Focus on the Family Magazine - April/May 2023

FAITH / COUPLES
Two Hollywood stars seek to keep
Jesus at the center of their marriage
BY MARGOT STARBUCK
THIS GUY IS SUCH A WEIRDO.
When Alexa Vega was introduced to Carlos Pena at a
friend’s Bible study, she was not immediately smitten
with the chatty guy who talked her ear off in the driveway.
While both shared a similar history as child actors—
Carlos in the popular Nickelodeon show “Big Time Rush,”
and Alexa being most well-known for the Spy Kids movies—it
wasn’t a professional connection that brought
them together. It was a season of spiritual hunger.
Carlos, in his early 20s, was living in a mansion he and
his father had renovated. He had money. He had success.
He had adoring fans. But he knew something was missing.
And while he tried to fill that void with cars, homes, girlfriends
and marijuana, nothing satisfied him.
Carlos had noticed something different in the life of
his friend and real estate agent, Andrew, that he admired.
Andrew was generous, kind and consistent—he seemed
to be at peace. Curious, Carlos asked Andrew what it was
that made him so . . . different.
“Jesus,” Andrew answered, simply.
So when Andrew invited him to church that same week,
Carlos agreed. And hearing God’s voice through the pastor
that day, speaking directly to his heart, Carlos gave his
life to Jesus.
Trusting God and trusting each other
Alexa, who’d battled an eating disorder throughout her life
and had recently suffered a failed marriage, was also in a
chaotic season. She’d been dating around and partying in
ways she never had before. Alexa adored her work as an
actress, but she was thirsty for purpose.
Her friend Andrew had invited her to a Bible study—
that was the night she met Carlos. Though she’d always
had a deep hunger for God, Alexa’s personal relationship
with Jesus began through that Bible study.
The same week, Alexa invited Andrew to a party promoting
the release of her new movie. Andrew asked if he
could bring Carlos, and the evening marked the beginning
of a friendship between Carlos and Alexa.
After they began dating, though, Carlos faced a financial
challenge that tested his new faith. While Alexa
suggested that they should pray about the situation,
Carlos wrestled with the idea that God could help. Not yet
mature in his faith, he didn’t understand why he was facing
this obstacle when he’d been doing everything “right.”
One evening, as he was bemoaning his predicament to
Alexa, Carlos complained, “I am so over this. I think I’m
done with God.”
Alexa, a bit more seasoned, recognized that God was
not the author of life’s troubles and that He actually
accompanies us through these challenges.
“It’s not like God makes bad things happen to you,” she
told Carlos. “That’s not who He is.”
Unable to see beyond his own predicament, Carlos dug
his heels in, insisting that God had abandoned him.
“If you’re done with God,” Alexa eventually had to tell
him, “I’m done with you.”
When Alexa said this, Carlos’ world began to collapse,
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