I wish I could say I began writing at an early age but that would be a lie. Instead, I found outlets for my creative side through arts and crafts, acting in church plays, and weaving bedtime stories for my younger sister and then for my own children.
Life On The Farm
I am the middle child of Jim and Florine Griner and grew up on a farm in Southeast Georgia. This meant that I spent much of my summer driving a tobacco harvester where the driver’s seat was positioned above the engine. The noise from the engine and conveyer chains made it difficult to join the conversations of the other workers so I was left to my own imagination to pass the time on those long hot days.
Thankfully it was not all work and no play. Looking back, I can still feel the dirt beneath my feet and hear the laughter of my brother and sister as we roamed the pastures and woods near our home. The three of us went on many adventures, we dug foxholes for imagery wars, chased fireflies, and dodged rattlesnakes. It was a fun-filled childhood, well except for the rattlesnakes.
Going Out Into The World
Following high school graduation, I left the tobacco fields behind to peruse an associate’s degree in general business from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton, Georgia. The plan was to only work for a couple of years and then return to college to further my education. Those plans changed once I met the love of my life, Richard Henderson, and we began our own family. Our children, Alicia and Ryan, are now grown, married, and have given us five wonderful grandchildren.
It took several moves before we finally settled in Jacksonville, Florida and it has been our home for nearly thirty years. Life has been full of the usual things, family, home, work, and church, celebrating graduations, marriages, births, and other life-changing events.
One such event was an auto accident that crushed a bone in my leg and took many months to recover. It was a difficult time and many more changes came as a result of the accident but in the end, I can say that God’s timing is perfect. It was at the end of my rehab that he brought Yesha Ministries to our church. Yesha offers training in taekwondo while sharing the gospel. I gave it a try and found that practicing the forms and stances was just what I needed to help rebuild the strength in my leg.
Perseverance Pays Off
It was a struggle. My body battled my spirit every step of the way, the changes came slowly but they did come. At first, the changes were perceivable by only me, and even if I never advanced beyond a white belt, I wasn’t going to quit. My goals went beyond the stances, forms, and kicks required for belt advancement. My goal was to be able to walk without a limp and pain-free. Eventually, my hard work paid off and I earned my black belt. I currently hold a 1st Dan Kukkiwan and a 3rd Dan Yesha Ministries black belt in taekwondo.
Stumbling Onto The Tomato Zombie
In 2014 my husband and I had tried to grow cherry tomatoes and found one that had been partially eaten by bugs revealing what looked like a face. Instead of throwing it away, I thought it would be fun to snap some pictures of it as a zombie. We soon found that our yard was not big enough for the little zombie, and before the weekend was over, TZ had traveled as far as Fernandina Beach.
At my next class, I shared the pictures with my taekwondo students promising to write a story to go along with them. It wasn’t until 2020 that I made good on that promise.
Never Give Up on Your Dreams
In 2020 I realized that I would have lied to my students if I didn’t write a story to go along with the pictures, and lying just wasn’t acceptable. Soon A Tale of a Tomato Zombie was on its way to Covenant Books and thankfully they agreed to publish.
It has been my pleasure to write A Tale of a Tomato Zombie and those that followed. It is my desire to always write stories that are entertaining, educational, and encouraging. It is my wish that these stories will remind my readers to be determined to make a positive impact on others, have the perseverance to stay the course no matter what comes their way, and have the courage to do the hard thing so that there will be victory in the end.
Karen Henderson