The Measure Of Love

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thought of the Day

(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)
Click link above for devotional:

"The Measure Of Love"

Nothing speaks more clearly of God's love than the cross of Christ.

Bkg. Courtesy Of
Christian Backgrounds

Aalie's Life Stories ~ 5

This is Oosterstraat..or East Street in Witmarsum. I have a lot of wonderful memories of playing with my friends here on this street.. the front part if this street is where I played soccer (voetbal) with my brother Gerrit and his friends. I was the only girl that was asked to play with them..and I loved playing this game..I have played about every position..but loved kicking the ball and and swerving it around so no one could get a hold of it..then kick to make a goal..and of course because our hands could not touch the ball sometimes I would even use my head to make to ball go to one of my team mates.

When I was back in 2000 for the Friesland province reunion I met up with one of my brother's best friends..his name was Tetero..and even though 50 years had passed he still remembered me playing soccer with them. Tetero had a slight disability..one leg was shorter then the other when he was younger..but still enjoyed all the sports that young boys did..and nothing stopped him..he was determined not to let his disability stop him from participating..and he seemed to work harder at them then the other boys.

The Following is a picture of Tetero when he was still working

I happened to find this picture at a Friesland website. It had been placed in a newspaper that talked about his life's work...I just cannot remember exactly what that was..except that as I can see he worked hard..and did a service to a lot of people. We did take some pictures of him and his brother while we were there..but I have not scanned them to by computer..so I could not place them here.

I also played Keatsen (Fries) or Kaatsen (Dutch)..it is a game that Friesland is noted for..in fact it was born in Friesland. Mostly the young men and boys play this handball sport. They will wear leather glove to protect their hand..because the little tiny ball is very hard..I have played the game..but it always hurt my hand..so I prefered to just watch it being played. Here are some young men playing this game in Friesland.... just to give you an idea.

Like I said this game is very popular in Friesland in the summer..and I believe it is catching on in different countries as well. I watched them play some games in 2002 when I went back to Friesland,,with my oldest brother Wietze and my sister-in-law Anna, and younger brother Libbe. I met several of my cousins that I did not get to meet in 2000 when I was there.

Oosterstraat was a street of many games for us kids..we played hide-and seek, tag, jumping ropes, marbles, ball hinkie and block hinkie..which were like hopscotch only we would use a ball or a wooden block with them.

In the winter time we would go ice skating on the canals, or smaller streams..I learned how to ice skate by holding on to a wooden chair for support..and then my wooden shoes (or leather shoes) would be tied to the skates..if you have ever read the book of Hans Brinker you would know what I mean. There would be ice skating races on the canals from vilage to village..and it was a big thing and a great event in Friesland. Too bad for global warming because the canals rarely freeze up any more for these great races. Then of course we had snow ball fights..and building snow houses when we would get enough snow to do so.

In the spring time we would hunt for eggs the ducks would lay on the creek banks and canals..and bring them home to eat..I think there is a law against doing so anymore..but back when I was a kid we could do so..it was fun. Also we did "sletsje springen"..were we had a long pole and jumped accross the small creeks.. when I did it..they had to be extra small cause I did not want to fall in..since I could not swim. This is still a big sport event in Friesland..and many times some people who jump could not make it all the way across the creek and would fall in.

Ok I will have to finish this later and my computer seems to be freezing up in one application at least..so I hope this posts. Come back and read another segment next time..and remember to when you get to this site http://aalie.multiply.com/ click on Aaltje's Stories if you have missed a segment that you really want to read.

God Bless You till next time.

Love, Aalie

Beware Of Jumping To Conclusions

Monday, September 28, 2009
Thought of the Day

(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)
Click link above for devotional:

"Beware Of Jumping To Conclusions"

To avoid an embarrassing fall, don't jump to a wrong conclusion.

Bkg. Courtesy Of
Christian Backgrounds

Nailed To The Cross

Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thought of the Day

(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)
Click link above for devotional:

"Nailed To The Cross"

Guilt is a burden God
never intended
His children to bear.







Please do not remove credits
Christian Backgrounds

Aalie's Life Stories ~ 4

I call this group of kids the "Oosterstraat Ploeg" which means the "East Street Gang". These are some of the kids in the neighborhood that we played with. In the back row are Freek, My brother Gerrit, and Wiebe..standing in front of Gerrit with his arm blocking the sun in his eyes is my little brother Libbe. The front row L-R is Me, My sister Trijntje, my best girlfriend Geertje and Fientsje..whom we called for years Fienkje..we never said her name correctly.

Fientsje lived right across the street from our house with her adopted mother. Her adopted dad killed himself when he found a grenade in the field behind their house..during the end of the 2nd World War...he tried to take it apart and apparently and it exploded. This was a sad time for Fientsje and her now widowed mother..and she always had a rough life. But one thing for sure we loved her as one of our very best friends..in fact we used to go to her house a lot and her mom would bake cookies..or would give us an apple...I still remember the very large grandfather clock in their dining room....and also the cuckoo clock which would go cuckoo every half hour..I have no idea how they could sleep at night. She and my sister Trijntje were the best of friends and close to the same age.

Geertje was closer to my age..and was my best friend. We would play over at my house or her house. Her dad was both a mailman..and a shoemaker..so if we needed our wooden shoes or leather shoes repaired he would do it most of the time..unless he was too busy then we would have to go to another shoe repairman in town. I remember going to Geertje house a lot..and they had a piano in their living room..and lots of Christian song books from the Psalms. I will tell more about her in another segment.

Both Fientsje and Geertje and also Freerk all went to the Christian school..about a block from our house. Wiebe and our family went to the public school.. I suppose if my parents had been church goers they would have sent us to this school also..but my parents ..although good people..did not go to church..although my mother when she was of school age did attend this Christian school. This is the reason I would usually go to church with my grandmother...since my own parents did not go.

Freerk also lived across the street from us..he was from a large family..I cannot remember the names of all in his family..except for his parents Ulbe and Trien, and his sisters Elske, Minke, and Afke..he has some older brothers I just cannot remember their names. They moved to Canada not long after we moved to the US..but his parents were homesick and moved back to Friesland with some of the kids. Freerk still lives in Canada..and also his sister Elske..I believe he also has a brother who lives in Michigan. I hear from Freerk and Minke through e-mail every once in a while. Freerk grew up to become a minister.

Wiebe still lives in Witmarsum..we saw him and his wife..in 2000 and visited in their home..and we enjoyed some time together also in 2002..and saw them shortly when I was there in 2007. He is doing well..and has a lovely home and a garden in his back yard that keeps him busy in his retirement days. Wiebe and Freerk were my brother Gerrit's best friends.

Next time I will talk about some of the games we played when we were kids. There were no computers..and no TV's in the house..so as kids we actually went outdoors and played. Which more kids should be doing today..it's a lot healthier than staying indoors all the time. I am closing this for today so come back to the next section next time.

If you have missed any part just click on Aaltje's stories or Aaltje's Verhaaltjes to catch up. God Bless You!!

More to come!

Aalie's Life Stories ~ 3

The above is a picture of our family in front of our house in Witmarsum. From left to right starting with the back is my sister Reintje, and my brother Wietze. Then second row is my sister Trijntje,Me (the cute one ..lol), my mother Hittje, grandmother Reintje, and my dad Berend. The front row is my brother Gerrit (laying in the grass), and my brother Libbe..who is also standing next to my mother with a ball in his hand. The three youngest of us were born in this house during the 2nd World War. Believe it or not I still have a lot of memories living in that house..and some of the things we went through during the war even though I was very young....which I will talk about later.

This house was at the time we lived there in two sections..there was a widow lady living on the other side of the house by herself..her name was Maaike. In the back of the house was a shed for tools and garden equipment that my dad used in his work..right next to the shed on the leftside was our outhouse ..we did not have bathroom facilities inside the house. We entered the house though the backdoor..there was no other door to get inside..and immediately entered the kitchen area...on the left side was the sink and water faucet..there were a few cabinets around it. Farther on the left side was my mother's cook stove..which was heated by burning wood inside, or turfs..many times during the war times and also after the war we were sent out to look for pieces of wood to start the fire with. On the right side of the kitchen was a door that led to the basement..where there was also a food pantry..and a place where my mother kept her jars of canned food. The basement was the only place to keep our food cool...as we did not have a refigerator.

The kitchen was not large enough for us to place table and chairs in..so we had our dining room furniture in the same room as our living room furniture. But the table was the most important and enjoyable place to sit by...here we played many games, drew lots of pictures and colored them too. Besides reading books was mostly done by the dining room table...in the living room. Except for my brother Wietze..he always sat in a comfortable chair and leaned his head up against the wall and read his books. We had one lounge chair in the living room that you could sit on and stretch your legs on ..and sometimes if we were sick..we got to lay there..so our mother could keep an eye on us better. We also had a wood burning stove in the living room to help keep that room and the downstairs warm in the winter time. My mother also kepts many plants in the window sills..both winter and summer..she had a very green tumb..and did well with her plants. Then my parents bedroom was downstairs..straight back on the right side looking through the above picture right window.

The kids bedrooms were upstairs..we had to go back into the kitchen and next to the outside door on the left side facing the back door from the inside. We had to climb the stairs..which were a bit on the steep side..and first entered my oldest two brother's bedroom..and then through a door was the girl's bedroom..but we had a baby bed in that room for my little brother also. Behind the baby bed was a door that led to the attic..were my oldest brother spent many nights..when he was in hiding during the 2nd World War.

More to Come

If you have missed any part..please go to http://aalie.multiply.com/ and click on AaltjesVerhaaltjes or Aalie's Stories to catch up. God Bless You.

Aalie's Life Stories ~ 2

I was born in a small town called Witmarsum. Located in the province of Friesland, of the Netherlands.

This is where I went to church with my grandmother. It is in the center of the town..

It is of the Nederlands Herformed denomination. The church is built on top of graves and beautifil markers make up the floor of the church, they are from the early 1400 to 1600's.

Around the church is also a grave yard. Where my grandparents a baby brother and some uncles and aunts are buried. When I was back in 2000 (for the first time after 50 years), there were beautiful little flowers that were growing in the grass. I picked some of them! I remember them from when I was a child as we used to chain them together and make necklaces and bracelets out of them. They were beautiful.

We also got to go inside and look all over the church.

It is beautiful!!

I had a chance to go to a church service on a Sunday morning while there in 2000.

These are just short segments of my life stories..as it takes to much time to write large segments...and your time also is valuable. So if you miss any part..please check the Aaltje's Verhaaltjes or Aalie's Stories tags to catch up. Hope you will enjoy..if you have any questions..please do not hesitate to ask and I will reply as soon as I can.

http://aalie.multiply.com/

More to Come