By Greg Miller © 2018

Jasper and Janine owned a German shepherd/collie mix named Jack.

The couple invited friends over for a dinner party every Friday evening and, without exception, Jack was always the life of the party. Jack enjoyed playing games with the guests, who enjoyed his company so much that Jasper and Janine sometimes let Jack go home with one of the couples for the rest of the weekend.

Jack enjoyed spending weekends with Joey and Joy more than he did any of the other couples. About once a month, Janine packed “Jack’s Weekend Suitcase” and the young dog went to his favorite “home away from home,” which was next door to Jasper and Janine.

Joey and Joy owned a pit bull named Justin, and when Jack came over for the weekend, Justin and Jack went into “patrol mode.” They trotted around the neighborhood and refused to permit anyone whom they did not recognize entry into the area.

Jasper, Janine, Joey and Joy decided to reward the canines with a party to celebrate the dogs’ good work as patrol dogs. They wanted to reward the dogs, so they invited several of their friends to come and bring their pets.

The party included games, prizes and plenty of good food. For the dogs, dog biscuits and other treats - as well as chew toys - were abundant. The human guests enjoyed hotdogs, hamburgers, barbecue sandwiches, Cole slaw, baked potatoes and a variety of homemade desserts.

Joey told Jasper the get-together reminded him of their church family’s fellowship dinners. “This is great,” Joey said. “The food is super delicious. The fellowship is great, and the fun is fantastic. You and Janine are terrific hosts.”

“Thanks, Joey,” Jasper said. “Janine and I may do this again soon. Do you have any suggestions about how to improve our next party?”

“Well,” said Joey, this was a great party and it’s been lots of fun, but for the next party, I would suggest that we eliminate the dogs and just make it a people thing. I think it would be more fun if we could just leave the dogs with sitters and concentrate on us humans…you know…make it more like those church fellowship dinners I mentioned a moment ago.”

“I have an idea,” grinned Jasper. Joey and Jasper broke out in laughter when Jasper said, “I think I’ll talk to the people in charge of the fellowship hall and see if we might be able to rent the facility for one of our dinners. And I’ll see if the pastor will invite everyone at church to come and enjoy it with us.”

“So, you’re going to try to have an extra church fellowship dinner?”

“I most certainly am, my friend! I most certainly am!”

To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements, including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please email [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].

By Greg Miller  2018

 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord