The post that took me 5 years to write.

This is actually one of the hardest posts I have ever written.

In my time of blogging, I have been very open about my life. I have shared lots of thoughts about not being able to have kids. I have written a lot about the faithfulness of the Lord, my marriage, and our ministry.

I have written about how much I love my friend's children, my nephews, and how I do love to hear about my friends pregnancies and I rejoice with them. All that is true, although sometimes it has been hard. I have been honest about that. 

I have also been adamant about how I know that the Lord is GOOD. 

 I have preached this more times than I could count;

From Ephesians 3,

"²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

I believe this with all that is within me...HE WILL DO MORE THAN WE COULD ASK OR IMAGINE. Glory to God.

So the thing is...He has done more than we could imagine.
this post is my first from the other side.

Andrew and I are going to have a baby.

Baby Beard is Due June 21st.

Seeing that line on that pregnancy test stunned us to silence. We stood there, then we hugged, and then immediately Andrew prayed a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving. I mean, what else can you do!?

It is the most exciting, joyful, un-believable, blessing I could imagine. 

Breaking the news has been more fun than ever because there were so many amazing friends and family praying fervently for us. So many that we didn't even know. There have been so, so many joyful tears. Even now as I write this I am crying. It is just an unbelievable miracle.

This is the most precious photo of my grandmother finding out. Before this, the last time we spoke, I told her that I didn't think that Andrew and I would be able to have kids...

She opened the picture of the sonogram.

Okay... and here is a pic of the baby's face.

This is the picture she was holding.

We already love it more than we could imagine.
GLORY TO GOD!

Thank you for being a part of our journey!

I like to brag....what??

As most of you know, my brother is an artist.

He actually has a show in St. Louis coming up and a show in Baltimore...if you want to go, I will post the deets soon.

I just want to brag on him for a second.

Recently, he submitted some pieces into on on-line art competition based out of New York called Dave Bown Projects....

and he won FIRST PLACE!

I am so proud of him. To read more, click here.

This is the piece that was highlighted!

Anyway...just a brag on my bro. I am really proud of him and love him A LOT!

Way to go JOSH! Love you!

My sweet, sweet nephews.

This is a story I got via text from my sister-in-law today. It was so sweet I had to share.

She said,

"We are listening to some really gorgeous chorale Christmas music on the radio and the boys were completely enraptured for a few golden moments. Fred broke the silence and said,

"they are the magic people...like the magic of Jesus...Mom do we have magic?""

Michelle she went on to talk about how God created everything and that God is very magical and mysterious and that we are all made like him, so everything is magical... so she asked

"dont you think?"

to which he derailed, asked what's for dessert and jumped in the coats.

(which is where they are in the above picture!)

I just love that though, the magic people, like the magic of Jesus...Music will do that to you!

It's Christmastime in the city

This photo may be a bit misleading. It looks like we are cold and all bundled up. I am fairly certain that it was almost 60 degrees...That is Texas for you. It was rainy.

So, if you know me and have ever been around me for the holidays, I am a sucker for all things Christmas. I love the lights, the trees, the music, the movies the foods and all the friends that gather. This year, I was told, "You have to check out Highland Park Village, it is amazing." I am not sure what I thought it would look like...but holy cow, I was not ready for the trees to be covered like this.

and people, there are so many of them....easily more than 30, probably more like 50! It is so bright and beautiful to me...breathtaking. I wish this picture could do it justice, but just look how many lights are on that one tree and then imagine it down both sides of the street and then some.

Some of our favorite christmas music this year has been

Matt Wertz - Snow globe,

Seryn and Friends - Seryn and Friends Christmas,

Folk Angel - Comfort and Joy,

and we just found the new Hillsong - Born is the king.

If you like kids, Hillsong or Christmas...or pretty things, watch this. It is beautiful!

A different kind of gift.

As you know, I work for His Voice Global.

This year for Christmas, our project is providing each orphan in South Sudan with 2 new sets of clothing. The sets include a top, bottoms, and shoes.

Each set only cost $20!!!

That is it! We are trying to provide 205 kids with 2 sets each, so that is a big goal of 410 outfits.

Our friends Ben Cox and Tyler Dodds, put this video together for us.

If you want to make a difference with your giving just go HERE and donate now.

Make sure you write "Christmas Project" in the designation box.

Here is a pic of the first round of kiddos who have already received their clothes!

Also, we would love for you to follow us on twitter and like us on facebook. You can do that by

clicking here for Twitter and Clicking here for Facebook.

Thanks Friends!

Love you all!

White Rock Marathon Weekend

This weekend was a really great one for Andrew and I. It was White Rock Marathon weekend and for us that meant that we got to see lots of friends who we adore! Allyson Lean and Tim Fritson made the decision a few months ago to run the Dallas 1/2 and full marathon for two reasons. It is flat...and the weather is nice.

Well...it was flat.

It ended up being around 42-44 degrees on Sunday, which would have been nice, however...IT POURED DOWN RAIN!

The two ran and Kelley Rowe, Jenna Wiles, Melody Fritson and I tracked them and cheered loud. They killed it!

After the thawing had begun! Kelley, Allyson, and Jenna...Allyson's medal says 13.1!

Tim and Melody post race.

Mile 7! Pouring rain!

Allyson surprised us and jumped out of the crowd, so I don't have a pic of her face on mile 7.

Post race. Allyson may look like she is happier than Tim in this pic...but at this point her goosebumps were bigger than thought humanly possible and she was shaking a lot! haha!

This was right after crossing the finish line. This is where I brag on our friend a bit. He finished 26.2 miles in 2:54. Ridiculous. We are so proud of you!

And these are the finishers! Seriously, you two, We love you and are so proud of you!

WAY TO GO!

Is it Christmas time?

So, I have this personal dilemma. I am fairly certain that people make fun of me for it. So, here it is.

I HATE being cold. I get cold, my toes get cold, my bones get cold and I cannot get warm for hours. I get miserable! I just hate it. so much.

I LOVE snow.

The way I see it is that if its going to be cold, it better snow. Otherwise that freezing is pointless.

So we just moved to Dallas in April. Everyone asks, "Oh, so you made it through the ridiculously hot summer?"

To us it wasn't so bad. I ran outside almost every day all summer (sure, it was early in the am, but I never thought it was as bad as these Texans say it was).

Now that it is December, and it does get into the 30's at night, I am a little sad that I am not going to see much, if any, snow at our new home.

I got this video from my brother in Indiana two days ago. I was so jealous. But...I have to keep telling myself that this beauty comes with FRIGID weather.

We, on the other hand, drove around with this last week!

Christmas in 60's?

Sorry folks in the midwest who don't love snow, but I am praying for a good hard Christmas snow in KC and St. Louis!

Does anyone else deal with this silly dichotomy?