Go Beyond

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | June 3, 2013

Why I Am Doing the Safari

Preparing for the 2013 Texas Water Safari

With the start of the Texas Water Safari now only days away, I thought I would share the top ten reasons why I will once again put myself through the torture of paddling a canoe 260 miles from San Marcos to Seadrift, Texas. I hope there is a lesson or two here that might encourage you on your own journey, whether on or off the river.

10. The Texas Water Safari feeds my need for adventure. | I have regarded life itself as an adventure since my childhood days. For whatever reason, I have always been a restless soul, preferring to be in motion. In the words of Thomas Carlyle, “I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.” The Texas Water Safari is one of the best adventures I have ever experienced and certainly worth the pain.

9. The Texas Water Safari is tough. | The Texas Water Safari is rightly billed as the world’s toughest canoe race. Having completed the race last year with my son, Jonathan, I can honestly say that this ultra-marathon race is indeed the toughest physical challenge I have ever faced. The fellowship of finishers know that words seem less than adequate to describe the intensity of this adventure.

8. The Texas Water Safari has a risk of failure. | There is something about us that likes to play it safe and to mitigate risk to ourselves and our loved ones. However, I want to always have at least one challenge in my life that scares me or fills me with some measure of concern. On the Texas Water Safari, the risk of failure is always looming around the next bend or lurking just beneath the surface. That’s ok with me because it is that risk that makes the race exciting and makes me feel totally alive while doing it.

7. The Texas Water Safari stretches me. | I had no idea how far I could push myself until I completed the Texas Water Safari last year. I reached the point of exhaustion so many times along the way only to discover that I have deeper untapped reserves. I reached the finish line with a better understanding of myself and what it takes to go one more mile.

6. I can’t do the Texas Water Safari alone. | Someone defined fellowship as two fellows in a ship. Whether you paddle with a six-man team or paddle tandem or solo, the Texas Water Safari is all about fellowship and teamwork — before, during, and after the race. And, regardless of who you are, the encouragement of family, friends, and fans along the way spurs you on to do your best.

5. The Texas Water Safari teaches me to be ready for the unexpected. | Rowing your boat merrily down the stream is a cute kids song but, in reality, the river often has more than a few surprises along the way that can make the experience less than merry. I’m talking about the kind of stuff that can seriously mess with you and your progress. The Texas Water Safari forces you to stay alert and to develop the paddling skills that will get you to the finish line.

4. The friendship of other paddlers. | I have met some really nice folks on each of the races I have participated in since I started paddling with Jonathan. One of the best things about doing a race like the Texas Water Safari is re-connecting with the friends we have made on previous races. I often tell people how much I enjoy the über-friendly paddling community in Texas. Any journey is made more enjoyable when you find yourself in the company of friendly folks.

3. The Texas Water Safari pushes me to go beyond. | I am all about going beyond (thus the title of my blog). Each of us have a geography of our lives that is defined by boundaries that mark the farthest we’ve ever been and the most we’ve ever done. The only way to redefine our lives is by going beyond those boundaries — doing something we have never done before. The geography of my life looked much different after last year’s Texas Water Safari. I am thankful for that.

2. The training and anticipation. | For me, the journey is the adventure. The destination is just the cherry on top. You don’t just buy a boat and show up for the Texas Water Safari. The adventure begins long before the race ever starts, when you spend long hours paddling and training on the river. Every training run is an adventure that builds anticipation for the big day.

1. The river is a healing place. | My son Jonathan is the reason I started a new chapter of adventures on Texas rivers. Years ago, our family went through a dark period during Jonathan’s prodigal years, days when we thought we might lose him. God protected Jonathan and gave him back to us. When Jonathan started paddling on the San Marcos River, I eagerly joined him. The many hours and miles we have spent together on the river have been like a soothing and healing balm. I often tell people that the reason I do the Texas Water Safari and other river races is not because I love canoeing but because I love my son. And that is the top reason why I will once again endure four grueling days on the Texas Water Safari.

This year, Jonathan will paddle boat 1984 with his friend Bob and I will paddle boat 316 with my friend Doyle. Thanks for following our adventure. Doyle and I have worked hard over the past several months to prepare for the Texas Water Safari. I will post a link to our SpotTracker page on Friday for those of you who would like to follow our progress in near real-time. You can also follow our adventure on the Facebook page set up by my daughter Niki. The page is entitled Lone Star Pastors and also has a link to Jonathan’s TWS Facebook page.

12 Comments

Posted in Texas Water Safari | Tags: Adventure, canoe race, Canoeing, marathon race, Sports, texas water safari

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 31, 2013

I Am About to Give Birth

Preparing for the 2013 Texas Water Safari

I feel as though I am about to give birth — in a manner of speaking. For almost nine months, Doyle and I have been training to compete (perhaps “participate” is a better word) in the Texas Water Safari. Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know that this 260-mile ultra-marathon race is billed as the world’s toughest canoe race. Doyle and I certainly feel as though we have toughened up quite a bit over the past several months of paddling. That’s a good thing because we’ll certainly need every ounce of both physical and mental toughness in order to paddle the estimated quarter-of-a-million strokes between the start and finish of the race.

Doyle and I spent some time today buying our nutrition for the race — along with an assortment of batteries for our GPS, SpotTracker, bow light, and two head-lamps. We have been most concerned about our nutrition because replenishing calories is essential to having the strength to do the race. According to my calorie counter and exercise smart-phone app, we are likely to burn more than 35,000 calories over the course of four days on the river. So, we have an assortment of calorie-rich snacks and bars and drink mixes and have developed a plan for taking our nutrition along the way to ensure that we keep up our strength. My daughter Niki, our team captain, is determined to hold us accountable for sticking to our nutrition plan.

In these final days before the race, the race has become all that we think about and talk about when not doing our daily work. The moment there is any lull in our daily routine, thoughts of the race rush in. And at night, I can hardly sleep because my mind is racing, no pun intended. I find myself tossing and turning and thinking about portages and distances between checkpoints and the heat and sleep deprivation and how tired I will get of eating all of that stuff we have spent so much money on and whether or not I will see the Chic-fil-A cows again in the middle of the night while paddling down the infamous Hallucination Alley.

Could all of this be the contractions signaling that the birth is near? I think so. And as hard as the contractions are, the labor and delivery will be even tougher. I know that from having finished this race last year. When my wife asked me at the finish line if I thought I would do the race again next year, I told her that I felt as though I had just given birth and did not want to even think about having another baby. But, wouldn’t you know it, as soon as the pain subsided and faded into my memory, I signed up to do the race again! So, here I am, anxiously awaiting Saturday, June 8, when the real labor begins.

Thanks for following our journey. I will post our SpotTracker link on my blog and on our Facebook page at Lone Star Pastors next Friday for those of you who would like to follow our progress in near real-time. The link will become active at the start of the race at 9:00 AM on Saturday, June 8. My daughter Niki will also post video updates to our Facebook page from the checkpoints along the race course.

8 Comments

Posted in Texas Water Safari | Tags: Adventure, canoe race, Canoeing, Sports, texas water safari

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 30, 2013

My Mother’s Bible

Today is the fourth anniversary of my mother’s death. When I awoke this morning I immediately thought of her and of a conversation we had a few weeks before she died. I had taken a few days to drive home in April 2009 to visit with Mom and Dad before traveling to Kashmir in May. I often told Mom how much I enjoyed returning home because it is one of the few places where I can fully relax. And I really wanted to get some good rest before leaving the country again.

As always, Mom and I talked a lot during our visit. In the course of one early morning conversation, Mom randomly asked me if I thought it was ok for her to be buried with her Bible. I simply replied, “Yes, Mom, it’s ok. But we don’t have to think about that for a long time.” Like my grandmother who had died a week before her 102nd birthday, I expected that my Mom would live just as long. I was wrong. A few weeks later my beautiful mother died in the hospital at the age of seventy-five.

When it came time to make funeral arrangements, I remembered my conversation with Mom about her wish to be buried with her Bible. Wanting to honor her wish, I found her Bible. However, before turning her obviously worn-from-use Bible over to the funeral home, I spent hours looking through it and scanned many of the pages. I was blessed by what I had found. Mom had noted each of my international trips and the dates of those trips next to passages of Scripture that she was praying for me.

I always knew that Mom prayed for my safety and success on my travels, but I never knew that she was recording these things in her Bible. It’s no wonder that I have survived so many occasions when I have been in danger in remote locations around the world. Mom kept me tethered to safety by her prayers. She had also noted the dates I had called home from overseas and initialed these notes with the letters TYL — Thank You Lord. Mom recorded several of my trips around Psalm 91, perhaps because the theme of this psalm is security and how God preserves those who abide in Him and love Him.

Mom loved God’s Word and understood that His promises are true. She trusted God for the welfare of each of her kids and bombarded heaven with prayers on our behalf. I am confident that her prayers for us and her trust in God’s promises shielded me and my siblings from so many things that could have harmed us. On this fourth anniversary of her death I am especially thankful for what I found in my mother’s Bible — yet more evidence of how much she loved me and our family.

8 Comments

Posted in Death and Dying, Home and Family | Tags: Death, Dying, family, home, Inspiration

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 29, 2013

To The Old Ball Game

The Center at Willow River Farms provides services for adults with developmental disabilities and other related conditions. Located in a beautiful rural setting near San Felipe, Texas, Willow River Farms “was founded on the principle that every individual has value and something to contribute to the community.” The folks at Willow River offer exceptional care for their residents and work to help each of them “realize their potential and experience the satisfaction and pride that comes from productive work.”

My friend and Kingsland member Kim Heston introduced me to the wonderful work of Willow River. Over the past couple of years, our missions ministry has mobilized several teams to serve at Willow River. Our teams have assisted with everything from painting to landscaping to some general repair initiatives. So, when Kim recently told me that a Special Olympics softball team is being formed at Willow River, we were happy to step up and to provide new softball equipment to help launch the team.

This morning Paul Crandall, our Recreation Pastor, and I went to Academy to purchase caps, balls, bats, gloves, helmets, and other items to contribute to Willow River. We are excited about what this will mean to the residents and those who help organize the softball team. We are able to assist friends like Willow River because of the kind and generous financial gifts to our missions ministry by the Kingsland family. Please pray for Willow River and the good work that is taking place there every day. I look forward to going out to a ball game one day at Willow River to cheer on the team!

Because of the Brave

On this Memorial Day I have thought much about those who paid the ultimate price to preserve our democratic way of life. I have appreciated all of the televised Memorial Day documentaries, patriotic concerts, and news reports. These are important because they remind us that the freedoms we enjoy were secured at a high cost and should never be taken lightly. America is indeed the land of free and the home of the brave — or perhaps we should say that we are the land of the free because of the brave.

My grandfather, Felipe Garcia. | World War 1

From the time I was a kid, I listened to stories told by family members who served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. I recall interviewing one of my uncles who had served in the Second World War for a school report. When I asked him why he had enlisted to fight in the war, he said without hesitation, “To give Hitler hell!” Of course, I had to edit his response for my school report. He was however, more hesitant to talk about what he had experienced in battle. The memories of lost comrades was still painful to him.

Dad with Crew Chiefs at Spangdahlem Air Base. | 2010 | Germany

For those who have served in the various branches of our military, Memorial Day has always had a deeper significance — a special meaning known only to those who have suffered the loss of comrades in arms. My uncle Roberto Gonzales served as a gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress in the Second World War. He survived two dozen combat missions only to be killed in an air mishap while training new recruits after returning home. The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in my hometown is named after him.

Craig Reynolds in search and rescue helicopter. | Vietnam.

As a high school trumpet player, I was regularly called upon to play taps at many funerals of young men who were killed in combat in Vietnam. And, over the past thirty-five years in ministry, I have officiated at many military funerals. Last year I spoke at the funeral of my brother-in-law, Navy Captain Craig Reynolds. Craig flew rescue missions in Vietnam and ended his career as the Commander of the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. The stories Craig shared with me before his death gave me a more profound appreciation for those who put themselves in harm’s way so that we don’t have to.

Captain Craig Reynolds

So, on this Memorial Day, I am again deeply grateful for all of the men and women who have so honorably served our country and paid the highest price for our freedoms. May their sacrifices inspire us to honor their lives and their gift to each of us who live in the land of the free.

4 Comments

Posted in Death and Dying, Memorial Day | Tags: Memorial Day

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 25, 2013

Help for Katy’s Homeless

Katy is a beautiful community. Our manicured boulevards are lined with neatly trimmed crape myrtles and beautiful oak trees planted on islands of green grass adorned with accents of colorful flowers. Subdivisions are governed by home owners associations that zealously protect the integrity of their respective master-planned communities. Katy residents don’t have to venture far to find good food, plentiful entertainment, and convenient shopping. And all this within a stone’s throw of the greater Houston area. Katy is a great place to call home.

There is, however, a small population of folks who have no home and yet consider Katy their home. They somehow manage to survive in places we drive past but never really see. According to my friend Officer Jaime Giraldo with Houston Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team, there are as many as 40 homeless people who live in our community. Many of these have chosen to live in Katy because they are afraid to live among the larger homeless population in inner-city Houston.

Over the years our missions ministry has worked with the homeless in Houston and supported numerous outreach initiatives to these displaced folks. Early in 2011, I had the privilege of meeting Officer Jaime Giraldo who introduced me to the compassionate work of HPD’s Homeless Outreach Team. We have supported the work of his team by supplying them with clothing, funds to help reunite folks with their families, backpacks stuffed with hygiene items, and more. The police officers who serve with the Homeless Outreach Team do a great work and are a valuable asset to our community.

Amy (my assistant), Officer Giraldo, and my son Jonathan in front of Shamu.

Officer Giraldo and I recently visited to discuss the plight of Katy’s homeless population. He shared with me that they not only need food and clothing but medical care as well. And then he asked if we would be willing to partner with his team to host a monthly mobile medical clinic for the homeless on our campus. The Harris County Hospital District staffs a mobile medical clinic specifically designed to care for the homeless. Of course, the answer was an immediate yes!

Mobile medical clinic and Homeless Outreach Team van on our campus.

Officer Giraldo and his team know the homeless in Katy by name. They know all of the hidden spots where they are tucked away. And they know the challenges that each of them face, including all sorts of medical issues as well as those with some mental health challenges. Officer Giraldo said that once a month, he and his team will pick up and transport the homeless to our campus to receive medical care and then transport them back to the places where they live.

Reaching one home at a time … and one homeless person at a time.

I am happy to report that yesterday we hosted our first mobile medical clinic for the homeless. The medical staff rendered compassionate care to those who came for help. Our missions ministry provided breakfast, something we will do each month. We will also supply hygiene kits and provide for other needs. As I watched Officer Giraldo and his partner Officer Dhooper (aka Super Dhooper) bring in the homeless in their black and white Homeless Outreach Team van dubbed Shamu, I thought of what Jesus said when He talked about the least of these: “I was sick and you visited me” (Matt. 25:36).

I am thankful for the collaborative efforts of the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Hospital District, and our missions ministry to care for the homeless in Katy. We must work cooperatively in order to care for the homeless who live in our own community. And, we must be Jesus with skin on to those who, for whatever reason, have no roof over their heads and none of the comforts of home. We look forward to hosting the mobile medical clinic for the homeless again next month.

6 Comments

Posted in Homelessness, Local Missions Initiatives | Tags: Christianity, compassion, Homeless, homeless outreach, houston police department, Medical, Poverty

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 24, 2013

Crossing San Antonio Bay

Preparing for the 2013 Texas Water Safari

The start of the Texas Water Safari ultra-marathon canoe race is only sixteen days away. For the past several months Doyle, my tandem paddling partner, and I have trained on various segments of the 260-mile race route. Yesterday we completed our final training run on the last 33 miles of the course — starting at the Invista Plant south of Victoria all the way to the finish line at Seadrift, Texas.

A mandatory stopping place to and from our training runs.

These last 33 miles of the race course are my least favorite for several reasons. First, because the water is flat — no current. Second, because there are three big and grueling portages at the infamous log jam section of the lower Guadalupe River. The first portage is a half-mile long. Third, because the bay crossing is always unpredictable, often putting you at the mercy of the wind and the waves. However, although this is my least favorite part of the course, this was the training run we needed the most.

Pulling our canoe up a steep bank at the second log jam portage.

Dragging our canoe through the woods at the second log jam portage.

I have warned Doyle several times that the toughest part of this race will be the final 33 miles. After yesterday’s training run, Doyle agrees. As we were paddling across San Antonio Bay Doyle said, “As if this race was not already tough enough, they had to throw in a few more things at the end, like this bay crossing, to make it even tougher.” That’s why we must make certain that we have the reserves to make the final push from the mouth of the Guadalupe River and across San Antonio Bay to the finish line.

Spray skirt on our canoe. Getting ready to cross San Antonio Bay.

By the time we reach this section of the course in June, we will be battling exhaustion, sleep deprivation, hunger, bug bites, and more than a few aches and pains. But we will have no choice but to do the portages and to paddle across San Antonio Bay to the finish line. I will never forget what I felt last year as my son Jonathan and I saw the finish line at Seadrift come into view. As exhausted as we were, we were re-energized and paddled feverishly to the finish line.

Crossing San Antonio Bay near Foster’s Point. Headed to Seadrift, Texas.

I am grateful to our other Safari friends who paddled with us yesterday, including my son Jonathan and his team-mate Bob and our friends Ben and Jay who are competing in the solo kayak division. I am also grateful to my friends Daren and Isaac who came along to encourage us, waited for us to reach the mouth of the river, and then followed us to Seadrift while fishing in the bay.

My son Jonathan (back) and Bob arriving at Seadrift.

As Doyle and I battled the wind and the waves in the bay, it was comforting to see our friends. Their presence reminded me of the words of an old writer who observed, “Satan is a pirate looking for a vessel without a fleet.” Whether paddling in a race like the Texas Water Safari or just navigating life, it’s always good to do so with others. Thanks to each of you who have been following our preparations over the past few months. Your words and comments have been a great encouragement to us. Thanks for paddling with us.

4 Comments

Posted in Texas Water Safari | Tags: Adventure, canoe race, Canoeing, guadalupe river, marathon canoe, texas water safari

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | May 22, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

A hazy morning along the Brahmaputra River. | 2003 | Bangladesh

Essential Safari Items

Preparing for the 2013 Texas Water Safari

In my early days of leading volunteer teams to serve among the nations, I developed a really good general packing list and several country-specific packing lists. I depended on these lists because my biggest fear was arriving at some remote part of the planet missing something really vital or important. It’s always frustrating when something like that happens, especially when you are in a place where you can’t just go out and buy what you need.

Packing has always been my least favorite part of the travel experience, but I have made peace with packing and have developed some efficient packing methods that continue to serve me well. As a result, the packing process is not as painful as it once was and, after so many trips around the globe, I have not used a packing list in years. My packing list is now totally engrained in my brain.

I have however, had to develop a new packing list — not for my international travel but for competing in the Texas Water Safari, the world’s toughest canoe race. When my son Jonathan and I prepared for this race last year, we had a very specific list of what to pack in addition to the mandatory items specified in the race rules. Our list guided us in packing just the right amount of nutrition and other items without over-packing and adding unnecessary weight to our canoe.

Our nutrition and supplies for last year’s Texas Water Safari.

Our safari packing list is very important because if we forget to pack something, tough luck! We have to do the race without it. Racers have to carry all of their own nutrition plus required first-aid supplies. Our team captain can re-supply us with water (and if necessary, medical aid) at the specified check-points along the course. Thus the need to maintain an accurate packing list and to make certain that we pack carefully.

Just a few more items on our Texas Water Safari packing list.

Just a few more items on our 2013 Texas Water Safari packing list.

Today at lunch, Doyle and I purchased yet a few more of the things we will need for the safari. We have just about everything on our list except for an assortment of batteries for our lights, GPS, and SpotTracker. We will buy our nutrition the week before the race. We are very conscious of the need to pack light but also to make sure that we have everything on our list. No excess.

As Doyle and I picked up a few more things on our list today, I thought about my favorite packing list in the Bible — tucked away in the popular Old Testament story of Joseph. When Jacob reluctantly agreed to allow his sons to travel to Egypt to purchase food during a famine, this concerned father told his boys to pack some of the best products of the land, including “a little balm and a little honey” (Gen. 43:11).

The mention of “a little balm and a little honey” illustrates the wisdom of Jacob. He knew that his boys might need a little balm along the way to nurse aches and pains and a little honey for nourishment and refreshment. These are two items we should always carry with us as well. We should be prepared to offer a little balm to those who are weary and a little honey to those in need of encouragement. It will make our journey and theirs more meaningful and pleasant.

Thank you for following our journey as we prepare for the Texas Water Safari in June.

A Day of Small Beginnings

Preparing for the 2013 Texas Water Safari

November 3 of last year was a day of small beginnings. That was the day Doyle and I began to train for the Texas Water Safari ultra-marathon canoe race. With a borrowed canoe, we set off for San Marcos to paddle the first 16-miles of the race course. The day did not go exactly as I had hoped. Having never paddled together, Doyle and I were all over the San Marcos River, and I do mean all over the river ― to the left and to the right, on top of the water and even under it a couple of times. Talk about a rough start, it would have been more discouraging than it actually was had we not laughed along the way.

I returned home more than a little nervous on that day, but hopeful that we would improve with practice. Small beginnings often are characterized by hard work, slow progress, discouraging setbacks, second thoughts, and lots of reflection. Doyle and I had made a commitment to do a 260-mile ultra-marathon canoe race and our first step on that journey was faltering at best. Having completed this race earlier in the year with my son Jonathan, I had a pretty good idea of what it takes to make it to the finish line. Doyle and I had no choice but to make a commitment to take another step.

Since our day of small and questionable beginnings, Doyle and I have trained hard, taken paddling lessons, made a dozen trips to and from the river, spent lots of money on our gear, studied the race course, and had almost daily pep-talks about the race. On May 5 we participated in our first race together, the Texas River Marathon ― the preliminary race to the Texas Water Safari. We met our personal goal of finishing this race in under seven hours. The important thing is that, although we were far from the fastest team on the river, we finished the race in good form.

A little after 6:00 this morning, Doyle and I headed to Luling to do another training run from Zedler Mill Dam to Palmetto State Park on the San Marcos River. I can honestly say that we have developed into a really good team, not necessarily fast, but really good. We have learned to read the river well, paddle at a pace that should enable us to reach all of our checkpoints on the safari on time, have not had a single spill since that first day on the river, know so much more about our strengths and weaknesses, and are more determined than ever to complete the safari in less than the one-hundred hours allotted.

As Doyle and I made our way down the river this morning, I thought about Zechariah 4:10, a favorite passage of Scripture that says: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (NLT). That’s good advice. New ventures and adventures often begin small. However, if we will keep at it and not give up, then one day we will look back on these small beginnings and see the progress we have made. Doyle and I are committed to finishing the world’s toughest canoe race in June. Unless something out of our control prevents us from doing so, we hope to reach the finish line on time. Thanks for following our journey.

8 Comments

Posted in Texas Water Safari | Tags: Adventure, canoe race, Canoeing, san marcos river, Sports, texas water safari

Go Beyond

Why I Am Doing the Safari

I Am About to Give Birth

My Mother’s Bible

To The Old Ball Game

Because of the Brave

Help for Katy’s Homeless

Crossing San Antonio Bay

Wordless Wednesday

Essential Safari Items

A Day of Small Beginnings

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