Jinger Vuolo (nee Jinger Duggar) and Jeremy Vuolo are starting the new year with a new addition. The 24-year-old Counting On (returns Monday, February 26) star is pregnant with their first child, they exclusively reveal in the new issue of Us Weekly.

“The past 14 months have been the best of our lives as we have had the wonderful privilege of beginning our journey through life together in marriage,” the couple tells Us. “We both looked forward to the joys of marriage but neither one of us fully understood just how amazing the start of this journey would be. Truly, the Lord’s mercies are new every morning! Now, the journey has taken an exciting turn: We are expecting our first child!”

The duo adds: “We are praising God for this beautiful gift and ask that you join us in praying for a safe and healthy pregnancy.”

The couple also shared Psalm 139:13-14.

“13 For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.”

It was a holiday wish come true for Jinger and her sizable family. (She’s the sixth eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 kids.) The pair’s plans to expand were a popular topic on their TLC show (in a July episode, she was offended when her older sisters asked if she was expecting). And it’s a step she and her pastor husband, 30, have been eager to take since their 2016 engagement. “I love kids,” the former soccer player told Us at the time. “I really share Jinger’s love for children.” However, the pair isn’t necessarily looking to her family as inspiration. “I definitely want to have children, but not sure how many,” he explained. “We’ll have to see what the Lord provides.”

Jinger gushed to Us about her love at the time of their engagement. “It’s an answer to my prayers,” she said. “I asked God for this in a future spouse, and He has done far above anything I could have ever imagined or dreamed in bringing Jeremy into my life.”

Counting On returns to TLC on Monday, February 26.