CJ, a Christian teenager, goes off to a public university after graduating high school, despite his minister father's misgivings. There, he soon has a professor hostile to his religion, and is quickly attracted to a beautiful girl named Marcella. While struggling to keep his grades up so he can play on the university basketball team, CJ is soon with Marcella, which leads to unforeseen consequences.
Examples:
- Attempted Rape: Marcella goes out with a guy who tries to force himself on her. She fights him off and the guy didn't push further, instead bragging falsely that she quickly had sex with him, infuriating CJ. He quickly suspects the truth, with Marcella confirming it (but not pressing charges).
- Babies Ever After: At the end, CJ and Marcella have a baby daughter, Faith, as part of their happy resolution. The pair are a loving couple, going back to school with help from their moms watching Faith while during the week. It's implied they'll get married soon.
- Big Brother Instinct: Marcella's brother is initially very hostile to CJ after he gets her pregnant, thinking he'd just used her for sex, but relents after seeing that isn't so.
- Damsel out of Distress: Marcella, while on a date alone with a guy, fights him off with a punch to the nose after he tries to force himself on her. The guy relents, taking her home.
- Disappeared Dad: Marcella mentions her father abandoned the family during her childhood.
- Divine Intervention: CJ's father attributes the fact CJ was born without predicted birth defects to an offer he made God that he'd serve as a minister the rest of his life. Later, CJ's baby with Marcella also gets water detected near her brain, though she is later born perfectly healthy as well, implying it happened again.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: CJ and his family, being conservative Christians, oppose abortion (which is not at all surprising). Marcella does consider it, but ultimately decides to have the baby. CJ related to her that when a doctor detected he might have birth defects, he'd advised his mom to abort too (of course she didn't).
- It's All My Fault: CJ's father blames himself after CJ gets his girlfriend pregnant, saying he's failed as a parent and should never have let him go to a secular university where so many temptations exist. In reply CJ's mother notes that girls at Christian universities also get pregnant, and CJ made the choice to attend it (plus have sex with her).
- Law of Inverse Fertility: CJ gets Marcella pregnant when it was both unplanned and the first time both had sex.
- Morning Sickness: The first clue that Marcella's pregnant comes from her rushing to throw up in the bathroom.
- My Girl Is Not a Slut: When Marcella's date/attempted rapist claims she quickly had sex with him, CJ is enraged, nearly picking a fight, because he knows she's not like that. Zigzagged though as she later does have sex with him with no apparent hesitation, and so it's more about his perception of her. It also avoids the double standard as him having sex with her is not portrayed as any better (given this is a conservative Christian film).
- Nice Guy: CJ and Marcella are fundamentally nice people, in spite of their (ordinary) flaws. They both act kindly most of the time, and the exceptions are very justified.
- Preacher's Kid: Subverted. Realistically, though CJ's father is a minister, he's neither devil nor angel. After he goes to college, CJ does act in ways his parents don't like, drinking and impregnating his girlfriend. However, he takes responsibility and they help him work this out, with him remaining an upright person overall despite this.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: CJ tells Marcella she could join him in the shower. The scene fades out, CJ can't remember it happened (being drunk at the time) and then it's soon related that they had sex.
- Shower of Love: CJ and Marcella had sex offscreen while in the shower. He can't remember it at first due to being drunk at the time.
- Strawman U: Professor Thomas exists solely to make negative comments about Christianity and act in a hostile manner to Christian protagonist CJ. Bonus points for saying an evolution textbook serves as the class' “Bible” (not that this makes sense in a social studies class). Most of the other students seem interested in sex and drinking more than anything else (though that is somewhat realistic), with CJ falling into these temptations as well.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Both CJ and Marcella are completely shocked that she got pregnant (for him, because he's at first unaware they did it, due to being drunk), from their shower tryst.
- Their First Time: CJ and Marcella were both virgins before having sex.
