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Alaska Unwilling: How One Woman's Reluctant Adventure to the Yukon Wilderness Challenged Her Faith & Changed Her Life

After over a decade of a comfortable, suburban life in the rolling hills of eastern Pennsylvania, but in a marriage in turmoil and edging ever closer to divorce, the logical thing for the Hamilton family to do, it seemed, was to move to a place where life was simple and without distraction. They sold off most of their belongings, packed what was left in the family minivan and began the long, arduous road trip across the northern United States, into western Canada and finally Alaska, where they drove to the end of the road to the bush village of Eagle, on the banks of the Yukon river. The stress and uncertainty of the move, coupled with her unwillingness to go, caused Jennifer’s body to revolt. Wracked with pain and heart-broken at the loss of her friends and her church, she pleaded with God to allow her to return to the way of life she was leaving behind. But as the miles rolled past, it was clear that God wasn’t going to change the path she was on. Nothing in any of her life experiences or imagination prepared Jennifer for surviving the untamed wilderness of Alaska -- trying to stay warm in months of subzero temperatures without electric heat and living most of the year in the dark with four other people in a tiny log cabin, without running water and indoor plumbing. The family became Alaska homesteaders, a true-life Alaska wilderness family; they looked to the land for food and subsistence hunted for caribou, while learning to respect that wild place that showed no mercy to those who were not prepared. Jennifer’s relationship with her husband remained stilted and tumultuous. Never had friends felt so far away. Even with the company of her in-laws and the joy of her children as they adjusted to their new life, Jennifer felt isolated and alone, and prayed often for relief. “Alaska Unwilling” is the story of how life in the harsh and unforgiving wilderness of bush Alaska brought about peace, how being still in a lifestyle that shunned busyness and personal comfort enabled Jennifer to hear the very real, clear voic

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