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Upcoming Activities And Thanksgiving

THIS WEEK AT THE GRAF HOUSE

Friday Night Dinner and Study: Our potluck theme is "Comfort Foods" which such be nice for our grey, rainy weather! Bring your Bibles for some crazy-talk about lostness...

Sunday Night Football: Join us Sunday from 7-9pm to watch one of the "early" NFL games. This will be a "ohne Kinder" night--that is German for "without your kids!" Please find a babysitter or a friend to watch your kiddos and then come join us!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Wednesday

7pm: Young Adult Contemporary Service as normally held in the Graf Chapel Annex

Thursday

5:00pm Thanksgiving Dinner! Come enjoy turkey and all the fixings! Please RSVP so we know how many to anticipate (but if you find a soldier in the barracks on Thanksgiving morning, bring him or her along even if you hadn't RSVP'd.)

6:30pm: Watch the Patriots and Lions on the big screen.

Friday

2:30-5:30pm: Adult Sport Day--Meet at the Graf House and we will go to a nearby field to play some soccer, ultimate football, flag football, etc. Kids are welcome to come watch but they will need to be supervised by a parent not participating in the activity.

5:30-7:30pm: Party to celebrate the engagement of Nick and Alexis. We will have light snack foods to eat as you hang out, play cards or board games, and enjoy being together. There will be the opportunity for you to help them get ready for married life by purchasing a Pampered Chef item but by no means do you have to. (You can also buy Pampered Chef things as a Christmas present for your wife, parents, etc. Shopping made easy.)

Saturday

2:00 Leave the Graf Chapel for the Gutteneck Medieval Christmas Market. This is a really fun Christmas market about 45 minutes away that the whole family will enjoy. We will leave at 2pm sharp because the parade starts at 3pm. The market costs approximately 4 Euros to enter.

Sunday

10:30 Chapel (No Sunday School or AWANA's)

11:30 Brunch at the DFAC

To Know And Follow Hard After You

My prayer for Aimee and myself. For our boys. For those God brings into our lives.

This Week at The Graf House

For some reason my email is not wanting to send a mass letter this week. Did the postage rates go up? So here is what is happening this weekend:

Fall Work Day

The forecast for Saturday is partly cloudy with a high of 59 degrees! That is almost summer-like for this time in Bavaria. And what can you do with such fine weather? Glad you asked! You can come out to The Graf House and do some yard work! We are having our fall work-day at The Graf House this Saturday and would love anyone's help. Lots of trimming of bushes, raking leaves, cleaning out the garden, etc. We will begin working around 10:00 am and will be going throughout the day until approximately 4:00. Please drop in for a couple hours whenever it works for you. Aimee will be providing lunch around noon.

Friday Night Dinner and Study

Our dinner theme is "Breakfast for Dinner". For our lesson we will begin looking at some of the "lukewarm" characteristics that Francis Chan talks about in his book Crazy Love. If you haven't read this part I would highly encourage you to read the first few chapters and then this chapter as well. My hope is that everything about our night will not be lukewarm but will be on fire and passionate for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Blessings!

Brian

Proverbs to Shape our View of Media (22-25)

I had a conversation recently with a couple of guys about what our standard should be for the movies and TV we watch and the video games we play. We decided to go through a Proverb a day to see what they have to say (not starting at Proverbs one, instead Oct 21 = Proverbs 21). Here are some observations with some questions. The questions are for us to ponder. I don't claim to have the answer to every question I pose. May you thoughtfully and prayerfully consider what you watch and play.

He who loves purity of heart,

and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

(Proverbs 22:11 ESV) Do the things we watch and play contribute to our purity? Do they hinder it? Are we naive if we say they have no impact?

Be not envious of evil men,

nor desire to be with them,

for their hearts devise violence,

and their lips talk of trouble.

(Proverbs 24:1-2 ESV)

Whoever plans to do evil

will be called a schemer.

The devising of folly is sin,

and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

(Proverbs 24:8-9 ESV) Is playing video games than contain evil, evil? Again, how would you define evil? How would you define good?

I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,

and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;

the ground was covered with nettles,

and its stone wall was broken down.

Then I saw and considered it;

I looked and received instruction.

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

(Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV) Again, on laziness but I can't help but think that a lot of video game playing and movie watching relates more to laziness than relaxation.

Proverbs to Shape our View of Media (20-21)

I had a conversation recently with a couple of guys about what our standard should be for the movies and TV we watch and the video games we play. We decided to go through a Proverb a day to see what they have to say (Yes, not starting at Proverbs One, instead Oct 21--Proverbs 21). Here are some observations with some questions. The questions are for us to ponder. I don't claim to have the answer to every question I pose. May you thoughtfully and prayerfully consider what you watch and play.

Proverbs 20

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;

he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

(Proverbs 20:4 ESV) On Laziness (I think our movie watching and game playing sometimes is because we are lazy and not willing to make time to do profitable things. Thus we will have nothing to show come harvest time)

The righteous who walks in his integrity—

blessed are his children after him!

(Proverbs 20:7 ESV) Let's be sure that whatever our standard is, that we walk faithfully in it

A king who sits on the throne of judgment

winnows all evil with his eyes.

(Proverbs 20:8 ESV) Interesting. The ESV Study Note says, "That is, he sorts and separates it out, and then removes it." Should we sort and separate out all evil and then remove it from our movie shelves? What is evil?

Proverbs 21

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,

but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

(Proverbs 21:5 ESV) Again, on laziness...

The soul of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

(Proverbs 21:10 ESV) What does this say about wanting to watch evil movies? Play evil games? Do we desire evil by desiring to play with evil? Thoughts?

One who wanders from the way of good sense

will rest in the assembly of the dead.

(Proverbs 21:16 ESV) Does it make good sense to watch what we watch? If so, why?

A wicked man puts on a bold face,

but the upright gives thought to his ways.

(Proverbs 21:29 ESV) I think we are doing this--giving thought to our ways. It is a good thing.

Caving

Monday Spelunking--Brian will be taking a group of guys caving this Monday (11th). We'll meet at the Graf House at 1130 and drive to Pottenstein for lunch and then onto caving. Let him know if you are interested. Hope to see you then!

Transition Week at the Graf House

10 September

Friday Night Dinner & Study

Potluck Theme: Potato Bar
(Potato's and homemade chile provided ... toppings, sides, & desserts welcome)

Lesson:
"God Will Meet You Right Where You Are ... But He Won't Leave You There."

And ... this will be Bruce & Cathy's final week in Eschenbach. Brian & Aimee will be returning to the Graf House after a well-deserved vacation. Come welcome Jacob & Owen home ... and see how much Finn's grown!

No formal Saturday activity is planned for 9/11 ... however, maybe it's been too long since you've had a good long heart-to-heart with somebody you care about ... a friend, a child, a spouse. Saturdays are good days for caring!

Looking forward to continued fellowship ... Bruce & Cathy

This Week at the Graf House

3 September
Friday Night Dinner and Study

Potluck Theme: Italian (yum!)

Lesson: We're going to look at the characters of Judas, Peter, and Thomas as they interacted with Jesus during his final hours ... and in the process consider how we might better allow His presence to show through our lives.

4 September
Saturday Morning: "To Serve and be Served ..."
The Kleagers are due back from their vacation on Wednesday, 8 September. They've given much to this community ... how 'bout saying "welcome home" in the form of a well cared for house. We're thinking we could spend a couple of hours (1000 to 1200) beautifying their yard ... weeds, lawns, trimmings. At noon we'll BBQ some hot dogs for the hard workers, wrapping it up at 1300 sharp. Any takers??

Saturday Afternoon: Unfortunately, Cathy and I will be unable to join you at Eschenbach Lake. May we nevertheless encourage you (weather permitting) to spend this time together in fun and relaxing fellowship. Those interested can coordinate their interests Friday night ... we'll be happy to help.

On a Side Note ... Wednesday night at the Contemporary Worship Service (1945 at the Graf Chapel Annex), Bruce will be teaching from John 3, that compelling story where Jesus dialogues with Nicodemus concerning what it means to be born from above. Perhaps you have a friend that might find value in exposure to the core of our faith ... please consider joining us.

And Then Finally ... While the ladies take a break from PWOC, the men will continue to meet Thursday 1145-1245 with lunch in hand, upstairs in the Chapel Annex where we'll continue to sit under the teaching of Dallas Willard. The next two weeks sessions are particularly powerful ... hope you guys can join us.

Looking forward to our times together this week ...
Bruce & Cathy

Coming Up at the Graf House ...

27 August
Friday Night Dinner and Study
Potluck Theme: Casseroles
Lesson: Last week in considering the Gospel, we looked at the words of Jesus Himself ...

"Jesus then came into Galilee announcing the good news from God. 'All the preliminaries have been taken care of,’ he said, ‘and the rule of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living [repent] and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.’” Mark 1:14-15 (paraphrase)

Friday night we're going to look at Stephen (Acts 6 & 7), a character who truely based his life on the remarkable new opportunity to follow Jesus and live in His Kingdom.

28 August

All are welcome to join the Graf House Family for a guided tour of Nurnberg. We'll meet at the Vilseck train station (mapquest or call us for directions) about 0915 for a 0930 departure to Nurnberg. The two hour tour will begin at 1100 followed by free time to eat, converse, explore, shop, etc. on your own. You're welcome to return at your leisure.

Cost for the Train: 6 Euro per person round trip; includes inner city public transportation in Nurnberg.

Cost for the Tour: Dependent on the number of participants, but expected to be between 5 & 9 Euros per person.

Looking forward to our time together ... Bruce & Cathy

Check Here for Updates

13 August
Friday Night Dinner and Study—Potluck Theme: European. Lesson: We will wrap up our marriage series with one last lesson on Conflict Resolution. I know I promised a lesson on the Bible, Marriage, and Sex but last Friday left us with only half the answer on Conflict Resolution (and I would hate for you to only half-resolve a conflict!). We will also have the great opportunity for you to meet Bruce and Cathy Gilbert who will be running The Graf House while we are away on vacation!

14 August
Ice Cream Social—This Saturday from 2-4 the Gilberts will host an ice cream social at The Graf House. Come enjoy your favorite ice cream and toppings and spend a little time getting to know the Gilberts and hanging out with your friends!

21 August
Weiden Tour:--Bill and Cydney Kastner will be leading a tour of Weiden on Saturday, August 21st. Put it on your calendar to meet them at the ZOB (Bus Station) at 9:30am. Bill will teach you all the intricacies of the town and then you can shop on your own or grab some lunch with friends. More details next week!

No Lake Day

Sorry, but the weather didn’t cooperate for us to have a day at the lake today. I am sure you didn’t need me to tell you that it is rainy and too cold to swim! However, I would encourage you to still get out with someone and find something fun to do: shopping in Weiden, a drive through the German countryside, a good movie, bowling, invite someone over to play a game, lunch out—find something fun to do with someone else! Have a blessed day whatever you choose to do!

BBQ this Saturday!

We will not be having our Friday night dinner and study this week but will resume in one week on July 23rd.

However, we are going to have a BBQ this Saturday night (17th). Come out to the Graf House at 5:30 to enjoy some good food, good friends, good fellowship, and to meet good Finn! We’ll have burgers and hotdogs on the grill and you can bring a side-dish to share with everyone. Drinks will also be provided. We will not have babysitters so please remember to keep an eye on your kids in the yard. We hope to see you Saturday.

Baby Finn!

We are very excited to introduce to you the newest Kleager Boy! Finnton Ray Kleager (Finn for short) was born Friday, July 2nd, at 5:37am in Amberg, Germany! Both Aimee and Finn are doing great. He weighed in at around 9 lbs. 4 oz. (4200 grams) and is 21 inches long--he is a big boy!
BABY FINN PICTURES

Here is a quick synopsis of our past few days:
Tuesday--Visit to our local doctor who recommends that we visit the doctor at the hospital.
Wednesday--9am visit to Amberg hospital and doctor. They schedule us to come in Thursday at 8am to be induced. They also send Aimee home with a castor oil "cocktail" to help speed things along. Low and behold, it sped things along! Wednesday evening around 7:30 we return to the Amberg hospital (45 minute drive from home) and they admit Aimee.
Thursday--8am they begin to induce. Things initially speed up with the assistance of LOTS of walking. However, in the mid-afternoon things slow down and we were a little discouraged. A visit with the doctor at 8pm and he recommends we get some rest and Friday morning they will induce her again. We return to our room, watch a movie, and as Aimee climbs into bed at 11:45pm she lets out a mild yelp and states, "Either my water just broke or I just wet the bed." Turns out it was the former. We return to the deliver room at midnight.
Friday--Aimee progresses quickly and requests and epidural. Unfortunately there was an emergency C-Section going on and she had to wait 2-hours for the epidural!! The epidural did help though and around 5:00am she began pushing and at 5:37 Finn arrived!

Monday morning we all returned home and are now getting some much needed rest. It has been good to have Aimee’s parents here while we get our feet back on the ground again! Thanks for the prayers from so many of you. We can't thank God enough for this special gift. This little guy has already blessed us with many smiles an tears of joy!

We will not be having any activities at the Graf House for a couple of weeks. We’ll let you know shortly when we plan to resume things.

We love you all!
Blessings in Christ,
Brian, Aimee, Jacob, Owen, and Finn

Pregnancy Update

We have a baby! He just happens to still be in the womb! We know many of you are curious about our upcoming birth so we just wanted to post a quick update. We have been going to the doctor every-other-day since the due date (last Friday). Tomorrow we go to the Amberg hospital for the doctor there to do a check. We are not entirely sure what will come of this visit. It could be that we don’t leave the hospital and they actually induce her. However, we expect that the doctor will probably just discuss with us all the options and then schedule a future appointment to be induced.

All in all Aimee is doing great. Her parents are here which has been very nice. We will keep you updated as we know more. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement—they are greatly appreciated.

June Events

Here is a rundown of what is happening this month! A little bit lighter schedule towards the end since Aimee is due with boy #3 on June 25th! We will be canceling Friday Night Dinner and Studies once she has the baby so please check back for updates!

June 4th Friday Night Dinner and Study (Potluck--Asian); CH Copeland will be leading our Bible study and talking about marriage!
June 4th-6th Men's Single Soldier Retreat in Garmsisch
June 12th--Pottenstein Day Trip
June 18th-20th NO Chapel Marriage Retreat as earlier indicated
June 25th--Baby Boy #3 Due!

April Events

April 12th (Monday): Trip to Nurnberg Swimming Pool—Meet at the Graf House at 12:00 and join us as we go swimming at the Nurnberg Swimming Pool. Lots of fun for the kids!

April 17th (Saturday): Trip to Flossenburg Concentration Camp

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland! Start thinking about whether you would like to join us and the Baumholder Hospitality House for some fun in the Alps. Here is the website to get you dreaming!

Day Nine of the Grand Adventure

Aimee is out of town and we are on day nine of our grand adventure. People have been asking me if we are surviving as though we're treading water or something. We feel like we are at the water slide! We're having a great time! While we miss mommy dearly, we have had some great "guy time." We look forward to seeing her tomorrow!

The Boys Grand Adventure Day Five--Saturday

Boys Adventure Day Six--Sunday

Update from the boys in German!

Jacob's Swim Team Medals

Jacob got four medals and two ribbons today at his Swim Banquet! Here is a picture of the medals and one from a swim meet.

Day Four Update

Here is the boys Day Four Update of their Grand Adventure while Mom's away...

Day Three of our Grand Advnture

Aimee is out of town and the boys survived day three (albeit on corndogs)! Here is the boys recap...

War Wounds

In the last couple weeks both boys have suffered some battle wounds! Owen got a black eye when Jacob's matchbox car zoomed too fast and hit his eye. (The red hair is from a costume he wore to school for "Fasching") Jacob had to visit the emergency room in Austria after cutting his head. He was on a tour of the castle we were staying in (now a Christian retreat center) and tripped in the dungeon and hit the wall with his head. One stitch later he is feeling much bettter!

Missing Mom

Here is a video link of my "interview" with Jacob and Owen. We are surviving even though mom is away!

Saturday: Ice Skating in Weiden! We will meet there at 2:00 (when it opens to public skating) and plan to skate until around 4:00.

Address for your GPS:
Freizeitzentrum Weiden - Eisstadion
Raiffeisenstraße 5
92637 Weiden i. d. OPf.
Telefon +49 9 61 / 67 13 - 225

Here are the prices from the website. I believe that the family rate is really what it says below, but no guarantees! You have to pay an entrance fee and a skate rental fee (if you don’t bring your own skates).

Skate rental fees:
Adults 3,50 €
Children and youths (up to 18 years of age) and students, soldiers and conscientious objectors w/respective ID cards 2,00 €

Entrance Fees
Adults (18 years and older) 2,90 €

Children and youths (up to 18 years of age)
and students, soldiers and conscientious objectors w/respective ID cardsn 1,30 €
Families
Families visiting the facilities pay for both parents and the first child; all additional children may enter free of charge. Single parents pay for the parent and the first child; all additional children may enter free of charge. This discount does not apply to youths over 18 years of age unless they are students and can show their school or university ID card respectively.

Weather to have Bible Study

Based on the weather we wanted to update everyone on our plans! We are still planning to have our dinner and Bible study tonight. The roads in and around Eschenbach are clear but wet as of 1430. If you are comfortable driving in winter conditions, we would love to have you join us. Plan on a little extra time to get here and we will see you tonight!

Also, the men’s trip to Nurnberg tomorrow is still going to happen. I’ll check the roads in the morning and let you know if it is too bad to drive there. If you don’t hear from me, plan to meet at the Graf Chapel at 12:00. See you then.

Upcoming Activities

Nurnberg Men’s Trip: January 30th-31st
Join a group of men as we travel to Nurnberg to visit the Documentation Center. This is an incredible museum that details the rise of Nazism in Germany. We will spend the night at the Nurnberg Youth Hostel located in the castle near historic downtown. Discussions will center around the reality of good and evil in the world and how the Bible accounts for both. Cost is approximately 40 Euros (includes museum entrance, lodging, dinner and breakfast). Scholarships are available if funding would prevent you from coming. Contact Brian Kleager (brian.kleager@cadence.org or 0151-5467-8686) to reserve a spot!

Presidents’ Day Family Retreat Sponsored by Cadence International (February 12th-15th)Location: Schloss Mittersill Austria (4-hour drive)
What to Expect: This will be a great weekend of fellowship, worship and Bible Teaching. Each evening we will gather for worship and a time in God’s Word. The Bible Teaching will be fun, interactive and family friendly. (We think your kids will love our meetings!) Singles are definitely invited to come as well!
Cost: The price includes three nights stay at the castle with 6 meals (every breakfast and dinner).
Dormitory-Style Room: $185 for adults and $120-135 for kids (based on age)
Hotel-Style Room: $245 for adults and $145-175 for kids (based on age)
Note: $50.00 non refundable deposit is required to hold your reservation.
Contact Brian Kleager (brian.kleager@cadence.org or 0151-5467-8686) to reserve a spot!