The Hope Chest Part Two - What to Put in a Modern Hope Chest

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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:

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

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.

Good Books
Good, wholesome books are hard to come by. Satan has practically desimated 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

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 instrution 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).


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 been

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 hopechest will be the perfect opportunity to learn a new skill. And, as an aside, creating something beatiful 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 selfcontrol 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

My ebook 'The Hope Chest List'

If you like this post you will love my ebook 'The Hope Chest List' which explains the purpose of the hope chest in the past historically, but also emphasizes its relevance for today. It inspires the young woman to not only think about the future, but practice for it in the present. The ideas presented in this book have been carefully collected over time and are now available to inspire any young lady to be wise, resourceful and creative. Most of all, the young woman is encouraged in Godliness.

This book includes lists of items for the hope chest and lists of skills that a young lady might want to acquire. There are some great bonus extras that provide a great read and useful tips.

Available for $2.99 on Amazon HERE.