab on to your treasure and save it for yourself and for the future little minds that need to learn the wonder of reading and be inspired by the amazing world and lives that God has created. Also, some how-to and instruction books can be hard to source and so handy to have on hand when you are in your future home (homeschooling, cooking for a family, DIY,craft, ect).
handcrafted with love. Whatever your skills, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting ect., use your time while you still have some spare to create some treasures for you new home. If you don't know how to make or do a certain thing, maybe working to fill your hope chest will be the perfect opportunity to learn a new skill. And, as an aside, creating something beautiful doesn't have to be something traditional, your new home with be as unique as you and beautiful handmade treasures will mean something different to everyone.
This is by no means an inexhaustive list. Nether are they essential to a 'good' hope chest. They are just suggestions. As with all things, a girl must use discernment and self control when filling her hope chest. It's not good sense buying three hundred little girls dresses not matter how cheap they are!If you want more ideas and guidance about filling a hope chest, ask your Mum, I am sure she has some wonderful suggestions and would love to take the journey of filling a hope chest with you.
Children's Clothes
Nice, quality children's clothes can be hard to find and often quite expensive, especially little girls dresses. Buying lightly used garments from second hand stores can really cut down on the cost of these items. But, these bargains can be hard to find and the period before you are married is a good time to keep an eye out for those amazing finds.Recipes
Let the foods that delighted the previous generations
Good Books
Good, wholesome books are hard to come by. Satan has practically decimated the fiction industry filling nearly all the novels, including 'christian' ones, with some subtle (or not so subtle) lie. Biographies and true stories, stories of what real people have actually done and ways God has really moved, can also not be guaranteed on for quality literature. Some real people are far from the kind of heroes you should look up to. *Note - Sometimes even learning how God has transformed a life is not worth the innocence you lose when they go into the nitty gritty of what God saved
Scrapbooks
The memories that you painstakingly recorded in your younger days will fascinate your children in the years to come. And this way, the lessons learnt earlier in life will not be so quickly forgotten. Letters, photos, diaries and scrapbooks all make wonderful additions to a hope chest.Handmade Items
Some things cannot be bought and one of those things is items that have beenhandcrafted with love. Whatever your skills, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting ect., use your time while you still have some spare to create some treasures for you new home. If you don't know how to make or do a certain thing, maybe working to fill your hope chest will be the perfect opportunity to learn a new skill. And, as an aside, creating something beautiful doesn't have to be something traditional, your new home with be as unique as you and beautiful handmade treasures will mean something different to everyone.
Specific Expensive Items for Your Future
When you are newly married or have young children it's highly likely that there are going to be some needs or very handy wants that would be a fairly big strain on your tight budget. For example, if you plan on homeschooling, that set of christian readers or those lovely science DVDs might take a large slice of the budget or, if you want to use cloth nappies, setting up a stash for your first baby can be quite expensive. These sort of things are expenses that you can start working towards now and, not only be ready when the time comes, but also help take some of the strain off your budget. These specific items will be different depending on who you are and what you think is important for your new home. *Note - As a word of caution, think carefully about what you buy for your family before you are married. Some things you might want to talk about with your future husband before you buy them or he might want to buy them with you.This is by no means an inexhaustive list. Nether are they essential to a 'good' hope chest. They are just suggestions. As with all things, a girl must use discernment and self control when filling her hope chest. It's not good sense buying three hundred little girls dresses not matter how cheap they are!If you want more ideas and guidance about filling a hope chest, ask your Mum, I am sure she has some wonderful suggestions and would love to take the journey of filling a hope chest with you.
- Up Next
The Hope Chest Part Three - Skills To Put In A Hope Chest
P.S if you missed the first part of this Hope Chest Series you can find it here...
Written by Sabrina
P.S if you missed the first part of this Hope Chest Series you can find it here...
Written by Sabrina
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