Tribute to Yakob

Have I written about THE BIRD? Maybe not... but since we moved in last year I've wanted to do a blog post on him. It's now or never...

His name is Yakob. (Like Jacob, but not in English). He belongs to our landlord. Tidbit of trivia... all birds like him on our island are called Yakob... it's not some cute, clever name our landlord thought up. On the next island over all the birds like him have a different name - but they are all named the same on that island... and so forth.

Yakob was the big excitement when we moved into our house - one year ago this week, actually. His cage borders on our garage/covered porch and I can see the cage out the kitchen window. The boys love to go see him and talk to him. One of Ezra's first words was "Yakob" - I kid you not. Over the months the excitement of the exotic bird has waned some but the boys still go visit him daily. I won't show you his whole cage on the off-chance some PETA member sees this blog and tracks us down here and sues us by association, but needless to say, it's not a lot bigger than what is pictured above. I kinda feel sorry for Yakob and would feel a lot more sorry for him if he wasn't so annoying!

Yakob talks and talks and talks.... Not in English, of course, but since we understand the local language, we happen to understand Yakob. :) He can say "There are guests" when people show up; "Yakob's hungry" (that's a favorite of his); and several other catchy little phrases. Over the months he has developed a "cry" that sounds exactly like Ezra's and whenever Ezra starts to cry, Yakob "cries" too. The neighbors thinks it's hilarious. I just think that whenever I am trying to deal with a crying toddler I don't need a bird rubbing it in.

But Yakob's favorite thing to say is "Good night" - but he says it all day long. I'm convinced it's a joke on his part and he says it just to annoy people. The conversations usually go like this...

Yakob: "Good night"
Our neighbor (out sweeping the porch): "Good day, Yakob; you're supposed to say 'Good day.'"
Yakob: "Good night"
Neighbor: "It's not night, Yakob, it's day time. Say 'Good day.'"
Yakob: "Good night"
Neighbor (getting a bit frustrated): "Good DAY, Yakob, good DAY. Stupid bird."
Yakob: "Good night"

Some nights Yakob gets to screeching and we can't even hold a conversation at the dinner table because he is so loud. Brant can't stand that and is thankful that we will very soon be leaving Yakob behind forever.

Tonight is our last night in this house. I have loved this house and its tons of windows that let in breezes and sunlight. I love the neighborhood and the quiet path and the big dirt yard that is perfect for little boys to play in. I love that there are few mosquitoes here. I love the friends we have made here and how the boys have loved playing with their little national friends as easily as they play with their MK friends. I have loved feeling like we can help people and encourage them and be a part of their lives.

I love the memories that we have made in this house... Elijah learned to ride a bike in our yard here. Ezra learned to walk here. We had a fantastic play room with huge floor pillows that were great for Brant and the boys to wrestle on. We set up our Christmas tree in our front room and Elijah helped hammer nails into the window frames to hang Christmas lights. We ate with our neighbors and helped with the road construction project and handed out medicine and snacks to the neighbor kids.

I hate this aspect of our lives - of constantly moving and never having a place to call "home." It makes me sad to think that all the great memories will fade and this house will become another in a long list of "places we have lived."

I really do not want to move to our house on the hill. It's a beautiful Western style house with a real shower that has hot water and gorgeous views of the valley below it. But a house on a hill with no neighbors is lonely. And a Western-designed house gets really hot and stuffy on the Equator. But we have seen the Lord's hand in this decision and know that He is leading us to that house. We are thankful He has provided it. And we are thankful that He will be with us as we move tomorrow... and we're kinda thankful that Yakob won't.