When Melissa and I were planning our wedding, we delighted in telling friends that we were shooting for the best of both worlds--a Baptist wedding and Catholic reception. Melissa is the Catholic; I'm Southern Baptist.

I joked that a Baptist preacher would marry anyone for a $200 honorarium and that the service was fast, unlike a Catholic wedding. One of my former pastors from First Baptist Church in Arkadelphia was at Baylor University in Waco at the time, and that wasn't a bad drive down to Corpus Christi.

Melissa is Mexican American and made clear what a big deal weddings are in that culture. Cousins would be there from both sides of her family, and they would bring guests. They would expect to party late into the night.

So it was that we were married in October 1989 in the chapel of First Baptist Church of Corpus Christi, which overlooks the bay. It was a beautiful setting. The reception was at a nearby country club and included a mariachi band and lots of dancing. Those cousins were still going strong when we left at 2 a.m.

In 1993, our first son was born. We knew we wanted him raised with a church he could call home, but neither of us felt strongly about which church it should be. Finally, Melissa said she would be more comfortable if he were baptized as a Catholic. When it came time for him to start school in Little Rock, we chose Holy Souls since he enjoyed attending church there. He stayed at Holy Souls through the eighth grade, then was valedictorian at Catholic High School.

Austin Nelson, now 32, went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Hendrix College, a master's degree from Baylor, and a law degree and doctorate in government from the University of Texas. His younger brother Evan, 28, was at Holy Souls from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Evan graduated from high school at what's now Baptist Prep in Little Rock and from college at Ouachita Baptist University.

Evan was student body president at Baptist Prep and senior class president at........

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