‘Spy Kids’ starlet Alexa PenaVega and her husband Carlos PenaVega left the glam life of Los Angeles to settle for a simpler life in Maui, Hawaii because they felt God calling them out from life in stardom into a deeper relationship with Him.
Alexa and her husband, “Big Time Rush” star Carlos PenaVega, met at a bible study group in California, they got engaged in 2013 and were married four months later. In 2016, after praying about it, they decided to shift to Hawaii to raise their three children in a close-knit community of fellow Christians.
Recently the devoted Christians have written a memoir titled “What if Love is the Point? Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World,” which was released on Tuesday. They said the motive behind writing the book was to speak candidly about the importance of the word of God in their lives, their marriage, her past eating disorder, and how they are spending their life now away from the limelight.
View this post on Instagram
The decision to leave Los Angeles was not easy for them as they both had flourishing careers there in the film industry but it started to dawn on them that they did not want to raise their kids in that atmosphere. They were excited to share their testimony about their marriage with others because they felt people had given up on marriage there.
So they started with a single sheet called “What is the Point?” and filled it with their marriage testimonies like failures, successes, arguments, and more which made them ask God, “Why are you doing this? What’s the point of this happening in our lives right now?” They patiently waited for God’s timing to write a book.
Alexa PenaVega had just come out of a divorce when she met Carlos at a Bible study and she was least interested in getting into another relationship, especially with someone from the same industry. She just wanted to immerse into the word of God and be part of a Christian community. But she later realized that God had sent Carlos into her life because he was everything that was missing in her life.
They both were hungry for God and that was the common bond that united them and they started a relationship based on Bile studies, church and faith. She never let anything come between her faith in God and even when she participated in ‘Dancing With The Stars’ she said that she never hid her faith because her life and faith are one.
They both wanted to grow closer to God in their lives and that has been reflected also in the type of projects they have worked on before and after forming a deeper relationship with Him. They are focused on the redemption side of stories and want to make movies that help the world, not necessarily Christian movies.
View this post on Instagram
Many actresses in the industry are negatively impacted by eating disorders and one of them is Alexa PenaVega who said she was wrecked with eating disorders for years but God was able to get her out of it. She was daily tormented by thoughts and did not want people to find out what she was fighting. So one morning she just started talking to people about the disorder and she felt the burdens lifting from off her.
The decision to leave Los Angeles for good was taken after Carlos kept getting rejected repeatedly in the industry for a year, and Alexa was pregnant, they always wanted to retire in Hawaii, but she felt God telling her that both of them needed to get out from there. Alexa wasn’t happy to move from LA because she had a great career there, but one day while praying in the car, she felt God was preparing them to move not because of Carlos but for her to have a ‘heart reset.’
They moved to Maui and are now in love with the beauty, culture, and community there. Alexa said that Hawaii is full of young families like them and that their kids are enjoying themselves outdoors all day long. They too are enjoying nature and the beaches and all her life she wanted this for her children because she too grew up on a ranch in Florida before moving to California, however, her best memories are from the small-time she spent there.
They are not worried about the few people who were not welcoming to them, because 99% of the island people welcomed them with open arms. They are part of an amazing church with diversity which makes them so grateful to be a part of it. Alexa PenaVega says life in LA is so dull compared to the people who are so alive in Hawaii.
The Christian couple has faced some hateful messages on their social media feed after they shared their experiences on it, but that doesn’t bother or stop them, because there are more people who have surrounded them with love and acceptance than the ones criticizing them. How inspiring and encouraging it is to hear how this LA couple leaned on their faith to overcome the struggles and challenges they faced and followed the will of God for their lives.