{"id":19927,"date":"2022-07-11T10:39:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T14:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=19927"},"modified":"2023-01-21T09:04:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T14:04:34","slug":"spy-kids-star-says-she-and-her-family-left-hollywood-for-a-christian-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2022\/07\/spy-kids-star-says-she-and-her-family-left-hollywood-for-a-christian-life.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Spy Kids’ Star Says She and Her Family Left Hollywood For a Christian Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Broadimage\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2017,\u00a0former child star Alexa PenaVega\u00a0decided it was time to relocate from Hollywood to Maui, and she has zero regrets.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSpy Kids\u201d actress and her husband, Nickelodeon\u2019s \u201cBig Time Rush\u201d star Carlos PenaVega, had grown up in the industry but wanted to practice their Christian faith in a close-knit community. The couple met during a Bible study group in California, got engaged in 2013, married four months later, and combined their last names.<\/p>\n

However, it was 2016 when the starlet, 33, and the actor, 32, realized their priorities were far different from their peers in LA. After reflecting on prayer, the duo packed up and headed to Hawaii, where they are now raising three children.<\/p>\n

The PenaVegas has recently written a memoir titled \u201cWhat if Love is the Point? Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World,\u201d released late last month. In it, they reflected on their life-changing decision. PenaVega spoke to Fox News Digital about the inspiration behind the book, why she got candid about her past eating disorder, and what life is like for her today.<\/p>\n

\"alexa<\/a>
Rogers & Cowan PMK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to PenaVega, the inspiration to write a memoir came right after the couple married. She said, \u201cWe were just so excited about marriage and the idea of possibly sharing our testimony with others. It felt like everything out in the media depicted marriage as lame. It took the holiness out of marriage. We felt like marriage was this dying thing, and we wanted to reignite it for people and get them excited about it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that the couple didn\u2019t want to force the idea of writing a book, so they started with one sheet titled \u201cWhat is the Point?\u201d On that sheet, they wrote down the testimonies of their lives \u2013 the successes, failures, and anything that made them ask, \u201cGod, why are you doing this?\u201d Years later, the couple got the call about writing a book.<\/p>\n

PenaVega says that when she and Carlos first met, they were trying to figure out what faith meant to them individually. She continued, \u201cI grew up Christian, but I didn\u2019t quite understand what that meant. I didn\u2019t know what it truly meant to walk with God and represent him here on Earth. At the same time, Carlos was discovering who Jesus was in his life. So we both met each other at this foundation-building point in our lives where we were both really hungry to grow in our faith. And that\u2019s how our relationship started. And it was amazing because our entire relationship was based on Bible studies, church, and our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for their decision to leave Hollywood and move to Hawaii, the PenaVegas say they have no regrets. PenaVega says, \u201cThe Maui culture is about family, about community. I think that\u2019s something that was getting lost when we were living in Los Angeles. I will say Los Angeles is a place that offers you a lot of opportunities. But it doesn\u2019t necessarily have a family culture. You move here to work and make it. For us, we wanted to get out of that because we were ready to be part of a community that shared our faith. And we found that in Hawaii.\u201d To learn more about the PenaVegas\u2019 memoir, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2017,\u00a0former child star Alexa PenaVega\u00a0decided it was time to relocate from Hollywood to Maui, and she has zero regrets. The \u201cSpy Kids\u201d actress and her husband, Nickelodeon\u2019s \u201cBig Time Rush\u201d star Carlos PenaVega, had grown up in the industry but wanted to practice their Christian faith in a close-knit community. The couple met during…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":19939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[5227,4956,5224],"class_list":["post-19927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-movies","tag-alexa-penavega","tag-christian-actress","tag-spy-kids"],"yoast_head":"\n'Spy Kids' Star Says She and Her Family Left Hollywood For a Christian Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former child star Alexa PenaVega and her husband Carlos wrote a memoir on their marriage and faith after leaving Hollywood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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