"Preparing Your Hope Chest is a must for all mothers and daughters." -- The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

I grew up in a non-Christian, secular home with both parents working. I had many "things," but I was lacking in some of what I would call the most important of things suited to life. I grew up watching television shows like "Donna Reed," "Mary Tyler Moore," and, later on, "Happy Days." I grew up during the women's movement and attended public school. I believed that a woman could be anything that she set her mind to being, yet something was missing from my life.

Even after I became "saved," I saw and still continue to see well-meaning Christian families encouraging their daughters to "excel in the things of the world." My heart is burdened for the children of so many mothers who think it nothing to go off to work to have more "things" for their children, permitting others to do the "raising." I see more and more young women selling themselves short to marry the first young man who asks, just so they can leave these same well-to-do homes, or worse, get pregnant out of wedlock hoping someone will marry them and fix the void. Something is wrong in America and sadly, in the church as well. There is a loss of the Biblical role model of feminity. The older women have left the training of the younger women for the work force.

Pearables answers the scriptural call for the older women to train up the younger women through their "Hope Chest Series." Although I have only sons and no daughters, I was asked to review their awesome book entitled, Preparing Your Hope Chest. This book from Pearables enables mothers to teach their daughters that there is great honor in homemaking. It emphasizes that it is God's design for women to be wives and mothers. It is His highest calling to women. It is our ministry.

This book is not written for mothers, but for the daughters. It is designed for mothers and daughters to complete together. The first item of business deals with the question, "What is a hope chest?" I was surprised to find that it was something very different than what I had thought! It goes on to give suggestions on finding a hope chest and then planning the skills that will fill it. Yes, skills will fill it (You will have to read the book to find out how)! Other chapters include: Handiwork, Embroidery, Sewing, Decorating, Kitchen Preparation, Cooking, House Cleaning, and Frugality. Located at the end of the book are additional resources to help each young woman make their own hope chest unique.

Although I am a mother of two and five-year-olds, I found this book to be refreshing. My own attitudes about being a wife and mother are still being shaped by God's gracious Holy Spirit. It takes time to undo all that the world has so wrongly taught. Preparing Your Hope Chest examines each gifting that enables a young woman to become a suitable helpmeet for a young man. It is a book that not only teaches skills, but a servant attitude as well. I think what touched me the most about this book was the tender encouragement with which it was written. Preparing Your Hope Chest is a must for all mothers and daughters.



-- Product Review by: Teri Lucas, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine