In new book Joy Isn’t Canceled: What Grief Taught Us About Pain, Peace, and Purpose, Carlos and Alexa PenaVega share how God “equipped” them to handle the death of their daughter.
“This sucker was really hard to write,” Alexa admitted in an Instagram video. “It is about our walk through the loss of our little girl and let me tell you, while we have experienced so much healing and an outpouring of love, just recounting the story was hard to do.”
The couple lost daughter Indy in 2024 in a stillbirth.
“Grief is hard, loss is hard,” Alexa continued. “But what was really awesome was, as we were going through and telling our story, we uncovered so many more beautiful things that God was doing in our lives in that season…it blew my mind because I think it’s easy to forget just how smart our God is.”
“I really do believe everything happens for a reason, and if you let Him, everything can be used for the good and for the glory of God,” she shared. “When we were writing this book, I think there were so many ‘aha!’ moments where we’re like, ‘Lord, look at what You did here…to just equip us for what we were about to go through.’”
Related: PenaVegas Remember Stillborn Daughter on Her Birthday: ‘Part of Everything We Do’
She concluded, “God was right there with us, and I think that’s something we’re excited to share with people.”
In a statement about Joy Isn’t Canceled given to PEOPLE, the couple said, “We never could have imagined how much Indy’s life would change ours and touch so many others. She’s been such a gift to us in every way. She’s brought us closer as a couple, closer as a family, closer to our community — and closer to God, who’s shown us a kind of peace and purpose we didn’t know was possible.”
Alexa has previously spoken about the heartbreaking loss of her daughter, writing in an Instagram post a year after Indy’s death, “Despite devastating loss, we felt so held…so covered…a super natural peace. It was all out of our control.”
“We had to give it all over to God,” she continued. “The burden was too heavy for us to carry so He took the weight off of us and draped us in His peace. Over this last year we have watched LIFE come out of her life. We watched people heal because of Indy. We watched grief lifted because of Indy. We watched relationships be restored… God gave her life SO MUCH FRUIT … so much meaning and purpose.”
Joy Isn’t Canceled: What Grief Taught Us About Pain, Peace, and Purpose debuts Nov. 3.
Read Next: Alexa and Carlos PenaVega’s Faith After Loss: ‘So Much Good Through It’
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