Culture shock yet?
Hah, a little, but not near so much as we've had moving to blue check states or overseas. In most ways its been like going home, especially after the last 3 years of duty. The best place to be is in the center of God's will.
Once you figure out that there's no safety net here, its not hard to live. Lots of folks never figure that out, and they die or leave ... mostly leave. But the thing is, if you come in with the right attitude and go down swinging, the community will make sure you get back up. While our church is pretty small, the whole community is excited to have a full time year round pastor. They've not had one of those in a very long time. Tough people still need someone to talk to when the problem can't be fixed with your hands or sheer will. So we jumped into the community, do the things locals do the local way, whether its work or play, and they've accepted us. Winter will be hard, but we're not scared.
I mean, imagine a culture of god-fearing, gun toting, self-sufficient conservatives with a just a dash of libertarianism, who work hard, fish, hunt, laugh, and eat ice cream a lot, and take care of each other. Not too hard to adjust to that.
