HOPE CHEST

the hope chest has been in the past a part of mothers' and unmarried daughters' perspective on life. 
as a modern person (and woman) in a society with an easy abundance of material possessions, i (along with others) came to believe that the time for the hope chest was past- because the acquisition  of the needed things for a new household are not as difficult to come by; and we spend much more time as singles that in the past.

but i realize now that the purpose of the hope chest is not just to prepare materially for future married life; but also, to give a young woman a way to "remember" the future- to envision it.  the Bible says that without vision, the people perish.