Deep in the heart of Texas.

We are in Laredo, Texas for the wedding of my long-time friend. The trip across South Dakota two weeks ago was foreshadowing for this. We took a 2-hour drive from St. Antonio through dusty scrubland, Border Patrol trucks crawling everywhere, other drivers wearing cowboy hats. Past cactus and palm trees. Laredo sits on the Mexican border and, in the town, most of the signs are in Spanish. We got lost and drove through a wealthy neighborhood with hacienda-style homes with courtyards and gates. There are palm trees everywhere and of course, it's hot. The wedding is tomorrow. My friend is very Christian, of the pure and fundamental, Bible-studying sort. He would be comfortable wearing simple robes with a rope belt. His beliefs are sincere. He is marrying a woman of Mexican descent; her family is also very religious. The ceremony will be in Spanish with translation. There are at least three pastors. We keep looking at each other, is this really happening? To say the experience is surreal is to speak the pure and perfect Truth.