My family and I watch the show “Alaska: The Last Frontier.” I don’t know if you have seen the show on the Discovery Channel. It shows the life of the Kilcher family as they live and survive on the wild frontier of Alaska. We watch it for several reasons.
First, my son attends school and is friends with August Kilcher – one of the boys who appears sometimes on the show.
Second, we watch it to laugh a little. Don’t get me wrong, the Kilchers do live on a homestead in Alaska and some of their lifestyle choices are hard. But if you watch the show you might get the idea that the Kilchers live out in the middle of nowhere and have to struggle to survive. The reality, the Kilchers live down the road from my house just a few miles. They can have running water, electricity and even the internet if they want it. I have those things. They also live just a few miles from a grocery stores, restaurants and a nice farmers market. There are all kinds of jobs in the area where you can live and work a normal life just like the people in the lower 48. In fact, so you know, my wife worked at a local restaurant this summer where the Kilchers frequent and eat some very nice meals.
While life in Alaska is different. We can hunt for food and catch enough fish for our primary diet, no one has to do it to survive. There are other options.
Here is the reality. Things (especially on TV) are not as they appear. I live and work as a preacher where I am always challenging people to believe in something. For one moment I want to stop and tell people the exact opposite, somethings you do not need to believe. This is just one of them.