The Secret Life Is Not So Secret

A TV series came out sometime last year called “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”. It’s about a 15-year-old girl named Amy who goes to band camp, and comes back pregnant. She was the “good girl” in her family, yet one bad choice led to a whole slew of changes – and, in all reality, it turned several lives upside down. Yet there was that could undo what had already been done.

As Amy begins this new journey of pregnancy, questions of whether she would keep the baby or not, whether she would change schools or not, who she would date, who her friends were, and whether or not her parents would support any of her decisions filled her life.

A dramatic story takes off as any normal teenagers life would.... well, almost normal. This particular teenager was now caring and looking out for two people: herself and her baby.

The cast is comprised of several people – the main characters being (left to right) Adrian, Ricky, Amy, Ben, Grace, Jack, Ashley (Amy’s sister - not pictured), and Tom (Grace’s brother - not pictured). Amy has always been the “good girl” in her family, yet was pregnant with Ricky’s baby. Ashley was more of the rebel child, yet she was very caring and sweet on the inside. Ben is Amy’s ever-so-protective and loving boyfriend who sticks up for and stays with her through everything. Grace is the preacher’s naïve daughter who believes in everyone, never talks bad about people, and always has a positive attitude. Jack is Grace’s boyfriend who wants to take his relationship with Grace farther than she is willing to go. Adrian is the high school flirt that has practically no parental authority at home, gets whatever she wants, and is physically involved with Ricky. Sounds like one big mess, right?!

It was a ‘secret’ when Amy first found out she was pregnant... no one knew except for her... she wanted to keep it a secret. She was afraid of what people would think of her. She was scared or how her friends would view her. She didn’t want to be looked at as the “bad girl”. But a baby is something that you really can’t keep secret, no matter how much you want to. She could not deny it forever. So she told her sister... and then she told her two best friends... and then she told her boyfriend, Ben... eventually she told her parents... and then the baby’s father... and then it wasn’t long until the whole school new. “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” (Luke 8:17)

The Bible says in Psalm 44:21, “Shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Amy could hide it from everyone (for a short time), but she could not hide it from God. Psalm 90:8 says: “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.”

No doubt, Amy wished she had never been in the situation that got her into this mess in the first place. However, determined to make the best of it, she kept living her life the best she could. None of us above falling – and she just happened to make the wrong choice... and a big one at that.

Searching for answers to the situation she found herself, she and Ben decided that they would get married. Sounds like a good solution, right? While they and their friends were at the little chapel, the parents got wind of the plot, and rushed to put an end to the whole idea. Needless to say, there was no wedding that night. It’s not that their parents were opposed to them getting married in the future, but certainly not at the age of 15!

Time went by, drama continued to run rampant, and Amy’s protruding belly grew with every day that passed. Nine months later the day came. Amy went into labor. Hours passed. Eleven of her closest friends, her parents and sister, and Ben’s father waited anxiously at the hospital for the baby to arrive. But finally, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I think the biggest struggle of the whole pregnancy was trying to pick a name for her son. Amy decided that since Ashley talked her into keeping the baby, it would only be right if Ashley named the baby. Ashley reluctantly tried to think of some names, and randomly through the name “John” out in the air. Amy liked it. Ashley labeled it as a clean, simple name since his life was “bound to be complicated enough as it was.”

The series ended as the baby’s father (Ricky) came to visit his napping son at Amy’s house. Amy was taking a nap, too. He gently lifted the baby out of his crib and just stared at him for a few seconds. He kissed his son on the forehead and whispered “I love you” I his ear.

And that was the end of the series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”.

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Personally, I have only watched about 5 or 6 of the episodes of the entire series -- but what I have had the chance to watch, I have thoroughly enjoyed. The creator of "The Secret Like of the American Teacher" was also the creator of "7th Heaven" (one of my favorites).

Perhaps the show was created to be sort of a "birth control" for teenagers. Perhaps it was created to show teens that there are always consequences for wrong actions. I don't know what the reason for the show was, but I know it helped me to better understand what teenagers go through and face on a daily basis of their lives.

I thought it was a very well-written series, the acting was great, and I definately recommend you watch it if you haven't yet.

But remember, "things done in secret will be shouted from the rooftops" (so to speak) - meaning, no matter what you do eventually people will know because you cannot keep it hid for forever. And there is one person that you cannot hide it from at all: God.

What's your secret?