Where Are They Now?

Being a New Attitude cover model can be a tough job. Not only is the pay bad, but after your picture appears in the magazine you may be accused of being a punk rocker, rebellious for standing in the middle of the street or sensuous (honest to goodness things said by readers about some of our models). Besides being subject to verbal abuse, the main thing the girls have in common is that they all go to Josh's church. Which is the reason New Attitude is sometimes referred to as the "church directory" by members. From left to right the girls are: (back row) Amanda Vogel, Rebecca Spinnet, Dyane Rachinski, Lisa Elliot, (front row) Jessica McCool, Bethany Miller and Andrea Whaley. (By the way, Lisa Elliot was on the cover of Vol. I No. 2. Josh forgot to bring her issue to the photo shoot; that's why she doesn't have a magazine on the cover. Oops!)

New Attitude Has Always Been About People—

both the writers who crafted the articles as well as those who were written about. In the last four years different names and faces have dropped in to share part of their unfolding life journey with us. Where are those people now? In this final issue we decided to revisit a few of these friends and find out. "What have you learned since we last met?" we asked. “What has God taught you? How have you changed?" What follows are their answers—snapshots of their lives today—testimonies to God's grace.

Tim Lash Future Pastor

If you want to meet people, the best way is to walk around campus with a guitar case,” Tim Lash says matter of factly. Tim is a freshman this year at Northern Virginia Community College in Manassas. He took up guitar last June. “I'll sit down in the cafeteria, start playing some Jars of Clay stuff and a little crowd will form. A lot of people just love music.”

Tim's eighteen. At first this home-school grad was leery about the idea of attending a community college. But the stigma he had faded when he realized the opportunity it gave him to share his faith. "Every day I see that my generation needs the Lord," Tim says with evident passion. "I see how empty they are. It can be stressful. I walk around with a sort of soul burden hanging over me."

That's one reason Tim's glad to be living at home. "It's been great being able to unload with my family—to tell them about the conversations I've had during the day, to ask them to pray for me." Though many friends and adults think it's weird he's still at home, Tim stands by the importance of being there.

"Since I hope to have a family when I'm out of this one, it's good for me to have to live by a schedule with meal times and family devotions. I don't want to live my life in a "me-centered" way. I need the accountability, and it's great having the younger kids (he has eight younger siblings) to talk to and play with. It keeps me a little more cheerful."

Three years ago Tim received a subscription to New Attitude as a birthday present. When NA's first Short Story Fiction Contest was announced, he decided to enter a story he had done for a home-school writing class. "Tommy's Tryout" told the story of a public school student going out for the football team. "I worked on revising it for several months," Tim says. "My goal was to write the most normal piece of fiction possible." His approach worked. Out of 25 entries his came in first. Tim has contributed to NA since then and hopes to continue writing. "My dream is to write a novel," he says. "A serious, thoughtful, Christian novel."

Right now he's reading "Mere Christianity" and gearing up for evangelism at school. "I need a more finely-honed intellectual basis for my faith," he explains. Next year he'll transfer to George Mason and possibly be a classical studies major. As Tim sees it, he has about six more years of school. He'll get his bachelor's and then go to seminary. He decided this past spring that he wants to be a pastor like his dad.

"It's something my mom and dad wanted me to do since I was a little kid," he says. "It's a dream my dad has had for me. He would always give me theological books to read for my personal devotions."

Tim Lash wearing one of his dad's tie-dye shirts from the 70s and holding the issue with his first-place fiction story.

Laura Clark Missionary to Tinseltown

Laura Clark thinks of herself as a missionary. Her mission field is one of the darkest and seemingly hopeless one could imagine. Thousands of miles from her hometown of Frederick, Maryland, she's letting her light shine in Hollywood, California.

Laura knew since fourth grade that she wanted to work in the film industry. Growing up she took every opportunity she found to talk to people in the business. "When I was a kid and I saw a newsreporter on the street, I'd walk up and say, 'Hi, I'm Laura Clark, and I want to work in film,'" she says laughing at her own boldness.

Laura's "big break" came last year when she prayed and begged her way into a Focus on the Family film project. Amazingly, they invited her to come to California to work as a production assistant on two of their "Last Chance Detectives" movies. On the set Laura made friends with a Christian lady working as the script supervisor (the person who keeps track of all the different takes for future reference during editing). Laura began to learn the job. By the end of the four-week project, Laura was the script supervisor's assistant and had been invited by her to come to California to make a go of it as a freelance script supervisor. Now she's renting a room from a retired Christian woman who used to work in the industry and working side jobs while the script supervising gets off the ground.

Her friends describe her as "peppy" and "bubbly," but New Attitude readers first met Laura when she wrote an article with a very different tone. "Ring of Hope" (Vol. 2 No. 1) told the story of her parents' shaky marriage. With disarming honesty Laura shared her journey of trusting God during the pain of watching her parents' marriage tear apart. The article ended on a hopeful note, since her dad had just moved back home.

Three years later Laura's future is bright even though her parents' marriage didn't have a happy ending. Not too long after she wrote for New Attitude, they divorced. Her dad is remarrying soon. "I've gone through real pain," Laura says. "There will probably always be a place in my life that has a hole in it because my parents split up, but God has become my everything. Even though divorce wasn't His perfect plan, God still picks up the pieces and works through the hurt."

Laura Clark on her twentieth birthday.

Looking Forward

Brian Sakultarawattn sometimes thinks about his life before an explosive fire last Christmas burned him on most of his body.

"It's kind of like a good memory rather than like, 'Oh, wish I could still do this,'" Brian, 20, said. "It's more like I'm glad I was able to do this.

Brian went home to St. Helens in July after six months of treatment and rehabilitation for burns that robbed him of his sight and parts of each limb.

Brian has routine occupational, physical and speech therapy. He said that feeding himself with special appliances remains awkward. But last week, he got a prosthesis for his left leg and practices balancing on it and on his right heel. A certified nurse assistant helps 24 hours.

Brian and his fiancée, Haley, hold a weekly Bible study with friends. Brian travels in a wheelchair-accessible van, eating recently at his dad's restaurant, Mo's Thai Kitchen, for the first time since the fire.

Brian and Haley postponed their planned October 12 wedding until Brian has surgeries to loosen the new skin on his face and other places. An addition to his parents' home also must be completed, giving the couple a place to live.

Haley, 19, is living with her family, doing odd jobs and being with Brian.

"I actually enjoy getting to help out with his therapy and keeping things in order and trying to take care of him," Haley said. "I'm looking forward to what the future holds." (Reprinted from The Oregonian.)

Kara Griffith Kind of a Perfectionist

“For me writing is a way of thinking," says Kara Griffith. "It's an excuse to research things that interest and fascinate me." This year Kara is a sophomore at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and the editor of "The Bagpipe," the school's religion and philosophy newspaper. She describes herself as self-motivated and competitive. "I'm kind of a perfectionist," she admits. Qualifying her statement she adds, "Not in picking up my room, but in wanting to be really, really good at things."

It was precisely those qualities that made her a boon to New Attitude in 1994. It's been over three years since Kara first saw the magazine. She had just cancelled her subscription to another Christian teen magazine because, as a home schooler, she couldn't relate to it. She liked New Attitude, however, and decided she wanted to be a part of the contributing team. When the magazine advertised its need for writers, she sent in a letter along with sample columns she'd written for her local newspaper's teen section. Nothing happened. She waited. She wrote again. She waited. Finally New Attitude got its act together and called her. They've been calling ever since.

Kara's attention to detail and willingness to do thorough research made her the only New Attitude student writer to be consistently assigned articles. Kara wrote four feature articles, two of which were cover stories.

Kara attributes her drive to her parents and the self-induced need she felt growing up to prove she was on par with her public school counterparts. "I used to bug my mom and dad to let me take achievement tests because I was scared that I wasn't doing well," she says.

Although the need to prove herself isn't as pressing today, Kara is still bothered by some people's view of home schooling. "A lot of people have this negative stereotype of a home schooler being this shy person who doesn't know how to interact with peers, is vaguely Amish and just sort of out of it," Kara says with a hint of frustration. "I'm not ashamed of home schooling. I got a wonderful education, but some people don't see that."

For now Kara is enjoying college. She plans to graduate and hopefully pursue a Ph.D. in either English, History or Philosophy. "I would love to get married, home school my kids and write on the side, but if I don't get married, I'd like to be a professor at a small Christian school. I'd love to go to school for the rest of my life. Being a professor is the closest you come."

Kara Griffith shows off the school paper she edits.

Back to Normal

He stood alone against an order to march under United Nations command and swear allegiance to a foreign power. He earned both praise and criticism from conservatives and liberals and stirred up a debate which yet rages on Capitol Hill. He lost his initial fight to stay in the military and was discharged, though a court battle still looms.

Home-school graduate Michael New captured headlines for over a year, then nearly vanished from the public eye. What happened to him? Like most folks, he settled down and got to work, weary of the spotlight and ready to put the U.N. "mess" behind him.

"Michael's pretty tired of talking about all that stuff," says Daniel New, Michael's father and "press agent" these days. "We're cutting down on interviews now."

Married on August 6, 1995, Michael and his wife, Claudia, now live in Texas, where Michael works as a computer technician. "I enjoy learning new things," says Michael, "and in this job, that's an everyday occurrence." Michael's interest in computers drew him to the "techie" business, where he hopes to boost his programming skills, (by Jennie Chancey)

Josh Carden The Lighter Side of Home Schooling

Josh Carden describes his dorm room in one word: "Messy. I would like to think that's not the norm," he says, and then in his characteristic humor adds, "It's sort of the Tasmania Devil meets Dino—the piano player, that is, not the Flintstones."

Josh Carden is a senior this year at Dallas Baptist University. His dorm room is strewn, among other things, with Dino piano music. For the past several years music has been a big part of his life. Currently Josh is the assistant director and pianist for his school's traveling singing ministry. "There are 28 students in the group," Josh says. "We do around 70 concerts each year all over the country and have had the chance to go to Korea twice and last summer to the Olympics."

Josh's first article in New Attitude came in its third issue. He quickly became the magazine's in-house humorist, a sort of "Dave Barry" of home-school culture whose articles showed that home schoolers do have a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. His list of "You Might Be a Homeschooler If..." jokes went down in NA history as the funniest, most-requested-for-reprints article.

Although Josh contributed the humor, he appreciated the serious side of the magazine, too. "I've enjoyed watching the magazine mature and deepen," he says.

Right now Josh's future is a bit uncertain. "I'm a senior, with one year left to decide what to do with my life. I'm looking at possibly going to law school, but it's not a for sure thing, so don't make it sound like I'm going for sure."

Josh Carden: A cross between Dave Barry and Dino?

Jayme Farris Past Politics

Let me step into the laundry room," she says after answering the phone. In a home with nine kids and the dinner dishes being cleaned up, it's the best bet for a quiet place to have conversation.

Jayme Farris is nineteen. Her dad, Michael Farris, is president of Home School Legal Defense. For the past three years she's been working for him in the graphic design department laying out brochures and the "Court Report" magazine that visits the mail boxes of HSLDA's over 50,000 members.

Starting with New Attitude's second issue, Jayme wrote a series called "From the Campaign Trial" that followed her dad's bid for the post of Lieutenant Governor in Virginia. "I don't think God makes mistakes," Jayme says as she looks back on the disappointment of her father's defeat in the tightly contested race. "It was God's will the way things worked out, and I believe the home-school movement has needed him." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "But someday I want him to run and win."

For Jayme the experience of being closely involved in the political process was both invigorating and disillusioning. "In one sense I lost faith in the American public," Jayme admits. "I realized how gullible they could be. They don't always believe the truth. If lies are broadcast to them, they'll take it in."

For now political campaigns are a thing of the past. Jayme is spending 1997 in Romania in the city of Oradea. She'll be working part-time as a pastor's English secretary. The rest of her time will be spent volunteering at a Christian home for abandoned babies called Hope Orphanage. She spent her summer in Romania last year and felt God calling her back.

"The lifestyle in Romania is very different," Jayme explains. "It's slower and there's more time to spend with people." Hope Orphanage is nothing more than an apartment which plays home to seven babies, the maximum allowed by the government. Jayme's job is to play with them. "Those babies need you," Jayme says as she describes what it is that would take her thousands of miles from her family and friends.

At times the work is overwhelming. There are so many children who need help, so much that needs to be done. "For awhile I was tempted to be discouraged," Jayme says, "but God has been teaching me to keep my eyes on Him. I feel He's been saying, 'Don't be overwhelmed by the big picture—worry about your part, and I'll orchestrate the big picture.'"

Jayme Farris with the issue featuring the final installment of her series "From the Campaign Trail."

The "Transitions Gang" One Year Later

One of NA's most popular features was an interview with four home-school grads entitled "Transitions" (Vol. 3 No. 4). Almost exactly one year after that article, we had a "class reunion" and found out what had happened in each of their lives since our last visit.

Ben Trolese will receive his degree in engineering this December and head back to Nicaragua. For Ben, the year helped clarify his life's direction. "I feel like I've laid bases in my life that I can build on—in my own faith, in where I'm going and what God has for me."

Jeanne Lewis (whose name we misspelled last time) is steadily building her piano studio. "Sometimes things didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but I learned that God has a bigger plan than I have."

Stephen Hall has learned more about teamwork this year working to design shoes at Nike. He works with a small group of people creating specialty shoes for athletes (Ken Griffey and Michael Johnson, for instance). He's also learning self-control in his personal sneaker buying habit. "With the discount I get, it's hard to resist. I have closets full of Nikes."

Jodi Kay Stanley’s year brought many changes. "It's been scary at times." She graduated from school and is now working the night shift (10:30pm-8am) on the respiratory unit at a hospital. “I like nursing, but I'm not sure I want to do this job forever. I'd like to do more work in the community.”

The New Attitude "Staff"

Okay, so we're using the term "staff" loosely. Only Janet and Andrew really work for New Attitude, but the people pictured here have each been invaluable members of the team that make NA possible. Gary Twitchell, who works at Daily Journal of Commerce, the company that prints the magazine, has always looked out for us and has become a true friend. And though they never got paid, Gregg, Sono and Joel Harris gladly read early versions of New Attitude and offered their input. Andrew travels with Josh on the road and helps with the magazine by running the conferences so Josh can write. Nate Hilman's photography has graced the cover of ten issues. (By the way, he does senior pictures, weddings and family portraits, too! Give him a call.) Finally, Janet, whose title of "Letter-opener, Subscription-Manager, Assistant Editor, Copy Editor, Fulfillment Manager and All-Around NA Mom" was too long to list in the picture is best described by the word "irreplaceable."