Hope Chests

All of us—women, men, youth, and children, 

single or married—

can work at being homemakers. 

- Sister Oscarson

I want my children to feel confident that they, through faith and hard work, can successfully create a home of their own someday.  To prepare them for that work we have helped them begin their own hope chests.  We are doing this for both our sons and daughters.  When we first started I found a valuable resource, a blog called Miss Abigail's Hope Chest.  The author of that blog wrote:

"The hope chest represents that deliberate choice to prepare, even ahead of time, a comforting home. It is a physical act that reflects a desire to provide for the future... Beyond the collection of recipes and cookware is the mastery of their use. Behind the careful embroidery on the pillowcases is the recognition that beauty adds cheer and satisfaction to our life. From the woven potholders and knitted dishcloths to the crocheted lace and patchwork quilts, a hope chest simply reveals hands that are trained to do things."

 What can you use as your hope chest? 

Although many hope chests have been kept in beautiful cedar chests our home does not have room for that many wooden boxes!  So, for now at least, most of our children are keeping their things in a sweater box under their beds or in a bottom drawer.  Don't be paralyzed by this step!  You can start by keeping things in a shoebox!

Photo from Etsy

What will you put in your hope chest?

Books
Remember that book that your child loved as a toddler and you read and reread until you had it memorized?  Wouldn't that be a fun thing for them to read to their own children?  Each Christmas we give our children a book for their own personal library.  We write their name and age in the front of the book and share with them our hope that they will enjoy it and take care of it so they will be able to share it with their own children.  A cookbook you use regularly, or that Christmas book you read every year would also be welcome additions.  By adding books we hope our children will bless their families by sharing books and their love of learning.

The Little Engine That Could was a gift from Grandpa Scott who loved it as a child.
My Father's Dragon is the first chapter book I have read to each of my children and a family favorite.

Kitchen Supplies
Try to find things that will not age.  Plastic bowls might be brittle and useless when they are finally put into use.  Consider giving a gift each Christmas or birthday that can go into their hope chest.  Two glass pie pans with recipes and the promise of making some pies together is a fun gift.  Bread pans, a rolling pin, wooden spoons, hot pads, washcloths and hand towels are all things that will be useful for many years.  By adding kitchen supplies we hope our children will recognize the value of shared meals and healthy foods that nourish good physical and mental health.

My nine year old daughter made these hot pads by sewing along the lines of a printed fabric.
It is a fun beginner sewing project. 

Tools
My grandma had a little pink tool set that she kept in a kitchen drawer, it had basic tools that she used regularly to fix little things around the house.  Every college student, missionary, and parent should have a set of basic tools and the skill to use them properly.  We want to encourage all our children to be able to keep their homes in good repair and to fix small problems before they become larger.

Baby Items
This is a fun category because things for babies are often small and quick to put together- teach your child to sew some bibs, some flannel blankets, embroider some onesies, knit some sweet baby hats, paint and sand up a small set of blocks or some train cars.  Help your child save some things from when they were a baby, a blessing dress or outfit, a small pair of shoes, a favorite blanket or toy. Having something set aside for a baby will increase their confidence in welcoming future children.

A blessing dress, shoes and bonnet.

Holiday Items
A shoe box with a birthday banner, some candles, balloons and some hand-crafted cards will allow your child to celebrate birthdays in the future with festivity and love.  A nativity your child can look forward to displaying in their future home, Christmas hot pads, or a beautiful platter or dish would all be festive and fun during the holidays in their future homes.  We want to equip our children to carry on meaningful and happy traditions.

This birthday banner was made of scraps and the kids look forward to seeing it
 hanging over the table when they wake up on their birthdays. 

Handmade Cards
Cards can be made for very little, and the sky is the limit for possibilities.  Encourage your child to develop the skill of writing a thoughtful thank you note, or birthday wishes to a loved one.  Keep a stack of cards in their hope chest and encourage them to use them regularly, even now.

We used up some cute paper scraps and practiced some sewing skills.
The cards are made with half a sheet of paper or card stock.

Recipes
In our home when you can independently cook a dish you are encouraged to add the recipe to your personal recipe cards.  Help your child gather a collection of recipes from your home- include family favorites, recipes that have been handed down, and foods you serve regularly over the holidays.

We make nests every spring using a no-bake cookie recipe and jellybeans.

 I know some people hesitate to create a hope chest because they are concerned that by the time their child is an adult their tastes will be different and the things in their hope chest will be useless.  I think with careful planning that can be minimized, but it will still happen.  Some of the things your child tucks away might not ever be used.  But they are still useful.  First, because the items helped build confidence and hope for the future, and second, because they helped build the invisible hope chest.

What is the Invisible Hope Chest?

The invisible hope chest grows as the physical one does.  Those pot holders your child made out of mismatched colors that you know they won't use in twenty years?  The value is not in the pot holder, but in the skill your children carry within themselves.

We can start today to give our children an invisible hope chest full of skills they can use to bless their families.  Let us be deliberate in helping them build and plan and prepare for building a home that is warm and that welcomes the Spirit.  Start small, but start!  As you work towards, and talk about their future homes, the Spirit will encourage you and plant hope in their hearts for the future.

This boy raised the chickens that now provide our eggs each day.

As the author of Miss Abigail's Hope Chest concluded,

"We don’t always know what our future holds. But some kind of home will be part of it. You can make it what you want it to be; what you hope it will be. That is the purpose of a hope chest."

Stitched by Katy when she was ten.
Little kits like this are available at WalMart for $1.
They make a cute stocking stuffer.

Lara @ Overstuffed Life | Heidi @ One Creative Mommy | Jessica @ Jessica Poe

Jill @ LDS Scripture Literacy | Montserrat @ Cranial Hiccups

Mandy @ A Bliss Complete | Jocelyn @ We Talk of Christ | Jen @ Moss Moments

To My Child Starting Seminary

Remember the story of the Three Little Pigs?  Of course you do, it's a familiar story.  The three pigs leave their family and go out into the world.  Each pig builds a home, one out of straw, one out of sticks, and one out of bricks.  The first two pigs are done building their homes quickly and invite the third pig to come and play, but he doesn't, they laugh at him and go off to play.  He continues to slowly, brick by brick, build a strong home.  Why didn't the first two pigs build a strong home?  Maybe they didn't think that there really was a big bad wolf, or maybe they thought that they would be able to outrun the wolf, or maybe they were just too lazy to do the work.  Anyways, as the story goes, the wolf comes knocking at the door of the first pig, huffs, and puffs and blows the house in.  The wolf comes knocking at the second door, huffs, and puffs and blows the house in.  What do you know?  There really is a wolf, and he is strong.  But that third little pig?  He is protected from the wolf inside his house of bricks.  The wolf is strong, but not THAT strong.   

I imagine that testimonies are a lot like those houses.  A person with a testimony of straw probably only goes to seminary because their friends do.  They probably don't do the homework, because they are really just there to fit in.  It's quick, it's easy, and that is all.  A testimony of straw will be easily blown down by the wolf.  

A person with a testimony of sticks has worked a little harder, but not a lot.  Maybe they really want to learn, but don't want to spend much time.  Maybe they are afraid that their friends will laugh if they work on their testimony too much.  Maybe they do the work, but just quickly enough to go and play and without really thinking about it. Their house of sticks will be easily blown down.

The person with a testimony of bricks missed out on some of the "fun".  They didn't go with friends to movies that were inappropriate, they missed out on parties that encouraged poor choices.  But they knew that they were building something strong.  Brick by brick they added meaningful personal prayers, they prayerfully partook of the sacrament, they prayed for the companionship of the Holy Ghost daily, they attended seminary with a desire to learn how to build a better brick home, they changed things in their lives to better live the gospel, they repented, they didn't just read the scriptures for seminary, they SEARCHED them- hungry for guidance.  They remembered that there was a wolf and that he was powerful, but not as powerful as a well-built brick home.

Those who were too lazy or who didn't believe there really was a wolf will be destroyed.  Of course there is a wolf, our common adversary, an enemy to all goodness, the author of lies.  Unable to create or build anything himself his time is spent blowing down houses built of straw and sticks, destroying lives, and working to make others as miserable as himself.  Which is really saying something, because he is miserable.

Those who figured they would be able to outrun the wolf will discover that he is relentless, cunning, and intent upon their destruction.  Running might work for a bit, but not for long.  

Maybe the lazy pig rationalizes that he is the only one who will suffer if he doesn't build a better house.  But someday, soon, God will deliver precious children to that home.  Will it protect them?  Will they be safe?   

Those who followed prophets, studied scriptures and developed a brick-strong testimony will have peace.  Brick houses are so much stronger than the wolf.  Inside that brick house you might be able to hear the wolf, but you will sleep well at night knowing that you are safe.  Light and goodness and God's power really are stronger than any power of darkness.  

Seminary is an amazing opportunity to build a better, stronger testimony.  Take it seriously.  Work hard.  Avoid distractions in your life that will cause the Spirit to leave you.  Don't be fooled into believing that the wolf isn't real, or that you can outrun him, or that strong testimonies don't really matter- because they do.  Just ask the three little pigs. 

Finding Examples of the Power of Motherhood in Literature

I love the book "Mama's Bank Account".  It is a treasure of stories about a Norwegian immigrant family living in San Francisco in the early 1900's.  Mama reminds me of my important role as mother.  The book is full of funny and amazing stories that illustrate her love and courage, but my favorite is the first chapter, shared here:

For as long as I could remember, the small cottage on Castro Street had been home.  The familiar background was there; Mama, Papa, my only brother, Nels.  There was my sister Christene, closest to me in age, yet ever secret and withdrawn- and the littlest sister, Dagmar.  There, too, came the Aunts, Mama's four sisters.  Aunt Jenny, who was the oldest and the bossiest; Aunt Sigrid; Aunt Marta; and our Maiden Aunt, Trina.  The Aunts' old bachelor uncle, my Great-uncle Chris- the "black Norwegian"- came with his great impatience, his shouting and stamping.  And brought mystery and excitement to our humdrum days.

But the first awareness was of Mama.

I remember that every Saturday night Mama would sit down by the scrubbed kitchen table and with much wrinkling of usually placid brows count out the money Papa had brought home in the little envelope.  There would be various stacks.  "For the landlord," Mama would say, piling up the big silver pieces.  "For the grocer."  Another group of coins.  "For Katrin's shoes to be half-soled."  And Mama would count out the little silver.  "Teacher says this week I'll need a notebook."  That would be Christene or Nels or I.  Mama would solemnly detach a nickel or a dime and set it aside.  We would watch the diminishing pile with breathless interest.  At last, Papa would ask, "Is all?"  And when Mama nodded, we could relax a little and reach for schoolbooks and homework.  For Mama would look up then and smile.  "Is good," she'd murmur.  "We do not have to go to the Bank."  It was a wonderful thing, that Bank Account of Mama's.  We were all so proud of it.  It gave us such a warm, secure feeling.  No one else we knew had money in a big bank downtown.

I remember when the Jensens down the street were put out because they couldn't pay their rent.  We children watched the big strange men carry out the furniture, took furtive notice of poor Mrs. Jensen's shamed tears, and I was choked with sudden fear.  This, then, happened to people who did not have the stack of coins marked "Landlord."  Might this, could this, violence happen to us?  I clutched Christine's hands.  "We have a Bank Account," she reassured me calmly, and suddenly I could breathe again.

When Nels graduated from grammar school he wanted to go on to High.  "Is good," Mama said, and Papa nodded approvingly.  "It will cost a little money," Nels said.  Eagerly we brought up chairs and gathered around the table.  I took down the gaily painted box that Aunt Sigrid had sent us from Norway one Christmas and laid it carefully in front of Mama.  This was the "Little Bank".  Not to be confused, you understand, with the big Bank downtown.  The "Little Bank" was used for sudden emergencies, such as the time Christine broke her arm and had to be taken to a doctor, or when Dagmar got croup and Papa had to go to the drugstore for medicine to put into the steam kettle.

Nels had it all written out neatly.  So much for carfare, for clothes, for notebooks and supplies.  Mama looked at the figures for a long time.  Then she counted out the money in the Little Bank.  There was not enough.  She pursed her lips.  "We do not," she reminded us gently, "want to have to go to the Bank".  We all shook our heads.  "I will work in Dillon's grocery after school," Nels volunteered.  Mama gave him a bright smile and laboriously wrote down a sum and added and subtracted.  Papa did it in his head.  He was very quick on arithmetic.  "Is not enough," he said.  Then he took his pipe out of his mouth and looked at it for a long time.  "I give up tobacco," he said suddenly.  Mama reached across the table and touched Papa's sleeve, but she didn't say anything.  Just wrote down another figure.  "I will mind the Elvington children every Friday night," I said.  "Christine can help me."  "Is good," Mama said.  We all felt very good.  We had passed another milestone without having to go downtown and draw money out of Mama's Bank Account.  The Little Bank was sufficient for the present.

So many things, I remember, came out of the Little Bank that year.  Christine's costume for the school play, Dagmar's tonsil operation, my Girl Scout uniform.  And always, in the background, was the comforting knowledge that should our efforts fail, we still had the Bank to depend upon.

Even when the Strike came, Mama would not let us worry unduly.  We all worked together so that the momentous trip downtown could be postponed.  It was almost like a game.  During that time Mama "helped out" at Kruper's bakery for a big sack of only slightly stale bread and coffeecake.  And as Mama said, fresh bread was not too good for a person and if you put the coffeecake into the hot oven it was nearly as nice as when first baked.  Papa washed bottles at the Castro Creamery every night and they gave him three quarts of fresh milk and all the sour milk he could carry away.  Mama made fine cheese.

The day the Strike was over and Papa went back to work, I saw Mama stand a little straighter, as if to get a kink out of her back.  She looked around at us proudly.  "Is good," she smiled.  "See?  We did not have to go down to the Bank."

That was twenty years ago.

Last year I sold my first story.  When the check came I hurried over to Mama's and put the long green slip of paper in her lap.  "For you," I said, "to put in your Bank Account."  And I noticed for the first time how old Mama and Papa looked.  Papa seemed shorter, now, and Mama's wheaten braids were sheened with silver.  Mama fingered the check and looked at Papa.  "Is good," she said, and her eyes were proud.  "Tomorrow," I told her, "you must take it down to the Bank."  "You will go with me Katrin?"  "That won't be necessary, Mama.  See?  I've endorsed the check to you.  Just hand it to the teller, he'll deposit it in your account."  Mama looked at me.  "Is no account," she said.  "In all my life, I never been inside a Bank."

And when I didn't- couldn't- answer, Mama said earnestly: "Is not good for little ones to be afraid- to not feel secure."

Thousands Will Follow

Today was Stake Conference.  I prayed this morning for a bit of direction, peace, or encouragement.  In some of the last words of the conference our stake president told of a woman he taught on his mission. When the invitation to be baptized was extended to her she said, "I can't be baptized until I am certain it is true, because thousands will follow me".  Our stake president said that she was a quiet woman, living a quiet life alone and he couldn't understand this statement.  She repeated it again later when she was invited to be baptized.  Finally she was certain, and entered the waters of baptism.

Years have passed now.  Children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren have come.  They have served missions, they have served in the church, they have shared the gospel.  Thousands have been influenced by her careful decision to join the church.  Thousands have followed.  Our stake president mentioned that looking at the situation now perhaps "thousands" was a conservative estimate.

"Thousands will follow" was the message that the Spirit burned into my heart today.  I am strengthened to handle all of the menial tasks associated with motherhood with the reminder that thousands will follow me.  My children will teach their children the lessons I have shared with them, their children will teach their children, and in not so many generations thousands will be blessed to know the love that comes from their Savior, and His plan for our salvation!

If you doubt the influence of mothers consider the following story, told by Julie B. Beck in her talk titled Remembering, Repenting and Changing:

My next story is about a woman I will call Mary. She was the daughter of faithful pioneer parents who had sacrificed much for the gospel. She had been married in the temple and was the mother of 10 children. She was a talented woman who taught her children how to pray, to work hard, and to love each other. She paid her tithing, and the family rode to church together on Sunday in their wagon. 

Though she knew it was contrary to the Word of Wisdom, she developed the habit of drinking coffee and kept a coffee pot on the back of her stove. She claimed that “the Lord will not keep me out of heaven for a little cup of coffee.” But, because of that little cup of coffee, she could not qualify for a temple recommend, and neither could those of her children who drank coffee with her. Though she lived to a good old age and did eventually qualify to reenter and serve in the temple, only one of her 10 children had a worthy temple marriage, and a great number of her posterity, which is now in its fifth generation, live outside of the blessings of the restored gospel she believed in and her forefathers sacrificed so much for.

Motherhood is an important job and today I was reminded to choose carefully how I spend my time as a mother, because thousands will follow.

***edited to add***
I hit publish on this last night and went to bed.  All night the Spirit nudged me to add the truth.  This year, as I have studied the Plan of Salvation I have been strongly impressed that the Plan isn't in place so we can merely return to live with Him, it is there so that we can one day live like HIM.  The Plan of Salvation was put in place so that we can become Gods.  It is such a beautiful truth, so strongly evidenced through nature.  A seed becomes like the plant it came from.  To think that *thousands* will follow is thinking too small, WAY too small.  There lies in me, only possible through the Atonement of Christ, the promise of posterity more numerous than the stars.   Such a blessing is worth every effort!   How great our God!

Credit Here

The Doctrine of the Family

My testimony of the importance of families has grown so much as I have studied God's word to know what God expects of me as a mom.  I have searched the scriptures for references about what we are to teach our children.  I have read both mine and my husband's Patriarchal blessings and written down everything that God has said about our family and what we need to do as parents.  Another great source of clarity has been the words of God's servants.  Most of these have audio/video links if you want to watch it or listen to it while you are working.  

Here are some of my favorite talks about God's plan for families!

Bringing up Children in Light and Truth, by George Albert Smith

"I want to suggest to you..., there is no time that you can spend, no way in which you can utilize your time that will be of greater advantage than training your boys and your girls to be worthy of the blessings of our Heavenly Father."

Mothers and Daughters, by M. Russell Ballard

"There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman."

Mothers Who Know, by Julie B. Beck

"When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children."

Children, by Neil L. Andersen

"In 'the best of times and the worst of times' the true Saints of God, acting in faith, have never forgotten, dismissed, or neglected 'God's commandment... to multiply and replenish the earth.'  We go forward in faith..."

The Joy of Living the Great Plan of Happiness, by Richard G. Scott

"As a mother guided by the Lord, you weave a fabric of character in your children from threads of truth through careful instruction and worthy example...  It is your sacred right and privilege."

The Family Under Siege: The Role of Man and Woman, by Bruce K. Satterfield

The link will take you to the talk at theredheadedhostess.com

"Upon the creation of a mortal body, parents begin one of the most important tests of not only mortality but of their eternal existence: to see if they will do all they can to raise a righteous family.  Ultimately, it is through righteous parenthood that men and women can prove themselves worthy of godhood, for I believe that the ultimate test of godhood is parenthood!"

Teaching the Doctrine of the Family, by Julie B. Beck

The link will take you to the talk at theredheadedhostess.com

"Everything depended on a man and a woman who understood their place in the plan and their responsibilities to form an eternal family, to bear children, and to teach them."

A Legacy of Testimony, by Henry B. Eyring

"No program we follow or family tradition we create can transmit a legacy of testimony we do not have..."

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them, by Boyd K Packer

"It is the challenge of mortality to be a worthy and responsible parent."

Families Under Covenant, by Henry B. Eyring

"There is nothing that has come or will come into your family as important as the sealing blessings."

To the Fathers in Israel, by Ezra Taft Benson

"Remember your sacred calling as a father in Israel- your most important calling in time and eternity- a calling from which you will never be released."

Gathering

A Mother With Children
by: Giuseppe Magni 

I'm terrible at art interpretation, but this picture speaks volumes to me with all of its baskets.  It has taken me years of mothering to recognize the crucial role that mothers play as "gatherers" for their families.  During these first formative years of life the world for my children is what I bring into my home: the foods, the books, the movies, the conversations, the babies, the tone.  All of it is gathered together by me.  The power of homemaking!  I love it.  

I might also resonate with the picture a little because her house isn't perfectly clean...  Isn't it beautiful though how she holds her children in the light?  And doesn't she look calm?