Who Is Susie Wood?

by John C. Westervelt

If you don’t know Susie Wood, you can ask the children of Asbury, because for fourteen years Susie has been teaching the three-year-old Sunday school class at 9:30.

I first met Susie eleven years ago when my granddaughter Amy was in Susie’s class. Over the ensuing years as I would leave my class in the parlor, I would see Susie in the room across the hall kneeling beside a three-year-old as she gathered her brood for morning play. Susie’s husband Cary has been in the classroom with her from the beginning. Her daughter Leanne, who is now a sophomore at Trinity University in San Antonio, helped with the children when she was a youth. Her son Jeremy has been helping with the children since he was nine. This is Jeremy’s senior year at Jenks. As a merit scholar semifinalist, he can select a college of his choice. Asbury’s children hope he chooses the University of Tulsa, so they can still see him on Sundays.

Each time I look in Susie’s Sunday school room and observe Susie’s warm smile as she is surrounded by her children, I think about that memorable Sunday eleven years ago.

If Paul and Sandy were going out on Saturday night and I was the baby sitter, Sandy would bring along the children’s Sunday clothes. After an overnight at my house, I would take Brett and Amy to Sunday school, and Paul and Sandy would pick them up.

Before I became a widower twelve years ago, Nelda took care of dressing the grandchildren for Sunday school. As a grandfather I wasn’t very familiar with little girl clothes, but I managed to get Amy’s dress on her anyway. Sandy told me later that Susie could see that Amy’s dress was on backwards. In order not to embarrass me, she said nothing when I dropped Amy off. After I left, she asked one of the women assisting her to take Amy into the children’s bathroom and turn her dress around.

That memory fills my heart with a special love for the teachers of the three-year-olds. I imagine that Jesus too has a special love for these dependable teachers who care so much for His little children.