July 28th, 2008 Calling all Bridgeway intercessors - we will be holding prayer for Andy and Jessica Biddy and the NYC church plant this Wednesday, July 30th @ 7:00 p.m. at 517 NW 42nd St. (in between Shartel and Walker on 42nd - north side of the street) Can’t make it? No worries! We’re going to be doing this on a monthly basis (at the very least). With love in OKC - Aaron L.
And we’re in….big sigh. We moved into the apartment on Saturday. We are not quite exhausted, but not far from it either. The transition of our stuff from the storage unit to the apartment was one issue after another with hired moving helpers cancelling last minute and a rented truck not being available when it was scheduled to be. But we got it all in finally. We had great helpers again. Our Oklahoma friends that live in the building helped clean, load in, unpack and even offered design ideas that were very helpful. Brian Goss and Kent Stuber were huge help! Kent stayed longer than he anticipated, and we are thankful that he did.
At least the kitchen is done! Jessica spent almost all of the day yesterday unpacking kitchen boxes and creatively filling in the shelves. We have one drawer in the kitchen. Count ‘em…one. So naturally the silverware went there. I spent most of the day unpacking other stuff and trying to get some semblance of an office setup up to start working today.
Here are a couple pictures of our ‘offices’ this morning. Jess setup on the couch behind a stack of boxes. I’m using a stainless steel rack in the dining room for now.
There’s much to enjoy about this small space though. It does have three big north-facing windows and a small one facing the west. So we have great sunlight throughout the day. Oh and there’s been a Goodyear Blimp circling outside our window the last few days. I’m not sure what it’s televising though since I haven’t setup the tv yet. …Now if I can just figure out where to put my bike.
Andy
July 9th, 2008
In our last post we told you that we looked at an apartment in a building with the word OLGA etched in stone above the entryway. The name Olga is a Russion form of the name Helga. Both names mean “holy.” Quite unique. We are thrilled to report that yesterday, we signed papers for apartment #7C in the OLGA!
THANK YOU, LORD!!!
Jessica and I have been much more relaxed since we got this part of the process squared away. We haven’t moved in yet. They are making some minor repairs so the apartment will not be ready for us until this weekend at the earliest. We are looking forward to having our own space so that we can settle into a daily rhythm. Our friends, Daniel and Karen Baltzer, have been letting us stay with them while our place is being prepped and they have been soooo accomodating and hospitable to the max. But there’s nothing like having your own place.
GET TO THE DETAILS!
This is for all you hgtv lovers and sorts. The apartment specs: It’s a one-bedroom that actually could be a two-bedroom. It has an open kitchen, which was at the top of Jessica’s list on apartment amenities. We had actually given up on that as the search dragged on, but at the very end we were blessed to find one. There is a dining room area that flows into the living room. The bedroom is quite large and has some odd, little nooks that will work nicely for having a “nursery” space. Here’s a basic floorplan:
You can see what I mean by “nursery area.” We will have to get creative, but it’s not like we weren’t expecting that. There are three big windows at the front which would be at the bottom of the floorplan, that overlook Mt. Morris Park. That will be nice. We’re also glad to have two french doors that can make the living/guest room more private for our guests. Here are some pics of the actual apartment. And no, that’s not me in the first pic. That’s Lyn, the realtor. The third picture is a view of the park from the front steps.
ONE OF THE GREATEST things about this apartment is that not only did we find out about it from some friends of ours, but they live in the building too!! Chris and Cyndi are dear friends that Jess and I have worked with in theatre in Oklahoma. They made the move to NYC with their two young boys about 6 months ago. Chris and Cyndi are both very talented actors and performers and their oldest son is following in their footsetps. He will be starring in a soon-to-be-on-Broadway show in a few more months (that I forgot the name of.) It will be fun to have them close by.
The neighborhood is fine as far as we can tell. It is in south-central Harlem and on a fairly quiet street. There is a fantastic bakery/cafe down the street that I’m looking forward to becoming a regular at. Public transportation is nearby, so we can get to anywhere in the city pretty easily. Also, we got the place for $50 less per month than what was originally discussed. How’s that for favor?!
Thank you for your prayers. We are excited to get settled in so we can begin to really focus on the main reason we’re here, the churchplant.
Stay tuned,
Andy
July 4th, 2008
1 flat tire, 3 hotels, and 1500 miles later…we drove across the George Washington Bridge yesterday morning into the bustling city we now call ‘home.’ Our first stop was to look at an apartment at 42 W. 120th in a building that had the word ‘Olga’ etched in stone above it. The apartment was nice. It is a spacious, sunny 1-bedroom with a nice lay-out and it overlooks Mt. Morris Park. We were the first ones to see it and are the first ones in line to get it if we choose to do so. We have until Monday morning to make a decision, so we will be praying about it over the next few days.
Since then we have been staying with our dear friends, Keren and Daniel Baltzer. They have a spacious apartment on the east side of Harlem. Jess and I have been catching up on sleep over the last 24 hours and enjoying the neighborhood. Apparently the World Series Stick Ball Tournament is going on just up the street. Teams from LA, Miami, Chicago, NYC and other cities will be playing over the next couple days. They got in a few games today, but had to call it on account of rain so we won’t see any more action until tomorrow. NYC has tons of fun stuff going on year-round and especially in the summer months.
Thank you everyone for praying for a safe journey and that we would find a great apartment soon. Keep praying for the latter as we have yet to lock in a place just yet. Also if any of you have a desire to bless the Baltzers, let us know and we can assist. They are sweet people that love Jesus and love their neighbors well too.
More to come,
Andy