Filling a Hope Chest

      

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: Isaiah 28:10

Let’s see what’s in here; a potholder I made when I was 8; a pillowcase I made when I was 12; a crochet doily from Grandma. When I finish this piece I’ll add it to the others.

I may go buy that set of dishes.

That’s pretty much the way it goes for a young girl preparing years in advance for her wedding and future home. Add a little here and a little there with no one special in mind, just a hope that one day she will marry and start a home. But, how are we preparing spiritually for our homes? As wives and mothers it is our job to nurture the children God will give us. II Timothy tells us Timothy’s mother and grandmother provided him with a spiritual upbringing as will as a physical home. Are we preparing spiritually for our future family? Our children are the only real hope for the future. They are the only thing we can take with us into eternity. But how do we prepare?

Line upon line and precept upon precept. We fill our lives with the things of God so that we may bring those things our of our hearts and give them to our children. Are we making time to read God’s Word every day? Do we have a prayer time? Do we have a Christian friend to help me grow and hold me accountable? Are we memorizing scripture? Are we attending a church that will help me grow? If we already have children are we doing those things with and for them?

Encourage one another. Won’t you share your ideas for your spiritual Hope Chest?

In Honor Of Mother's Day

When I call to remembrance the unfiegned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. II Timothy 1:5

My favorite book is When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant. Hers was a mentor text for me to write in honor of my Grandmother. Hope this post brings fond memories to your remembrance as well.

When I Was Young

When I was young, I lived just up the path from my Grandma and Papa. The privet hedge that separated my house from the path was my time tunnel. I lived in the twentieth century but they lived in the past.

When I was young, I helped Grandma draw water from the well. We drank sweet water from a common dipper in the bucket in Grandma’s kitchen.

When I was young, Grandma would hold me up so I could see the robin’s nest in the hedge just outside her bedroom window. We would watch the mother bird feed her babies fat juicy worms and little green bugs.

When I was young we sat under the oak tree and peeled peaches for peach ice cream. We took turns cranking the ice cream churn until our arms ached and the crank no longer turned. Then we would eat peach ice cream until it gave us a brain freeze.

When I was young, we chased birds around the front yard with a salt shaker. Papa said if we put salt on a bird’s tail, we could catch it. In the evening, Papa would call bob whites up to the edge of the yard. I tried to whistle too. Sometimes the bob whites would answer my call.

When I was young, Grandma taught us to play mumbledy peg with Papa’s pocket knife. It would easily stick in the pine boards of Grandma’s kitchen steps.

When I was young, we spent winter evenings around a coal heater in the sitting room, playing checkers while the sleet beat against the windows. We didn’t have any story books but Grandma was a good story teller.

When I was young, Grandma made all my dresses for school and church on her treadle machine. She tatted lace for my collars. Once she let me help serve when the Women’s Missionary Union met at her house.  She always made me feel special.

When I was young, I never wanted to go to the city. I never wanted to fly in a plane. I only wanted to slip through the hedge and down the path to my grandparents’ house.                                               Based on When I Was Young in the Mountains

 

Perhaps you have a favorite book that brings special memories of your mother or grandmother to mind. Please let us know.   Blessings.