My Grandpa Muecke

I remember a time in grade school when a teacher asked, “If you could be anyone in the world, who would you be?” I searched my mind and thought of various people, famous and not, who might be neat to “be.” But I stopped short when I realized that, if I were any of those people, Grandpa and Grandma Muecke would not be my grandparents. I don’t know if it was the teacher’s original goal in asking the question, but if I ever doubted it, I knew then that I didn’t want be anyone else in this world. I wouldn’t give up my grandma and grandpa for anything.


As a child, they were always my rock. If you’d asked me, the street they lived on was called Elm Court because Elm was short for Elmer. Their house, their love, their support was always there. We stayed with them often when my dad worked on the road, and every Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, we were there. We’d stay with them in the summer. I loved it when I was with them. I was happy. I was safe. I was loved. When I would have nightmares, my mom would tell me to think of my favorite place. It was always thoughts of Grandma and Grandpa’s that scared those monsters away.

As we grew, they continued to be there, from sporting events, confirmations, and graduations in high school to traveling to Sioux City to watch me cheerlead in college. They drove with Mom, Dad, and Erin to Ohio to see Melissa, Charlie, and me while Melissa was at Ball State and I was at Miami University. (I’m sure The Cracker Barrel was exactly where they wanted to spend their Thanksgiving that year.) As our families grew, they traveled repeatedly to the Twin Cities to attend Senior Day at my kids’ school. They went to Belle Fourche, SD, for Erin and Andy’s wedding and even flew to Alaska to visit them when they lived there.

To me, Grandpa Muecke was always the perfect mix of stability and fun. Who else would take their five young grandchildren to hotel weekends for swimming, eating out, and just having fun together? We’ll always remember Grandpa chewing out the people at McDonald’s for always getting our order wrong, and Grandpa trying his best to walk through a closed glass door. (I don’t think his nose was broken.) He let us crank the radio on his golf cart and drive it around and around his yard. He would wrestle and play and laugh and smile.

He would always ask about our grades, activities, and jobs. He was ready to give instruction and praise. He was always what I wanted to be. Dependable. Intelligent. Selfless. Strong. Hardworking. Honorable. Solid. He was respected as a pilot and instructor, volunteer firefighter, and valuable member of the community. But he was also the man who helped Dad with hog chores and would run the dozer for him in the drainage business. (Even if Charlie claims that Grandpa tried to bury him that one time … Grandpa did throw him a spade to dig himself out.) He would trim trees, split wood, and fix machinery. He was never too good to help out.

I am going to miss my grandpa dearly. Whenever I see a plane overhead or the Hawkeyes are playing, I’ll think of him. When we have steaks with green onions or tacos with super-hot sauce, I’ll think of him. When I go fishing, or my dad goes gopher-hunting, or we watch golf, I’ll think of him. As I raise my family and live my life, as I strive to be the best person I can be, I’ll think of him.

Thank you, Grandpa, for being you. I love you.

Elmer Muecke at OneTrueMedia.com

Grandpa, I miss you more than words can say.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jesus, please come today

I have had this song in my head all day. "Hallelujah" by Heather Williams. Do you suppose that if all believers around the world sang this prayer, that Jesus would return? I suppose not, but it's a nice idea. 

There have been times in my life when I felt like I wasn't ready for Jesus' return, but the thought of being brought to heaven and given my new body is a comfort to me today. 

If Jesus is not coming today, I still take comfort in knowing that he will return. And I will keep moving while I'm waiting - doing the work God has called me to do. "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller

I just finished my Bible reading for today which included the following passage. This may all seem a bit disjointed, but in my mind, it makes sense. And I am encouraged. 

New Bodies 2 Corinthians 5 

 ¹ For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. ² We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. ³ For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.^[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. ⁵ God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

 ⁶ So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. ⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing. ⁸Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. ¹⁰ For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

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American Idol Fantasy League!

Check out Idol Schmidol: The Original Fantasy Idol League!


You have been invited to play Idol Schmidol, by joining the Scobba Hawk League. It is a super game for cool folks like us who can't stop watching American Idol.

Hello all! It's American Idol time again! I am wondering if anyone would like to do a "for fun" league through this www.idolschmidol.com site. The site keeps score for us, and we go in every week and make our picks for who is going home.

The first picks are due TONIGHT! If you don't get them in, it's no problem. There are many weeks left and you won't be out of the running if you don't get in right away.

Please invite others who might like to play with us. It looks like it's going to be a great season for Idol! Tracy

Follow this link and use the league code below to join in on the fun

tH1tM5

When you sign up, you create a user, then you create a team. The team is really just you. You create a team under the Scobba Hawk league. I wish the wording was better, but just know that your team is really just you.

See you there!

Shep ornament

Blank Project Ceramic Ornament

Create personalized greeting cards and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Click and drag on the ornament to see both sides.

More Sammy-isms

But He's Not Crying

Last night, Sammy got into trouble because he was hitting Megan with a Nerf sword. My mom took it away from him. After much pleading and promising to never hit anyone again, Sammy was given his sword back. Not a minute later, Sammy whacked Shea with the sword.

When confronted by my mom about his actions, Sammy said,
"But he's not crying!"

Apparently, if there are no tears there is no crime ... Hmm, I may have to watch my Sammy more closely.

No I Can't

Recently, Sammy has to know where I am at all times. If I'm downstairs, and he's upstairs, he call down, "Mommy, where are you." "I'm down here, Sammy," I'll reply. "But where are you?" he'll insist. "I'm in the bedroom." Then I'll hear little footsteps coming down the stairs with a little voice still saying, "Where are you, Mommy?" It's like has to see with own eyes that I am still somewhere.

This morning, I was working on the computer downstairs when a similar dialog commenced.
"Where are you, Mommy?"
"I'm downstairs, honey."
"Where are you, Mommy?"
"I'm downstairs on the computer, Sammy."
"But I can't hear you, Mommy!"
"Yes, you can."
"No, I can't!"
"Yes, you can." (laugh)
"No, I can't!"

The irony was completely lost on him.

Where do bad dreams come from?

My daughter Megan has always had issues with bad dreams. She hates them; she's deathly afraid of them. Every night as we say our prayers, she prays that God would give her good dreams. Last night, we were praying, and she asked that He give her good dreams, not like the bad dreams He gave her last night.

I said, "Megan, God doesn't give you bad dreams." And Shea asked, "Who does then?"

What a good question! My first thought was satan, but I didn't really want to go there as I was tucking my kids in bed. I didn't want them thinking that the devil could get into their thoughts and give them bad dreams. And as I thought about it, I thought, satan does not have the power to control my thoughts or even hear my thougths. But he does seem to be part of the mix.

Megan said, "We give them to ourselves."

I think she is mostly right. Bad things do come from sin, our sinful nature, our sinful bodies ... I'm not sure how to put it. Because of sin, there are bad things in the world, and because of bad things in the world, we have fears and anxieties.

We ended our prayers with reminders and praises for God's constant protection and our ability to call on Him any time. But the discussion, although brief, got me to thinking and reminded me that my children are growing up and are going to have bigger and bigger questions. Why does God allow bad things to happen? Will something bad happen to me?

I think I will talk to Megan tonight about how God allows bad things to happen so that we turn to Him and rest in his strength. I'll guage how much we can get into the subject by what she says ...

Anyone with good books to recommend, please share. And I'd like to hear your comments and insights. And, if you would, say a little prayer that Megan has good dreams tonight. :-)