Chapter 56

     The first trip to Springfield, Missouri, was very successful and had me thinking it would be to our advantage to move there.  I headed out of town to go to Lawrence and connect with the group we had there.

     My travel took me north on Highway 71.  I went by Butler,  and then Harrisonville, and was making good time.  I saw the lights in my rearview mirror and pulled over as a motorcycle officer pulled in behind me.

     He informed me I had been speeding and proceeded to give me a ticket.  He was polite and very professional, but I just didn’t need the ticket nor the cost thereof. 

     He bid me a good day and headed back to his motorcycle but turned back to take another look at me.  Right then I had a terrible vision.  It was of him wrecking his motorcycle causing his death.  I knew right then he would die in the line of duty.  I almost got out of the car to try to talk to him but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. 

     He looked back at me again and just stared at me, then went on his way.  I could tell he knew something was up.

     I looked at the ticket and saw the City of Belton on it.  No memory of Belton came to mind, and I doubted I would ever be in Belton again.  As I thought about it, it upset me to have a vision of that sort, not knowing what to do, or maybe I had just missed the chance.  I just took off down the road.

     My second trip to Springfield from Bozeman to work our direct sales initiative had been quite successful as well. We were now definitely considering moving our family back to Springfield to work the business more aggressively. 

     I was on my way back to Bozeman heading north on Highway 71 coming up on the south side of Kansas City.  My thinking about several issues that had come up concerning the direct sales company’s marketing plan subsequently tripped my thoughts of the “Big Event”.  I was considering how direct sales could be part of a solution to help minimize the casualties and thinking about the possibilities of another type of marketing plan that could work.

     Like lightning, an idea hit me, and I instantly saw the solution and what to call it.  ShareValue was the name, and its marketing plan was the answer I had been looking for since I was 19-years old.  

     ShareValue would be a direct sales company that would inspire and reward individuals and communities with the ability to prepare food stocks for times of need such as in the time of “The Big Event”.

     I was so shaken up over it that I pulled off the road.  I thought on it for a few minutes and then started to look around to see where I was, as I wanted to remember where I was when this idea came to me.  The highway off-ramp sign next to me read “City of Grandview”, and indeed it was a “grand-view” of what could be done.

     We sold our house in Bozeman after Danny died and moved to Springfield to work our direct sales business.  We lived in a rental for a few months, but Shirley’s rental came open and we moved back into the same house she had tricked us into moving into when we first got married.  I have always regretted selling our Bozeman home though. 

     School started for Katie and Kelly. Katie was in the third grade and Kelly was in first grade.  Katie started bringing home bad grades and her first report card showed her barely passing.  Lori informed me the school had implemented a new cooperative learning program. Katie’s group was getting low grades; hence, she was getting low grades, as she got the same grade as the group did. 

     I went to meet with the teacher to find out what was going on, only to be informed that because Katie didn’t raise her hand to volunteer in class, she was deemed a problem student and put in a group with other problem students.  I explained to the teacher that she was new to the school and was just shy.  I also explained to the teacher that Katie had always gotten really good grades before. 

     My request for Katie to be moved to a more productive group was refused.  She explained that this was a new program being promoted by President Bill Clinton.  I informed her that should Katie bring home another report card with bad grades again, due to the group grade, I would take action. 

     About a month later Katie came home from school very upset.  She wouldn’t talk about it at first but finally told us how the teacher had taken up a collection at school for a poor single woman.  Katie and one other student had declined to give, and their class had made fun of them. I asked her what the collection was for and why she didn’t want to give.  Katie informed me that a woman who was in need of an abortion but couldn’t afford it was seeking the donations.  I called the teacher the next day and confirmed Katie’s account of the event. 

     Lori and I had friends that had been home schooling, and we were impressed with what we had learned about the benefits of home schooling.  Being able to instruct our children using a Christian faith-based curriculum was very appealing to us.  

     Very important as well was the mastery-based teaching as opposed to the exposure method used by the public schools.  It would also help us to keep our children away from the atheistic humanism being taught in the public schools (see the Humanist Manifesto of 1933). 

     So, we informed the school we were removing our children from their school and began home schooling.  Best decision we have ever made.  Home schooling is not perfect but way superior to the disadvantages of public schools.