I used this word today to describe to someone the components of our family financial picture. (Lest you worry, I’ll go on to say that the hodgepodge in that area of life is more like a patchwork quilt than a junk drawer variety of hodgepodge.)
The word has its origins in a word that can mean “stew”. I love stew, especially the kind of beef stew which my mom always made for company at my request when I was a kid and which, as an adult and the chief cook of our household, I think I have just about managed to duplicate. The thing I love about stew is how the disparate ingredients–carrots, potatoes, beef chunks, dry onion soup, and cream of mushroom soup, plus a few splashes and shakes of catsup, worcestershire sauce, and pepper–meld together in their flavors and textures to create a thoroughly satisfying whole.
We spent the evening with friends whose sights are set on summer departure for work in an international school in Europe. Their financial support for the endeavor must all come from individual friends and family members who share their vision–there are no big church entities supporting them. It is slow going, to piece together the team of people who will give wings to their dream, their calling. It will be a hodgepodge in the end. But, as the quilter orders the varied pieces of cloth into a purposeful, useful whole, and as the cook blends the flavors to create her best stew, so the God who has called our friends will put together those who will form their supporting team, their network.
Let no one speak ill of hodgepodge.
