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Seth caught Janene\u2019s eye from the start, and she wanted to get to know him, but he was shy. She didn\u2019t chase him, but with the authority to assign shifts, she made sure the two of them always worked at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was kind of clueless at first. He didn\u2019t know what was going on,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cBut eventually we went out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth has a different take on the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew as soon as I saw her, I was going to marry her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people would say chance is responsible for the two meeting and marrying. But Janene calls it \u201ca God thing.\u201d She also believes it was \u201ca God thing\u201d that led them to the karate studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2015, she and Seth passed by a new karate studio in town. By then, they were parents of 5-year-old Logan, who was a true Ninja Turtle fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe even had Grandma take him to Walmart to buy him a dowel rod \u2014 his bo staff,\u201d Janene said. \u201cThat was the first weapon in the cache.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Signing up Logan for karate classes was a no-brainer. Janene and Seth made the arrangements, and Logan was hooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Logan\u2019s first lesson, the three left the studio and drove down Main Street, right past what would later become the front door of the business they now own. That\u2019s when Logan asked a question they will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe wanted to know if people could do karate for a living,\u201d Janene explained. \u201cSeth told him yes, and then Logan told us that\u2019s what he wanted to do. He wanted the three of us to own our own karate studio. Seth and I just looked at each other. We had to trust God to work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Seth started training for his black belt, the family practically lived at the dojo. It usually takes students three years and at least 300 classes to earn the degree. By the time Logan was ready to test for his black belt, he had taken more than 600 classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One night, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bennetts drove by the studio and noticed their instructor working late. They stopped to check on him. That\u2019s when he let them know he was moving away to take care of his parents \u2014 and asked if they wanted to take over the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They said yes, and he agreed to teach them everything they needed to know about running the studio, affectionately referred to as the \u201cBennett Dojo.\u201d Though their instructor was supposed to help them make a smooth transition, COVID-19 hit, and their instructor was unable to return to Lebanon. The Bennetts were on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, the business is thriving. Seth is the main instructor now, but Janene and Logan teach as well. Logan is 16, a sophomore, and a member of the high school band. He still carries a passion for martial arts and has earned his second-degree black belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bennetts teach because they enjoy making a difference in other people\u2019s lives. When they served as youth pastors, their teens often referred to them as Mom and Dad because they knew Janene and Seth would always be there for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were the ones the teens called at 2 a.m. when they made dumb decisions and needed help or advice. We were available 24\/7 for them and poured our hearts into them,\u201d Janene explained. \u201cThen one day God told us to step down and to step out from the ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They obeyed God\u2019s direction through many tears and turned their attention toward spending time together as a family, usually at the dojo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we always thought after we stepped down and stepped out, we would end up in full-time ministry again, but God put us here,\u201d Janene said. \u201cIt took me a while to realize our ministry time prepared us for what God wanted us to do here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n When their students are dealing with problems, Janene and Seth pray for them. They want to be there for their karate students as they were for their students in youth ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt took me a while to realize it,\u201d Janene said, \u201cbut this is ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bennetts want their Lebanon neighbors to know they don\u2019t have to travel far away to find a place that offers fitness, discipline, defense training, and fellowship. They invite everyone to stop by their neighborhood dojo to say hello and to check out the thing that money can\u2019t buy \u2014 a place to meet new friends who feel like family. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHAT HAPPENS when a Mississippi girl and a Pennsylvania man meet in Oklahoma? They find their way to Tennessee, take over a hometown karate studio, and treat their students as friends \u2014 and their friends as family. Janene and Seth Bennett own and manage the Lebanon location of David Deaton Karate. Neither of them dreamed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":23643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-lebanon"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/05\/3-3-1024x683.jpg\")
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