By Michaela Gordoni
SPY KIDS star and mom of four Alexa PenaVega is sharing how regularly praying out loud teaches her kids how to have a relationship with God.
“I don’t want to just like pray like a little quietly to myself. I want to bring them into this prayer life that I have with God,” PenaVega told Focus Parenting last month. “I want them to see this relationship, and the only way they’re gonna see that this relationship is by seeing this relationship.”
“So I just started praying straight up out loud. So when I’m cooking, I’ll just start talking with God out of nowhere, and they’re like, ‘Oh, Mommy’s talking to God right now,’ and it’s such a normal thing that now they know at any time, at any point, they can just start talking to God, and its not weird. It’s not awkward.”
Alexa PenaVega’s 5-year-old, Kingston, loves to talk to God, which makes her heart feel “so full.” Seeing her young son being faithful and praying without prompt is a success, in her book.
“The way he speaks with God is just next level,” PenaVega said.
PenaVega is on the right track. Prayer establishes a relationship with God, and it’s also been proven to help the metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, brain activity and combat stress, according to a study conducted by Harvard.
PenaVega and her husband, Carlos, display their faith and other areas of their life, too. In their professional lives, they make a concentrated effort to produce and perform in family-friendly or faith-based content. This is why they’ve worked on several Great American Family projects.
As a family, they practice habits that help them remember that they’re children of God who draw their strength from him. They put on the armor that’s described in Ephesians 6 — “the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit” — every night.
They also recite a spiritual affirmation together. It goes like this: “I’m special. I’m loved. I’m worthy. I’m not rejected. I do matter on this earth. I will do mighty things for Jesus,” and “I am the righteousness of God.”
It’s clear that the PenaVegas make their faith No. 1 in their lives and strive to be good role models for their kids. We could use more shining lights in Hollywood like them.
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